Martha Wells’ disgruntled, self-aware AI robot is back for more adventures this month with Platform Decay—plus the legendary Alan Moore drops the second entry in his Long London Series, I Hear a New World. Beyond that, May seems to be especially heavy on romantasy releases—the perfect genre as the weather heats up—so you’re in luck if you dig magical attractions, enemies-to-lovers, and quirky spellcraft.
May 5
Absence by Andrew Dana Hudson
“In this gripping, moving, and genre-blending speculative debut, the world is unraveling from an epidemic of human vanishing. Two rookie agents from the Bureau of Depopulation Affairs are dispatched to small-town Kansas to investigate a woman who claims to have returned from Spontaneous Human Absence, offering answers that could change everything.” (May 5)
Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka
“A twisty, searing, conversation-starting novel about a filmmaker-turned-housewife who moves into her dream house and is forced to consider whether it’s the house or herself that is haunted.” (May 5)
Archangel’s Eternity by Nalini Singh
“Elena and Raphael return for the hauntingly poignant conclusion to Nalini Singh’s genre-defining Guild Hunter series.” (May 5)
Ash Land by Matt Harry
Two years after 20 percent of humanity was killed by flesh-eating microbots—and all the survivors were forced to seal themselves up inside—a scientist must venture outdoors when his partner is murdered while tracking down a missing person. (May 5)
Death’s Daughter by S.A. Barnes
In this contemporary romantasy, the child of Death is doing a decent job keeping her life separate from her family legacy—until her father announces she’ll be his successor. She’ll have to navigate everything very carefully after that to protect the people she cares about. (May 5)
Earthly Playing Field by Radhika Singh
“Roma’s life is upended when her older brother entrusts her with a strange gift: an ordinary-looking plant that manifests a sophisticated bioengineered technology. The ‘cell’ opens a portal for an extraterrestrial spirit-body bearing news of a liberated future—and the potential to hack AI warfare—propelling Roma and her family into the core of a rising resistance. (May 5)
Fury Bound by Sable Sorenson
“Against all odds, Meryn Cooper has inherited the crown—and a deadly war … With enemies closing in and shadows stirring in her dreams, Meryn stands to lose her kingdom—and her heart.” (May 5)
Galaxy Raiders: Battlestorm by Ian Douglas
The Galaxy Raiders series continues “as war rages on against the formidable Galactic Authority, Admiral Alexandra Morrigan leads a daring expeditionary fleet into the galactic frontier, searching for unlikely allies in the stars. For if humankind has any hope of survival, it will need them.” (May 5)
The Girl With a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
“A stunning Gothic tale set in a historical Hong Kong that meshes ancient myths and local legends into a haunting story of ghosts, grief, and women who will not forgive.” (May 5)
Intercepts by T.J. Payne
“The government wanted to unlock hidden abilities in the human mind. They put subjects in extreme sensory deprivation. All the test subjects went violently insane. But the research continued. Today it has been perfected. Almost perfected.” (May 5)
The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee
“Isako is a legendary swordswoman, but every legend has to come to an end. When her long-time client unexpectedly retires, she plans to follow—to walk out into the frozen wasteland of their planet with her head held high and her family enriched by her legacy. But when a competitor offers her a final mission, it’s one she can’t refuse.” (May 5)
The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego
“A bookseller must escape the infamously haunted library that holds her darkest secrets, but with a murderer in her tour group, escaping alive is not as simple as it seems in this twisty locked-room thriller.” (May 5)
The Library of Flowers by L.C. Chu
“Rooted in memory and steeped in magic, The Library of Flowers is a radiant exploration of family, identity, and the expectations we inherit, perfect for anyone who has ever carried the weight of a legacy—and dared to make it their own.” (May 5)
A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo
“A beautiful new tale in the Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle, drawn from the earliest days of Chih’s career as a wandering cleric.” (May 5)
Mothman Is My Boyfriend: Ten Tales of Cryptid Love and Lust by McKayla Coyle
“Fall in love with a secret town and its mysterious inhabitants in 10 charming tales of human–cryptid romance.” (May 5)
Out Law: A Dresden Files Novella by Jim Butcher
“The past comes back in a big way for Chicago’s only professional wizard in this action-packed novella.” (May 5)
Platform Decay by Martha Wells
“Everyone’s favorite lethal SecUnit is back in the next installment of Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries series. After volunteering to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realizes that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn’t know. Including human children. Ugh.” (May 5)
The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed
