Graphic: James Bareham/Technovanguard
Janelle Monáe, Emily St. John Mandel, and many many more
The hope of the new year is the same hope of any science fiction or fantasy novel — please, mighty powers above, get us through this catastrophe in one piece. With the start of “New Normal Year 3,” many of us are looking for an unwritten road map.
Luckily, few heroes conquer evil alone, so it’s totally okay to look to others for inspiration. And yes, I’m talking about books.
2022 promises us pandemic delivery drivers protecting monsters, magical thieves trying to make good while bartending, and powerful women bargaining with ancient magical beings on their own terms. Whether you’re returning to the fantastical worlds you love through highly anticipated sequels (and endings) or discovering something brand new with a fresh take, here are 20 fantasy and science fiction books to watch for in 2022, so far.
Image: Penguin Random House
Star Wars: The Rising Storm (The High Republic) by Cavan Scott
Jan. 4, 2022
The Rising Storm arrives as a follow-up to 2021’s Star Wars: Light of the Jedi. To celebrate the peaceful growth of the Republic, the chancellor plans The Republic Fair, a showcase of the opportunities and peace possible with continued expansion. But with gathering prominent dignitaries, the fair draws the eyes of the Nihil. Their leader, Marchion Rio, descends on the fair, and the Jedi must curb the carnage while discovering Rio’s true plans for destruction.
Image: Penguin Random House
The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey
Jan. 11, 2022
The 16th novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series follows Annie Oakley, sharpshooter and performer, as she tours through Germany with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. When Bill hires a local sharpshooter as a part of the act, Annie learns that she isn’t just a crack shot — she’s a magician. She, her husband Frank, and the German sharpshooter Giselle, team up together to hunt the monsters that follow the show, threatening performers and locals alike. “Annie’s got her gun, and it’s filled with silver bullets.”
Image: Penguin Random House
Akata Woman (The Nsibidi Scripts) by Nnedi Okorafor
Jan. 18, 2022
Return to Okorafor’s award-winning fantasy world in this follow-up to Akata Witch and Akata Warrior. Sunny Nwazue continues to strike a balance in her life, whether that’s between America and Nigeria or her life as a Leopard Person and a good daughter. Now, armed with all she’s learned so far, Sunny must go on a dangerous mission to find a hidden object — one that will change her forever.
Image: HarperCollins
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Jan. 18, 2022
In 2030, a grieving archeologist discovers the remains of a girl killed by an ancient virus. As the permafrost lessens, the Arctic Plague is unleashed, forcing humanity to reshape everything about their lives. How High We Go in the Dark spans centuries and planets to tell the story of human resiliency through the eyes of a cynical theme park worker who falls in love, a heartbroken scientist who teaches a pig to talk, and a widowed painter who seeks a new home in space with her granddaughter.
Image: Tor/Macmillan
Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi
Jan. 25, 2022
Goliath is set in 2050 Earth, where the privileged have fled to colonies, cannibalizing the remaining neighborhoods brick-by-brick to build reminders of their old homes in space. Those left behind have to navigate collapsing infrastructure, barely surviving. Featuring a space dweller looking to settle in New Haven, a group of laborers attempting to save Earth’s cities, and a marshall trying to solve a kidnapping, Tochi Onyebuchi weaves together multiple disparate narratives within this very real fictional world.
Image: Penguin Random House
Moon Witch, Spider King (The Dark Star Trilogy #2) by Marlon James
Feb. 15, 2022
Described as an “African Game of Thrones,” Marlon James’ first Dark Star book, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, told the story of Sogolon the Moon Witch and Tracker as they battled to find a missing boy across a mythical landscape. Now, the highly anticipated sequel presents Sogolon’s version of events — how she triumphed and failed in her search for the boy, how she challenged Aesi, the powerful chancellor to the king, leading to a century-long feud. More than just a retelling with a new lens, Moon Witch, Spider King is an indomitable woman fighting to tell her own story.
Image: Orbit
Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham
Feb. 15, 2022
From the co-author of The Expanse comes a brand new epic fantasy trilogy set in the ancient, bloody city of Kithamar. When Alys, a thief from the slums of Longhill, sets out to find her brother’s killer, she uncovers an intrigue as deep as the roots of Kithamar itself — one that just may change everything.
Image: Penguin Random House
Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
Feb. 15, 2022
The companion novel to Akwaeke Emezi’s young adult novel Pet introduces us to Bitter, a young painter attending the haven-like Eucalyptus school. Outside the school walls, the city of Lucille is filled with protests against deep-set injustices. Tempted to stay out of the fray, Bitter finds herself pulled in multiple directions by friends who want more for their world, a new romance, and her art.
