Most Anticipated: Fall 2023 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Releases

Buckle up boys and girls, the fall release deluge is upon us! I’ve rounded up my most anticipated releases for the months of September, October, and November (and there’s a LOT of them) for your perusal. I’m sure there’s more exciting releases in the coming months that I’m missing, so be sure to drop a comment with what books you’re excited about!

Books are listed in release date order, and I’ve linked all covers to Goodreads if you want to add them to your own TBR!

September 2023 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Releases

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THE HEXOLOGISTS by Josiah Bancroft
Release Date: September 26th, 2023
A dynamic duo working to solve various supernatural problems, who are summoned when the king begins acting strangely? Sounds like the beginnings of an interesting premise! Bancroft’s earlier series that began with SENLIN ASCENDS didn’t quite click with me, but that was 100% an instance of, “it’s not you, it’s me.” There was something undeniably fresh about the satirical way Bancroft wrote, and it’s stuck with me enough I want to give his new series a try!

THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER by V.E. Schwab
Release Date: September 26th, 2023
I could not be more nervous for this one. My reread of the SHADES OF MAGIC series has reaffirmed that trilogy as one of my favorites of all time, so I’m positively anxious that the new trilogy won’t hold up. Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen! THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER is set seven years after the events of the first trilogy, following a young girl who may have the power to reunite the fractured realms that were once sealed away. Expect the return of familiar faces and brand new characters!

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THE SALVATION GAMBIT by Emily Skrutskie
Release Date: September 26th, 2023
A group of con women trying to outwit an AI so they can escape being trapped on a space ship? Sign me up! (Okay, okay, in the interest of full disclosure, I should admit the ship they’re trying to escape from is a prison they were thrown into when they were arrested.) This will be the first time I’ve read Skrutskie, but I’ve always been intrigued by her sci-fi books, and a standalone seems like a great place too give it a shot!

THE FRACTURED DARK by Megan E. O’Keefe
Release Date: September 26th, 2023
The sequel to THESE BLIGHTED STARS sees the universe thrown into chaos when one of the leaders of one of the ruling families of the galaxy disappears – and takes all of the universe’s stockpiles of starship fuel with him. Naira and Tarquin will have to find him as the rest of the ruling families descend into chaos, while still investigating the blight that is killing habitable planets.

October 2023 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Releases

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THE JINN-BOT OF SHANTIPORT by Samit Basu
Release Date: October 3rd, 2023
There’s a couple of fascinating looking standalone sci-fi tales coming out this fall, starting with THE JINN-BOT OF SHANTIPORT, a retelling of Aladdin that sends the daughter of failed revolutionaries living on a failing planet after a device that is said to grant its bearer three wishes. I’ve definitely been keeping my eye on this one since it was announced, and while my overloaded review pile may prevent me reading it before release, it’s definitely on my TBR!

THESE BURNING STARS by Bethany Jacobs
Release Date: October 17th, 2023
Oooo, a new sci-fi trilogy, let’s go! THESE BURNING STARS will kick off a game of cat and mouse (but someone is also hunting the cat) as a hacker/thief obtains an item that could prove a powerful ruling family was involved in genocide. Not wanting to be dethroned, the family sends hunters after the hacker…but those hunters are in turn being hunted by someone from their past. I need a new space opera on my shelves, and this seems like it could fit the bill!

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TWO TWISTED CROWNS by Rachel Gillig
Release Date: October 19th, 2023
I will be honest, I have not yet read part one of this duology, ONE DARK WINDOW. I have, however, had quite a few friends say they enjoyed it, enough that I am hoping to pick it up in the next several weeks so I can read these two books by the end of the year (which might be overly ambitious, but that’s a conversation for another day). The first book introduced us to Elspeth, a young woman with a dark spirit living in her mind. That dark spirit keeps her safe, but it might also be taking over her mind, which is something of a hindrance when Elspeth is on a quest to protect the kingdom from the dark magic infecting it.