“A Memory Called Empire meets Children of Time in this Arabfuturist debut set on a generation ship on the brink of revolution as its crew begin to ask why they should toil for a people and an empire none of them remember.” (May 5)
The Tricky Business of Faerie Bargains by Reena McCarty
“A former changeling must return to the land of the Fae to right a bargain that’s gone terribly wrong in this delightful cozy fantasy debut packed full of charm, adventure, romance, and heart.” (May 5)
Two’s a Charm by Heather Spellman
“Sisters by chance; rivals by choice. A bookish cozy fantasy about two witches uncovering dark magic in a small town.” (May 5)
Verity Guild by Mai Corland
A high priestess hiding her magical bloodline and a Praetorian who’s vowed to ruin her are forced to work together to solve a high-stakes murder. (May 5)
May 12
Abyss by Nicholas Binge
“Severance meets Lovecraft in this surreal tale of corporate horror and existential dread.” (May 12)
The Bone Door by Frances White
“When Hop awakens in an ancient labyrinth, he has no memory of his life, or how he got here. He does not recognize the mysterious girl trapped with him. And he certainly cannot identify the shadowy figure stalking him, whispering terrible things… But there is one thing he is certain of: He must escape. (May 12)
Broken Dove by Dani Francis
“In the heart-pounding sequel to the dystopian romance Silver Elite, lines will be crossed, loyalties will be tested, and the fight for the Continent is only just beginning as Wren Darlington finds herself caught in the middle of two wars: one for the fate of her home and another for the fate of her heart.” (May 12)
The Cupid Dilemma by April Asher
In this new paranormal romance, “a down-on-her-luck wedding planner demigoddess and a muse-less rockstar agree to a fauxmance that quickly turns anything but.” (May 12)
The Devil and Mrs. Gooch by Oliver Darkshire
“In the storm-drenched city of Verdigris, home to indolent sorcerers and undead hotels, something is dreadfully wrong. Buildings are starting to crumble due to the kidnapping of their hobs, the many-legged house spirits that keep each home in order. In such times, one would ordinarily blame the Devil, but he has been enchanted by a new and enticing evil: the jackbooted villainy of Gwendolyn Gooch, who has taken the hobs for her latest diabolical scheme.” (May 12)
Femme Feral by Sam Beckbessinger
“Hyper-competent Ellie thinks she’s going through perimenopause but discovers she’s actually turning into a werewolf in this feminist, dark-comedy debut.” (May 12)
The Franchise by Thomas Elrod
“Game of Thrones meets The Truman Show in this epic tale of a Hollywood-owned fantasy world where nothing is quite as it seems to the people who live and die at the studio’s whim.” (May 12)
Ignore All Previous Instructions by Ada Hoffman
“A script supervisor for an AI media conglomerate is caught between her intense need for an orderly life and her deeper, darker queer desires. From the creator of the Outside trilogy, a heartfelt interplanetary epic of identity, longing, and a space pirate who smuggles inappropriate stories.” (May 12)
Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey
“An eerily seductive look at the desire for community connection and self-improvement—and the darkest places inside us all.” (May 12)
Model Actress Whatever by Kim Newman
“A bitingly satirical story of superheroism, soap opera, and alternative reality—for readers of Austin Grossman’s Soon I Will Be Invincible and George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards.” (May 12)
Moon Over Brendle by Jeff Noon
“Magical contemporary fantasy meets fantastical memoir in the new novel from a cult favorite.” (May 12)
A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman
“It’s off to the races in the explosive eighth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series—featuring bonus material exclusive to this print edition.” (May 12)
The River Muse by Laura Resau
A woman escapes her abusive ex-partner, bringing her young daughter to live on a magical property in the South of France. Just as she’s starting to heal, her ex shows up—and she has to tap into her newfound powers to protect the new life and friends she’s found. (May 12)
Seconds to Spare by Rachel Reiss
“Eighteen-year-old Evelyn Werth is the only person onboard Aloha Airways Flight 1333 who’s stuck in a 28-minute time loop, one that repeats over and over again … When Orion James—the cute boy who’s been asleep the entirety of each cycle—wakes, it triggers an alarming change in the events Evelyn has come to count on.” Can they work together to save themselves and all the other passengers? (May 12)
Seek the Traitor’s Son by Veronica Roth
“Elegy Ahn did not ask for destiny to find her. She is happy with her life as a soldier, defending her small country from the Talusar, a powerful nation that worships a deadly Fever. But then she’s summoned to hear a prophecy—her and the most ruthless of Talusar generals, Rava Vidar. Brought face to face, they learn that one of them will lead their people to victory over the other… but they don’t know which.” (May 12)
The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty
“Set sail into the second adventure of pirate Amina al-Sirafi as her quest to track down magical artifacts brings her to the island lair of a sorceress whose woven enchantments are impossible to flee.” (May 12)
We Dance Upon Demons by Vaishnavi Patel
“A galvanizing stand-alone contemporary fantasy following a burnt-out reproductive health care worker as she fights back against escalating attacks on her clinic and the malevolent forces in hot pursuit of her newly acquired power.” (May 12)
Welcome to the Blast by Plum Parrot
“Survival depends on determination, daring, and Dust in this dystopian adventure—with a dash of romance.” (May 12)
The Whisper Tree by Holly Searcy
“The epic quest that began in The Shiver Tree continues in The Whisper Tree, book two of the Amarra Chronicles.” (May 12)
Worthy of Fate by A.N. Caudle
“A fae must risk everything to save her realm from the darkness plaguing the land in this thrilling first novel in the Realms in Peril series.” (May 12)
May 19
And Side by Side They Wander by Molly Tanzer
“A meditation on the nature of love, life, and the ‘culture of the copy,’ And Side by Side They Wander asks the question: In a future where there are clones, androids, and a sentient mycelium that creates fungal simulacra, who is real and what is fake?” (May 19)
The Arcane Arts by S.D. Coverly
“In this thrilling and sexy dark romance, a graduate student and her adviser dive into a taboo branch of magic, igniting a dangerous passion.” (May 19)
The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker
This sequel to When the Moon Hatched features “an immersive, vibrant world with mysterious creatures, a unique magic system, and a love that blazes through the ages.” (May 19)
Canon by Paige Lewis
“Two unlikely heroes embark on quests to win God’s favor in this outrageously entertaining, profoundly heartfelt novel.” (May 19)
The Dorians by Nick Cutter
“On a remote island in the Canadian wilderness, five elderly volunteers from different walks of life are given a tantalizing offer: to stall their biological clocks or even reverse them, restoring their lost youth … The dark heart of unbridled human ambition finds its apex in an unholy experiment that now tests the limits of both creator and subject, eclipsing all bounds of morality and sanity.” (May 19)
The Fake Diviniation Offense by Sara Raasch
“Sports romance gets a Dungeons & Dragons makeover with the next book in the Magic and Romance series that follows half-giant Orok, forced into a PR relationship with a feisty, fan-favorite cheerleader.” (May 19)
It’s Hard to Be an Animal by Robert Isaacs
“A funny, magical, and tender novel following a lonely, conflict-averse man whose sudden ability to understand animals sends him on a wild romp around NYC and ultimately helps him discover his own voice.” (May 19)
Mortedant’s Peril by R.J. Barker
“In a city of ancient automata, strange spirits, and sleeping gods, a cleric of death finds his own life on the line in this vividly imagined fantasy murder mystery.” (May 19)
My Brilliant AI Boyfriend by Stella Hayward
“In this delightfully hilarious romance, a scientist’s quiet world is completely turned upside-down when the AI program she designed creates a human body for himself—just to ask her out on a date.” (May 19)
Navigators You Can Trust by Patrick Fitzgerald
“Four unlikely heroes must overcome their differences to help humanity navigate through the darkness of never-ending war in this action-packed adventure.” (May 19)
Our Lady of Blades by Sebastien De Castell
The Court of Shadows series continues as “Blood Week may have been banned in Rijou, but the streets still run red—and now murder is being sanctioned by the courts. Only a reckless fool would believe they can beat the system. But then, the Greatcoats have always been more than a little reckless.” (May 19)
Palaces of the Crow by Ray Nayler
“In Ray Nayler’s speculative novel of the recent past, four young teens caught between Nazis and the Red Army survive winter in the woods with the help of a flock of highly intelligent crows with a magnificent secret of their own to protect.” (May 19)
Salomé by Leslie Baird
“A gothic-tinged fever dream that reimagines the young American in France, Salomé follows an adrift journalist who accepts an alluring stranger’s invitation to stay at her home in a small French town, only to uncover a dangerous family history that could bend the course of humanity.” (May 19)
A Sprinkle of Sweet Serendipity by Rachel Linden
“A tantalizing novel about a struggling chocolatier who is granted a magical vision of the future of her dreams, only to realize that her heart may desire something else entirely.” (May 19)
A Star-Cursed Heart by Annie Mare
“Two women are cursed to be mortal enemies, despite their love for each other, in this queer, fantastical novel.” (May 19)
Startup Hell by Caitlin Rozakis
“A hilarious contemporary fantasy about a junior sales witch stuck in corporate hell, who has to evade devilish pacts and her kickass, world-saving, demon-slaying mum to save a (surprisingly hot) demon and work out how to hit her quarterly target.” (May 19)
Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow
“Two scholars of magical veterinary science must put aside their lust and loathing to save the world in the first installment of this whimsical, romantic, dark academia duology.” (May 19)
The Temptation of Charlotte North by Camilla Bruce
“When a sinister spirit invades an isolated community, three lives will be forever altered in this dark gothic fantasy.” (May 19)
Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir by Georgia Summers
“When their mother is burned at the stake, Sýstir and Ada have two options: run or die” in this “lyrical tale of magical realism rooted in Nordic folklore.” (May 19)
Villain by Natalie Zina Walschots
“The Boys meets Assistant to the Villain in the electrifying, sharp, violent, and hilarious sequel to the highly acclaimed novel Hench. Filled with a queer and neurodiverse cast, Villain asks the question: what happens when a diabolically brilliant henchperson looks back at their already storied career and thinks, I can be so much worse.” (May 19)
May 26
Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This is “the sixth book in the multi-million-copy bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series about a cozy Japanese cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time. In a special seat in a fabled Tokyo cafe, you’re offered something irresistible—not just a warm, comforting coffee, but the chance to go back in time to revisit the ones you love.” (May 26)
The Blackthorn Women by Jess Lourey
“A terrible family curse threatens four generations of women in a spellbinding novel of haunting secrets, magic, and healing.” (May 26)
Bromantasy by Máire Roche
“A cozy, queer fantasy about the mortifying ordeal of being known by your totally platonic best friend and the epic quest that might force you to confront the truth.” (May 26)
Cash and Gravity by Perrin Pring
“A thrilling sci-fi western and the first in a genre- and mind-bending series bearing shades of Old Man’s War, Murderbot Diaries, and The Monkey Wrench Gang.” (May 26)
A Curse of Beasts and Magic by Jeaniene Frost
“Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher, except Beauty IS the Beast, and he’s the Warden keeping mythical beings in check in our world and beyond.” (May 26)
Curses, Keys, and Secret Societies by Breanne Randall
“A witch hiding a dangerous secret is thrust into an elite magical academy, where survival means risking her life and her heart—in the standalone follow-up to Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things.” (May 26)
A Dark and Wild Wood by Sarah Nicole Lemon
“Inspired by the tale of Bluebeard, A Dark and Wild Wood is the lush and atmospheric story of a maiden with dark magic who becomes the apprentice to Lord Death—for a price.” (May 26)
Dead Weight by Hildur Knútsdóttir, translated by Mary Robinette Kowal
“An Icelandic night may hide secrets and affairs—or even bodies—in this gruesomely cathartic horror thriller from the author of The Night Guest.” (May 26)
The Gatepost by Tim Weed
“One woman’s quest to find her father pushes her beyond the boundaries of space, time, and the human mind.” (May 26)
The Hollow One by Corinne Westbrook
“Told through the eyes of a child trying to make sense of a world that’s forgotten her, The Hollow One is a literary horror story about longing, memory, and the quiet danger of being unseen. Atmospheric, intimate, and deeply unsettling, this is a ghost story where the scariest things are not what lurks in the dark but what’s already inside the house.” (May 26)
I Hear a New World by Alan Moore
“From legendary storyteller Alan Moore, the second book in the Long London Series, a daringly inventive fantasy novel about murder, mayhem, and magic.” (May 26)
I’ll Watch Your Baby by Neena Viel
“A suffocating and sharp narrative horror novel” that offers “a haunting reimagining of Linda Taylor—known as the original Welfare Queen—pursued, scrutinized, celebrated, and vilified, and the impact her image has had for generations.” (May 26)
A Kiss of Crimson Ash by Anuja Varghese
“Inspired by medieval India’s most epic love stories, this debut romantasy blends rich storytelling, lush worldbuilding, and spice of every variety.” (May 26)
Mayor of Noobtown by Ryan Rimmel
“LitRPG fans: there’s a new player in town. In the first book in Ryan Rimmel’s fantastical Noobtown series, a young man dies only to find himself the hero in a strange new world.” (May 26)
The Midnight Train by Matt Haig
“No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there … A magical, time-travelling love story from the world of The Midnight Library.” (May 26)
The Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi Ishiguro
“The first novel in a dazzling epic fantasy trilogy inspired by Japanese folklore and Studio Ghibli, set within a mythical archipelago brimming with dragons and Sun Spirits, high-tech hackers and bubble tea.” (May 26)
The Redemption Center Is Closed on Sundays by Andrea Hairston
“An extra-dimensional murder mystery with conundrums, alien tricksters, and a dog detective who just doesn’t know the meaning of ‘stay.’” (May 26)
Wings of Life by Meghan Le Fay
“Fans of enemies-to-lovers romance and epic dragon-filled fantasy will be swept into Le Fay’s Wings of Life, where duty, danger, and forbidden desire collide.” (May 26)
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