Image: HarperCollins
Gallant by VE Schwab
March 1, 2022
When Olivia Prior receives a mysterious invite to her late parents’ manor, Gallant, she finds the first place in her life that feels like home. Unfortunately, it is a home that is trying to drive her out — her cousin is hostile and there are ghouls in the halls. After stumbling through a seam in a shadow that leads her to a place where the ghouls are fully-formed and a dark presence reigns, Olivia must decide if she will protect her world from the Master of the House or join him.
Image: Orbit
Memory’s Legion by James S. A. Corey
March 15, 2022
For the first time, The Expanse’s numerous novellas — each of which tells a focused story set in the world of the towering space opera — will be collected into a single volume. Memory’s Legion will include: “Drive,” “The Butcher of Anderson Station,” The Churn,” “Gods of Risk,” “The Vital Abyss,” “Strange Dogs,” “Auberon,” and a new release, “Memory’s Legion.”
Image: Tor/Macmillan
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
March 15, 2022
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Interdependency trilogy comes a brand new standalone novel. Jamie Gray is a delivery driver in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic when a chance delivery connects him to an old acquaintance with a wild job — protecting monster dinosaurs called Kaiju in an alternate dimension. But Jamie and his new team at the Kaiju Preservation Society aren’t the only ones who can enter the Kaiju’s territory, and careless opposing forces may cause millions back on Jamie’s Earth to die.
Image: Penguin Random House
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
April 5, 2022
The author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel is back with another human-centered science fiction novel — this time telling the story of a plague, interwoven through the lives of several characters, set across time and space. 18-year-old Edwin St. Andrew is an exile, traveling the Atlantic on a steamship. Olive Llewllyn is traveling through Earth on a book tour, though she is from the second moon colony, to promote her best-selling pandemic novel. And a detective in Night City, Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, is investigating the North American wilderness, where he finds mysteries that might upend their entire way of life.
Image: Simon & Schuster
Fevered Star (Between Earth and Sky #2) by Rebecca Roanhorse
April 19, 2022
In the sequel to 2020’s epic fantasy Black Sun, Roanhorse takes readers back to the shattered city of Tova where strange alliances form under the threat of gathering enemies. Sea captain Xiala finds herself allied with the Prince of Knives while the now living avatars Serapio and Naranpa struggle for free will within their new identities. A new order is rising and all must learn to navigate a world with living legends.
Image: HarperCollins
The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
April 19, 2022
Janelle Monáe is already a multi-hyphenate. In 2018, the Grammy Award nominated artist released her excellent album Dirty Computer, which was accompanied by a science fiction visual album, which she called an “emotion picture.” The Memory Librarian is a collection of short speculative fiction, from Black women and Black non-binary writers.
Image: Tor/Macmillan
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
April 26, 2022
If you would rather watch a princess kill a prince than marry one, T. Kingfisher’s latest is for you. In order to save her sister from the abusive prince she’s been married off to, Marra must complete three seemingly impossible tasks. But of course, building a dog of bones and sewing a cloak of nettles is only the beginning. With a cast of strange companions she meets along the way — a reluctant fairy godmother, a grave witch, and her familiar, a disgraced knight — Marra must find the courage to overthrow the crown and save her sister.
Image: Tor/Macmillan
Book of Night by Holly Black
May 3, 2022
Having enthralled young adult readers for decades, Holly Black makes the much anticipated leap to adult dark fantasy with Book of Night. Follow Charlie Hall’s straight path through the crooked magical underbelly of the Berkshires while she tries to make up for past mistakes. Formerly a magical thief and lock-pick, Charlie is a dive bartender hoping to keep herself and her sister Posey out of trouble. But Posey’s boyfriend is keeping secrets and when Charlie’s past catches up with her, she’s thrown back into the chaotic and dangerous world she tried to leave behind.
Image: Tor/Macmillan
Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky
May 3, 2022
Jump back into Tchaikovsky’s space opera with Eyes of the Void, the follow up to last year’s Shards of Earth. The planet-killing Architects have returned — threatening life across the galaxy, and throwing human colonies into disarray. Only the Intermediaries, who can communicate with the Architects — and who helped avoid catastrophe 80 years ago — stand between humanity and complete annihilation. Idris, an Intermediary who attempted to start a new life, may hold the key to saving humanity. But it will come at the cost of plunging into unspace: the terrifying, chilling frontier that has broken other minds.