GENERATION SHIP by Michael Mammay
Release Date: October 17th, 2023
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself, its that I’m a sucker for the “politics in a space ship” genre. BABYLON FIVE, DEEP SPACE NINE, STARGATE UNIVERSE, give me a bunch of factions stuck in a tin can and I’ll go a bit feral. So I am eagerly awaiting the release of GENERATION SHIP, a standalone(!) sci-fi tale of a colony ship that reaches its destination after 250 years, just as a power struggle for the future of the colony breaks out. Oh, and the science team thinks that something is wrong with their new home, just to shake things up even more. Really looking forward to this one!

THE QUEEN OF DAYS by Greta Kelly
Release Date: October 24th, 2023
Standalone fantasy is a rarity these days, so I was excited when I heard about THE QUEEN OF DAYS, even more so when I found it was my favorite subgenre: fantasy heist! In this, a crew is hired to steal a statue, only to discover that in doing so, they may have accidentally doomed the city by disrupting a ritual. The author has mentioned a few times taking inspiration from D&D style shenanigans, so I can’t wait to see what these thieves get up to!

November 2023 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Releases

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IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros
Release Date: November 7th, 2023
Have I read FOURTH WING? No. But given how this fantasy romance has taken the reading community by storm, I had to include it. FOURTH WING is one of those books that elicits strong reactions from people, but my general sense was that if you were in the mood to meet the book on its own terms, you were in for a fun time. Book one was set at a dragon riding academy and followed the struggles of a trainee who had hoped to be in the track to study to be a librarian, only to have her overbearing general of a mother insist she train for dragon riding instead. This is book two in a (currently) planned five book series.

THE OLYMPIAN AFFAIR by Jim Butcher
Release Date: November 7th, 2023
A sequel many years in the making, the sequel to THE AERONAUT’S WINDLASS is almost here! Jim Butcher, best known for THE DRESDEN FILES urban fantasy series, began this steampunk adventure in 2015, but the second installment was delayed until this year. In this sequel, privateer Captain Grimm is sent to a trading summit to secure alliances in the face of a likely upcoming war. What could possibly go wrong?

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BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST by Travis Baldree
Release Date: November 7th, 2023
For all you cozy fantasy bookworms, the prequel to LEGENDS & LATTES is just a few months away! I’ve actually had a chance to read an ARC of this one, and I can safely say that the worst thing I can say about it is that it’s more of the same vibes of LEGENDS & LATTES. If you like watching a struggling business (a bookstore this time!) slowly flourish and grow as Viv gives it love and attention, while a community begins to form around it, you’ll definitely want to check it out! Plus there’s a dash of mystery and danger this time, as well as an adorable owl-bear-pup named Potroast.

SYSTEM COLLAPSE by Martha Wells
Release Date: November 14th, 2023
New Murderbot! Need I say more? Just in case I do, this is the second full-length novel in the series (7th book overall), and is more directly tied to the other full-length novel, NETWORK EFFECT. This time, a newly colonized planet is failing, and Murderbot and its crew are rushing to help evacuate before the corporations can show up and exploit the struggling colonists. Problem is, something is wonky with Murderbot’s own systems. It’ll have to figure out what’s going on if they’re going to rescue the colonists in time!

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CALAMITY by Constance Fey
Release Date: November 14th, 2023
I’ve been poking around more into romance books this year, and have been particularly interested to find romance books that live in the fantasy and sci-fi space. So when Tor announced their new imprint Bramble, I began watching their upcoming releases with eager anticipation. CALAMITY will be their first debut title (as opposed to books from established authors), and is supposed to be perfect for fans of FIREFLY. Temperance Reed is trying to keep her ship afloat and is forced to take a contract with a man she detests in order to stave off debt. But in between deadly volcanos and cultists, Temperance realizes she might just be falling for the guy that’s been in a thorn in her side.

DEFIANT by Brandon Sanderson
Release Date: November 21st, 2023
The SKYWARD saga comes to a close! After getting three full books and three novellas, DEFIANT will be the fourth and final main book in this particular arc of SKYWARD, as the last human colony takes a stand against the forces trying to wipe it out. If you’re a fan of this world, however, fear not! Sanderson has said that he is working with Janci Patterson, co-author of the SKYWARD novellas, on another series set in this sci-fi universe, so more books may be arriving in the not so distant future!