17 new sci fi and fantasy books to read this fall 2022

Did you wonder why every fall, so many books are highly anticipated? It turns out, readers buy the most books between Labor Day and Christmas — and science fiction and fantasy are no exception. N.K. has many new titles this fall. Jemisin, Stephen King, S.A. Chakraborty, Brandon Sanderson, Neon Yang, Alan Moore, C.L. Polk, Mary Robinette Kowal, and even… J.R.R. Tolkien? (In a manner to speak, no.

These are the 17 top-rated science fiction and fantasy titles that will be available on shelves from Sept. 1, 2022, through Dec 31, 2022.

Stephen King’s Fairy Tale (Sept.

Simon and Schuster

At some point in the early days of the pandemic, Stephen King reportedly asked himself, “What could you write that would make you happy?” The resulting novel, Fairy TaleIt is the story of Charlie Reade (high school athlete). When Charlie starts doing odd jobs for a reclusive old man, he discovers a portal to another world — “a vast deserted city” and a “sprawling palace with glass towers so high their tips pierced the clouds.”

Nona, the Ninth from Tamsyn muir (Sept. 13, 2007)

Tor Publishing Image

Everyone’s favorite space necromancers are back in the third installment of Muir’s Locked Tomb series. This follows the release of Gideon The NinthAnd Harrow the Ninet,The interplanetary story of the Nine Houses is centered on a woman called Nona who recently woken up in a body without any memories of her previous life. Her original intention was for her to play a role in the third book of a planned trilogy. Alecto, the Ninth, but according to Carl Engle-Laird (Muir’s editor at Tordotcom), Nona “could not be contained, and demanded her own volume,” which will make Alecto, the NinthThis is the fourth (and final) book for fall 2023.

Bliss Montage By Ling Ma (Sept. 13, 2009)

Macmillan.

The author of one of the best novels of the 2010s — Separation (no, not the show) — returns with a brilliant short story collection that straddles many different genres, including science fiction, fantasy, and horror, all the while staying grounded in everyday realism. For a sneak peek, check out “Peking Duck” in The New Yorker or “Office Hours” in The Atlantic.

Silas House – Lark Ascending, Sept. 27,

Workman Publishing

House’s dystopian seventh novel is a clever reversal of the Irish migration to America during the potato famine of the 1840s. In the near future, as the United States succumbs to wildfires, a family of American refugees flees across the Atlantic to Ireland, “the last country not yet overrun by extremists.” Of course, things are never what they seem when protagonists seek a safe haven in an apocalypse.

The Famous Magician by César Aira (Sept. 27)

Image: The New Directions

Aira’s short books are the literary equivalent of a Périgord black truffle — small, rich delicacies worth savoring and contemplating. This novelette, 48 pages long, is about an aging writer who comes across a magician while shopping at a bookstore. The magician, Ovando, presents the writer with a “devil’s bargain”: omnipotent power in exchange for never reading or writing again.

Neon Yang’s The Genesis of Misery (Sept. 27, 2008)

Macmillan.

Following their Hugo and Nebula award nominations, the Tensorate series novella received Hugo and Hugo awards. The Black Tides of HeavenYang returns with their first complete novel. The Genesis of MiseryThe story reimagines Joan of Arc in the role of a space-fantasy soldier named Misery Nomaki who hears an angel’s voice inside their heads. It’s also the first book in a new series called the Nullvoid Chronicles.

Ray Nayler, The Mountain in the Sea (Oct.

Macmillan.

Do you have a long wait for a book about humans creating a society of octopi, or has it been your whole life? It’s over now! In Nayler’s debut, a marine biologist travels to an isolated Vietnamese archipelago to study a new (deadly) cephalopod species with off-the-charts intelligence. But in true Michael Crichton fashion, a tech company has already purchased the islands and evacuated the locals — and it’s got its own agenda for the octopi.

Illuminations of Alan Moore (Oct. 11, 2008)

Bloomsbury.

Alan Moore’s first collection of short stories, known best for creating comic books such as “The Comic Book,” is featured in this story. Watchmen V for Vendetta from HellAnd Batman: The Killing Joke. These stories, which have been in development for more than 40 years, are a mix of genres and exciting. There are ghosts, sorcerers, creatures, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and a long novella, “What We Can Know About Thunderman,” that fictionalizes the history of comic books.

The Spare Man (Oct. 11), Mary Robinette Kowal

Tor Publishing Image

Tor is billing this as “The Thin Man in space.” The Spare ManIs a mystery about a luxury, interplanetary cruiseship from the author? Calculating StarsThis novel won both the Hugo & Nebula awards in 2019, and was also nominated for best novel. Tesla Crane, the inventor-heiress, decides to take on the investigation herself after her husband is accused of murdering them while they honeymoon.

S.A. Chakraborty’s The River of Silver (Oct. 11, 2008)

HarperCollins Image

Chakraborty’s Daevabad trilogy — The City of Brass, The Kingdom of CopperAnd Empire of Gold — is among the most celebrated fantasy series of the century so far. This collection of stories takes place in the same universe as the first and contains new characters and older characters. It also includes never-before-seen material to expand the world’s scope.

Olivie Blake, The Atlas Paradox (Oct. 25, 2008)

Tor Publishing Image

Blake’s self-published series starter, The Atlas SixTikTok was a huge success last year. It became a viral hit and Tor bought it (and all of the other books in the trilogy). Amazon revealed in December 2021 that a TV adaptation was planned for the series. Now, the second novel will be available on October 15. The series will follow the adventures of the six magicians who were recruited to the Alexandrian Society. This secret group is dedicated to protecting lost knowledge that has been passed on from the ancient civilisations.

N.K. Jemisin (Nov. 1)

Image: Orbit

Who can forget 2020’s Our City, Jemisin’s mold-breaking novel about five people who become living avatars of the boroughs of New York? This sequel will complete the Great Cities duology, as the New York avatars team up with other cities around the world to defeat “the Enemy” and her puppet: a mayoral candidate hellbent on making New York whiter and wealthier.

C.L. Polk (Nov. 8).

Tor

Polk won the World Fantasy Award in their debut novel. Witchmark in 2019, reimagines midcentury Chicago as a breeding ground for “divine monsters” and serial killers, like the White City Vampire. Even though I knew the end,This noir romance is between a magic detective and her love, but also contains a supernatural murder mystery.

Brandon Sanderson, The Lost Metal (Nov. 15, 2009)

Tor

Sanderson’s original Mistborn trilogy is widely considered one the best fantasy series ever written. The Lost MetalThis is the final and fourth book of the Wax and Wayne Tetralogy. It was published 300 years after events in the Trilogy. Are you still confused? You are now at the Cosmere.

Africa Risen edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight (Nov. 15)

Tor

The anthology contains 32 stories of science fiction and fantasy by African authors living in Africa and the diaspora. You can expect plenty of robots and djinn as well as cyborgs.

Tread of Angels, Rebecca Roanhorse (Nov.15)

Image: Saga Press

Follow the lead of angelsThis story is unique in its setting and content. In 1883, the Colorado Mountains see a gold rush as a new element known as Divinity under the ground. But this isn’t our Colorado — it’s home to the descendants of demons and angels, many years after an ancient war.

The Fall of Númenor by J.R.R. Tolkien (Nov. 15)

HarperCollins Image

Fans of Prime Video’s The Rings of Power will eat up this newly expanded collection of writings about the Second Age of Middle-earth (the period of time covered by the new TV series), including Tolkien’s “Atlantis” myth set in the island kingdom of Númenor, the rise of Sauron, and the forging of the rings of power.