As we welcome in the new year, we figured what better time than now to pull together a list of some of the best SFF books to read this January.
Susan Dennard
26 January 2023 – Daphne Press
Susan Dennard, author of The Witchlands series (now in development for TV from the Jim Henson Company) and the Something Strange and Deadly series returns with the first book in a new series, The Luminaries. A contemporary new fantasy that follows Winnie Wednesday, as she comes close to her sixteenth birthday and prepares for the deadly Luminary Hunter Trials. Desperate to clear her fathers name as a witch and a traitor, Winnie must protect her town from the monsters and nightmares that arise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night.
Jonathan Carroll
19 January 2023 – Melville House
British Fantasy Aware winner Jonathan Carroll brings us a Sliding Doors-esque literary fantasy that tells the multiple stories of Graham Patterson, a man whose career as a comedian has hit a bit of a dead end is is looking to give up on happiness. On one last road trip across the country, Graham is given the chance of a glimpse at the alternative lives he could have lead, had he made different choices. Mr. Breakfast is an absorbing study of what really matters in life.
Adrienne Young
10 January – Titan Books
New York Times bestelling author Adrienne Young returns to the Fantasy-YA world of Fable, this time with a prequel, following the story of Fable’s star-crossed parents Saint and Isolde. When Elias’ lack of superstition gets his father killed, he devotes his life to a the myths and creeds of the old fishermen, soon garnering the reputation as one of the luckiest sailors of the Narrows. But now on the cusp of fulfilling his father’s dreams, Elias’ faith is tested and must choose between his sacred beliefs and the love of a girl who could change the world.
Heather Fawcett
19 January 2023 – Orbit
Emily Wilde is an expert on the study of faeries and is trying to complile the world’s first encyclopaedia on faerie lore. Unfortunately, she’s not an expert on people. As she begins her research on the Hidden Ones, the most secretive of all faeries, she finds herself at odds with her academic rival, Wendell Bambleby and soon becomes embroiled in a whole new mystery of trying to uncover what he’s really after. A charming and whimsical fantasy that evolves into a delightfully grumpy romance.
H.M. Long
17 January – Titan Books
A vivid and questing fantasy that follow Thray, the Last Daughter of Winter as she heads to the northern lands of Duamel where her father was once king. Torn between her faith, her love and the legacy of her blood she begins her journey to a land on the edge of violence, ruled by her demi-god siblings. The path is treacherous, littered with conspiracies and assassination attemptes and Thray must battle through winds of ice and snow, harnessing her own feral power in order to decide where her loyalties lie.
Leigh Bardugo
10 January – Orion Publishing Group | Gollancz
Powerhouse fantasy author Leigh Bardugo (creator of the Grishaverse, Netflix’s Shadow and Bone series) returns with the long awaited sequel to the BookTok bestseller, Ninth House. Hell Bent brings us back to the world of Alex Stern as she determines to break Darlington out of Hell. But in doing so, she risks her academic future among the Ivy League elite. When faculty members start to die off, Alex knows these are no mere accidents and must soon reckon with the dark magic and monsters in that haunt the university walls.