Running low on reading material? Lucky for you, March is about to unleash a ton of new sci-fi and fantasy books onto shelves. Read on for what’s to come in dystopian tales, deep-space murders, palace intrigue, multiple portals, love in the afterlife, and so much (seriously, so much) more.
The Conductors by Nicole Glover
After the Civil War, a married couple who helped dozens of slaves to safety on the Underground Railroad apply their skills to another realm: solving crimes and investigating mysteries that the white police force won’t pay attention to, including cases involving magic. (March 2)
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At the End of the Journey by Charles E. Gannon
The Black Tide Rising series continues the adventures of six teens who just so happened to be on a sailing trip when the zombie plague began to spread—and now travel the world hunting for other survivors. They’ll need to undertake a dangerous quest to reboot the planet’s GPS systems if they want to continue their quest. (March 2)
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This debut fantasy collection shares “stories of fierce women at the margins of society burning their way toward the center,” including the title story’s fairytale spin on the American immigrant story. (March 2)
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Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
The adventures of the Shadowhunters—circa Edwardian London—continue, as Cordelia must face the fact that her arranged marriage is a sham, her magical blade burns her whenever she tries to use it, and a serial killer is targeting her friends. (March 2)
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The Councillor by E.J. Beaton
This “Machiavellian fantasy” introduces a palace scholar who’s appointed councilor after the death of the queen, who happened to be her best friend. She’ll use her newfound power to secretly investigate who (and/or what magic) caused the ruler’s untimely demise. (March 2)
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After she’s injured and stranded by a terrorist attack, a woman takes a security job on a space station just to pay the bills. When she’s tasked with investigating a murder, she realizes her tragic past and the man’s death are connected by a conspiracy that goes higher than she’d ever realized. (March 2)
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A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
This space opera continues the deep-space alien conflict story that began in the author’s Hugo Award-winning debut, A Memory Called Empire. Check out an excerpt below. (March 2)
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Forget Me Not by Alexandra Oliva
In this near-future thriller, a woman who escapes her troubled past finds new dangers lurking when she starts exploring the world of virtual reality for the first time. (March 2)
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The High-Rise Diver by Julia von Lucadou
This dystopian tale—set in a world where performance is valued over everything else—follows a famous athlete who suddenly rebels against her strict contract, putting the psychologist assigned as her handler in a tough spot: she must bring the superstar back in line, or be cruelly banished. (March 2)
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Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera
In this sequel to Infinity Son, set in a magical version of New York City, Emil races to find an antidote to the poison that’s slowly killing Brighton, but he’ll need to confront his own troubled, supernatural past if he wants to save his brother. (March 2)
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Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
The latest from the Nobel laureate (author of Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day) follows “an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities” as she waits to be chosen by a customer and ponders the true nature of love. (March 2)
Later by Stephen King
The prolific author’s latest is about a kid with psychic powers who’s drawn into an NYPD detective’s hunt for an evil, similarly supernaturally gifted killer. (March 2)
Machinehood by S.B. Divya
In 2095, people are dependent on enhancement pills that allow them to keep up with artificial intelligence—a situation complicated when a violent new terrorist group whose members are part human, part machine begin ruthlessly targeting the pharmaceutical industry. (March 2)
Minecraft: The Mountain by Max Brooks
The latest from Brooks (World War Z, Devolution) is also his latest Minecraft novel, the follow-up to his best-selling Minecraft: The Island. (March 2)
The Nightland Express by J. M. Lee
Desperate to help her family, a teenage girl dresses as a boy and joins the Pony Express—where she and her newfound partner, a boy who’s hiding his own secrets, discover the American frontier is riddled with portals to a chaotic world that’s lurking just below the surface of their own. (March 2)
Occasional Views, Volume 1: “More About Writing” and Other Essays by Samuel R. Delany
This release offers collected essays and “occasional writings” from the legendary author and literary critic. (March 2)
One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This time-travel tale follows a time warrior who ends a war and then must make sure nobody else travels back in time to change the outcome. (March 2)
Small Magic: Short Fiction 1977-2020 by Terry Brooks
The first short-story collection from the author brings together 11 new and favorite tales from his worlds of Shannara, Matic Kingdom, and the Word and the Void. (March 2)
The Stolen Kingdom by Jillian Boehme
In this fantasy adventure, a vintner’s daughter learns the magic she’s been keeping secret may mean she has a claim to the throne—and she soon becomes caught up in a plot against the royal family. (March 2)
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
When death comes for a man named Wallace, he isn’t quite ready to leave life behind—a situation that grows ever more complicated when he falls in love with the ferryman/tea shop proprietor who’s supposed to help him cross over. (March 2)
Victory’s Price by Alexander Freed
The Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron trilogy concludes as the New Republic’s ace pilots face Shadow Wing one last time. Read an excerpt below. (March 2)
All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter
The World Fantasy Award winner’s latest is a gothic fairy tale about a family trying to renegotiate a longstanding magical bargain that ensures their safety at sea if they sacrifice a child each generation. (March 9)
Black Panther - Tales of Wakanda: A Ground-Breaking Anthology From the African Diaspora edited by Jesse J. Holland