Image: Tor/Macmillan
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
May 10, 2022
Luli Wei is desperate to be a star, but not so desperate she’ll play a maid. Trying to make it in pre-Code Hollywood, Luli knows how cutthroat the industry is to people who look like her. So when she discovers that Hollywood is run on a system of ancient magic and blood bargains, she’ll do whatever it takes for the steep price of fame. Written by Nghi Vo, author of The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Siren Queen is a fantastical exploration of an outsider finding success on her own terms.
Image: Tor/Macmillan
The City Inside by Samit Basu
June 7, 2022
Joey and Rudra are two very different people. She is the Reality Controller for South Asia’s fastest rising celebrity who also happens to be her ex. He is a wealthy recluse estranged from his family, seeking refuge in video games and his immigrant neighbors’ lives. As each continues to make the best decision they can in a world of lesser evils, they quickly become enmeshed in multiple conspiracies. Resistance, for these two contrasting heroes, will look vastly different to each. The City Inside is a near-future epic set in Delhi that offers hope in the face of mounting anxieties about the government, the environment, and our world at large.
Image: Simon & Schuster
Speaking Bones (The Dandelion Dynasty #4) by Ken Liu
June 21, 2022
The final installment in the epic silkpunk fantasy series by Ken Liu has arrived. Beginning immediately after the events of The Veiled Throne, readers land back in the middle of two wars, following familiar characters as they enter their final act.
Princess Théra wrestles with her ancestral dream as she runs across the continent from Lyucu pursuers, asking herself how to “conquer the unconquerable.” In the city of Dara, Empress Jia, Prince Phyro, and Pékyu Tanvanaki must navigate changing visions of the future while struggling against the genocidal Lyucu. On both sides of the Wall of Storms, mortals’ hearts will determine the fate of two empires on the brink.
Image: Tor/Macmillan
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk and Robot #2) by Becky Chambers
July 12, 2022
Readers return to Panga with Sibling Dex and Mosscap as they explore the villages and cities of the moon they call home in the follow up to Becky Chambers’ solarpunk novella A Psalm for the Wild-Built. The monk and the robot continue their quest for answers, learning more about one another’s cultures, while making new friends and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe. This meditative series continues Chambers’ reputation for writing contemplative but hopeful books.
Image: Penguin Random House
Hooked by AC Wise
July 12, 2022
The sequel to AC Wise’s adult, feminist retelling of Peter Pan, Hooked follows Captain James Hook, the immortal pirate, 22 years after his escape from Neverland. James discovers that Peter Pan’s monster has found him again, this time in London, but a chance encounter with Wendy Darling gives James the help he needs to vanquish Pan’s monster — even if he must return to playing the villain for a final time.
Image: Orbit
The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri
Aug. 16, 2022
Tasha Suri brings readers a new entry in the Burning Kingdoms trilogy with The Oleander Sword. Malini is the rightful empress of Parijatdvipa, but even with a prophecy and an army by her side, deposing her brother will not be easy. Priya, thrice born priestess, Elder of Ahiranya, wants to see Parijatdvipa rid of its poisonous rule and the plague eating away at all living things across the country. Both Malini and Priya chose divergent paths, and although their intertwined souls will bring them back together to save their kingdom, the cost will be great.
Image: HarperCollins
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang
Aug. 23, 2022
In the mid-1800s, Babel is the world’s center for translation and magic, including silver working, where lost translations are given meaning via enchanted silver bars. Hosting this center has made the British empire unparalleled in their quest for continued colonization. When Robin Smith, a Chinese orphan raised in Britain, joins Babel as a translator, he wrestles with serving the organization and betraying his motherland. He is caught between Babel and the Hermes Society, an organization aiming to stop imperial expansion. Soon, Robin will have to decide which side he will take.
Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #3) by Tamsyn Muir
September 13, 2022
Muir is back with another installment of her sharp-witted, queer, gothic, space-set necromancer series. There’s nothing else like it — and nothing quite as acidic and propulsive. In Nona the Ninth, Nona just wants to live a normal life — but the last Cohort facility is hemmed in by Blood of Eden forces, and Nona might have to be the weapon that saves them from the Nine Houses.
The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance #3) by Naomi Novik
Sept. 27, 2022
The conclusion to Novik’s Scholomance trilogy takes El out of the deadly magic school’s halls, and into the wider world. But the celebration is short lived — though she, and her friends, saved most of the school’s students during their mad dash to escape the maw-mouths, she must return to save the one who remains locked in. Novik’s version of magical education is deadly, thrilling, and violent — and this final book will bring it all to a close.
