What Are The Best Latest Fantasy Novels To Read This Year?

Honestly, I get most of my recommendations from BookTok, but the algorithm is a fickle beast. It pushed 'The Serpent and the Wings of Night' by Carissa Broadbent on me hard, and I devoured it in a day. It's a vampire fantasy romance centered on a human girl adopted by a vampire king, who enters a deadly tournament to win her freedom. It's fast-paced, romantic, and brutal—think 'The Hunger Games' meets 'From Blood and Ash.' It's not high literature, but it's incredibly entertaining and a great entry point for romance readers dipping into fantasy.

I've been chewing through new fantasy like a kid with a stack of library cards, and a few titles have kept me up way past my bedtime. If you want sweeping, immersive worldbuilding that still hits on human politics and queer relationships, start with 'A Day of Fallen Night' — it’s lush, complex, and reads like a map you want to explore slowly. I found myself pausing to picture whole cities while sipping terrible instant coffee on late nights; it’s one of those books that rewards patience and returns favors with big emotional payoffs. For something sharper and more intellectually discomforting, try 'Babel' — it plays with language as power and made me rethink how translation and empire can be woven into fantasy. Then slide into 'The Golden Enclaves' if you liked magical school vibes but want them darker and more bittersweet; the stakes feel very real, and the pacing is snackable (I blasted it on a single weekend and felt delightfully terrible about neglecting chores). Lastly, if you’re craving adventure that smells of salt and spice, 'The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi' is a brilliant, swashbuckling change of pace with strong historical texture. If you listen to audiobooks, grab narrators for 'Babel' and 'Amina' — both performances add layers I didn't expect. My pick depends on mood: epic escape, intellectual bite, dark school drama, or sea-faring fun. Pick one based on which vibe you need right now, and don’t be afraid to swap if the first chapter doesn’t stick — that happens to me all the time.

'The Dark Forest' by Cixin Liu (translated by Joel Martinsen) is a must, though it's sci-fi. For pure fantasy, 'Vita Nostra' by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko is a mind-bending magical school novel that's less Harry Potter and more a terrifying, philosophical descent into existential horror. It's not new this year, but the recent sequel finally got translated, so it's back on my radar. It's the most unique and disturbing take on 'education as transformation' I've ever encountered.