This collection of tales celebrates Marvel’s Black Panther and his home of Wakanda; its acclaimed list of contributors includes Maurice Broaddus, Tananarive Due, Nikki Giovanni, Harlan James, and Cadwell Turnbull. (March 9)
The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst
This standalone epic fantasy follows four heroes who are still trying to put their lives together decades after surviving a battle to overthrow a corrupt magician—and who soon realize the battle actually hasn’t ended. (March 9)
The Queen’s Weapons by Anne Bishop
The Black Jewels fantasy series continues as the son of the Demon Prince is tasked with discovering the source of an evil that threatens his family and the realm. (March 9)
Ravage the Dark by Tara Sim
After escaping imprisonment, a woman sets out on a quest for revenge—and finds an unlikely partner in a man who’s desperate to find a cure for his ailing sister. (March 9)
The Second Bell by Gabriela Houston
A woman lives in isolation with her daughter who was born with two hearts—considered the ultimate bad-luck omen. But when the girl becomes a young woman, she decides she wants to embrace her power rather than conceal it. (March 9)
Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson
A woman whose magic allows her to alter peoples’ memories with song is secretly employed by an opera house to boost ticket sales—but her sheltered existence is upended when she develops feelings for one of the singers. (March 9)
Sinners and Saints by Jennifer Roberson
The apocalypse is looming, so an ex-con biker and a Texas cowboy join forces to fight against Lucifer’s army, which is filled with “demons who inhabit characters from fiction, history, myths, legends, and folklore,” including but not limited to Jack the Ripper. (March 9)
We Shall Sing a Song Into the Deep by Andrew Kelly Stewart
Described as “A Canticle for Leibowitz meets The Hunt for Red October,” this coming-of-age story follows a submarine crew member who’s part of a secret doomsday mission—until a stranger arrives who shakes her faith everything she knows. (March 9)
Body of Stars by Laura Maylene Walter
In a misogynistic world where women are born with skin markings that foretell the future, a young woman must survive her transition to adulthood without being abducted by any of the men in her midst, while also grappling with a dark secret about her beloved brother. (March 16)
Fiends of Nightmaria by Steven Erikson
This new novella, set in the author’s world of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, sees trouble brewing between the neighboring kingdoms of Farrof and Nightmaria. (March 16)
A Queen of Gilded Horns by Amanda Joy
This sequel to A River of Royal Blood sees magical royal sisters and rivals Eva and Isa forced to make peace if they want to save their queendom. (March 16)
Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley
In a world where humanity is recovering from an alien war, people gather at a watering hole to swap stories—until a stranger arrives in need of help and makes everyone question the war’s true outcome. (March 16)
Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs
The Alpha and Omega series continues as werewolf couple Charles and Anna set out to investigate why the population of an entire small town has suddenly vanished. It seems to have something to do with their fellow werewolves—or something even scarier that’s targeting werewolves. (March 16)
What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
Apprentice wizard/police constable Peter Grant’s cousin, Abigail, is the focus of this Rivers of London novella; in the summer of 2013, she’s using magic and the help of talking foxes to unravel the mystery of why local teens are vanishing and then reappearing—with no memory of what happened to them. (March 18)
Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer
The Robin Hood story gets a murder-mystery twist in this novel that imagines Robin, guilty over something mysterious in his past, has left Sherwood Forest in favor of living in a monastery. When a killer starts targeting his former Merry Men, a panicked Marian must take charge. (March 23)
The Fall of Koli by M.R. Carey
The Rampart Trilogy concludes as the exiled Koli finds the mysterious “Sword of Albion” and hopes that he’s found a way for humanity to turn the tide against the ever-aggressive forces of nature. (March 23)
Flamefall by Rosaria Munda
In the sequel to the fantasy tale Fireborne, a revolution stirs as the dragonlords threaten the dragonriders, and Annie, Lee, and new character Griff join forces to try and figure out the best path forward to save their people and their land. (March 23)
Floodpath by Emily B. Martin
The Outlaw Road duology concludes as as Veran and Lark the Sunshield Bandit embark on a perilous escape across the desert to meet Tamsin and Iano, who’re recovering after a coup attempt against the monarchy. If they join forces once they’re together, can they bring hope to their country at last? (March 23)
The Hill by Ali Bryan
This feminist dystopian tale follows a group of girls who’ve built their own community in an old garbage dump; when their leader is lured away and men enter the picture for the first time, they must figure out who to trust. (March 23)
Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
This fantasy riff on Peter Pan imagines that Wendy is a real-world teen who must dig into a troubling past she can’t quite remember—involving a strange boy named Peter—if she wants to help rescue all the kids who’ve gone missing in the woods outside town. Read an excerpt below. (March 23)
The Two-Faced Queen by Nick Martell
The second book in the Legacy of the Mercenary King fantasy series follows a royal brother and sister as they fight over the throne, while mercenary Michael Kingman—unjustly labeled as a traitor—tries to unravel all the conspiracies that are bringing chaos to the kingdom. (March 23)
A Broken Darkness by Premee Mohamed
The sequel to Beneath the Rising picks up a year and a half after an attempted invasion from another dimension—and despite efforts to keep a handle on threats to humanity, it seems “They” aren’t done yet, as sinister portals have begun to open again. (March 30)
Down World by Rebecca Phelps
Students at a high school built on a former military base where unusual experiments once took place discover a doorway to another world—but once they start investigating, things in the real world take a strange turn too. (March 30)
Trial of the Wizard King by Chad Corrie
The Wizard King trilogy continues with the king back on his throne and Cadrissa, separated from her fellow mercenaries for the time being, must figure out how to escape her captors. (March 30)
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