New Release Fantasy Books May 2022!
New Release Fantasy Books - May 2022!
There are some amazing fantasy books coming out in May. I’m particularly looking forward to Book of Night by Holly Black and my own debut novel, Initiate!
Hope you find something new to add to your TBR this month. Happy reading!
*This post contains affiliate links to products I recommend. If you make a purchase through these links I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
1st May
1.Jestin Kase and the Masters of Dragon Metal (Dragon Metal Universe Book 1) by J. Michael White
Urban Fantasy | Young Adult | Fantasy Adventure | Coming of Age
Mankind lost the battle for its soul without knowing. Evil won. And no Chosen Ones are coming to the rescue.
Enter Jestin Kase, a foster kid on the run in Chicago. He finds himself drawn into the underbelly of civilization, where the Three Great Schools of Magic are crippled by their own corruption and unable to push back against the Great Dark. Monsters from Babylonian myth, demons, and the enthralled thrive beneath the notice of everyone. Only one force of good remains: an ancient magic called Dragon Metal. And Jestin is determined to learn its secrets.
But how much of a difference can one person make in a world that’s already fallen?
There’s no fate.
No destiny.
Only Metal. And those brave enough to wield it.
May 3rd
2. Book of Night by Holly Black
Urban Fantasy | Adult | Paranormal | Mystery
In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.
Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.
With sharp angles and prose, and a sinister bent, Holly Black is a master of shadow and story stitching. Remember while you read, light isn’t playing tricks in Book of Night, the people are.
3. Seasonal Fears (Middlegame #2) by Seanan McGuire
Urban Fantasy | Adult | Contemporary
Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.
Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.
So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.
But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.
It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all….
“One must maintain a little bit of summer even in the middle of winter.” —Thoreau
Read book #1- Middlegame
4. The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero
Fantasy | Young Adult | Magical Realism | Jewish | Paranormal
Magic will burn you up.
Sent to stay with her aunt in Prague and witness the humble life of an artist, Ilana Lopez—a biracial Jewish girl—finds herself torn between her dream of becoming a violinist and her immigrant parents’ desire for her to pursue a more stable career.
When she discovers a forgotten Jewish cemetery behind her aunt’s cottage, she meets the ghost of a kindhearted boy named Benjamin, who died over a century ago. As Ilana restores Benjamin’s grave, he introduces her to the enchanted side of Prague, where ghosts walk the streets and their kisses have warmth.
But Benjamin isn't the only one interested in Ilana. Rudolph Wassermann, a man with no shadow, has become fascinated with her and the music she plays. He offers to share his magic, so Ilana can be with Benjamin and pursue her passion for violin. But after Ilana discovers the truth about Wassermann and how Benjamin became bound to the city, she resolves to save the boy she loves, even if it means losing him—forever.
5. Elektra: A Novel of the House of Atreus by Jennifer Saint
Fantasy | Adult | Greek Mythology | Feminism
The House of Atreus is cursed. A bloodline tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance. This is the story of three women, their fates inextricably tied to this curse, and the fickle nature of men and gods.
Clytemnestra
The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon - her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband raises a great army against them, and determines to win, whatever the cost.
Cassandra
Princess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it. She is powerless in her knowledge that the city will fall.
Elektra
The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Elektra is horrified by the bloodletting of her kin. But, can she escape the curse, or is her own destiny also bound by violence?
10th May
6. Initiate (The Shadow Atlas #1) by Jenny Sandiford
Urban Fantasy | New Adult | Dark Fantasy | Mages & Magic
Dark magic always comes with a price…
Desperate for a cure for her Shadow Magic that’s spiraling out of control, eighteen-year-old Azalea Sharp steps into the hidden forest deep within the English countryside.
What she finds is the opposite, a way to control magic, and from an unlikely source—her dead father. But she must be willing to pay the price and raise him from the dead.
With her father’s enemies on her doorstep, she is driven into hiding among a secret community of Mages in the Tower of London. There, Azalea quickly learns that not all magic is equal.
But with more than her own life at stake, will the help of a notorious Shadow Mage be enough?
Or will darkness unleash its brutal force on London, leaving no one safe?
Initiate is a spellbinding new adult urban fantasy and the first book in the Shadow Atlas series.
A must-read fantasy filled with dangerous secrets, entwined lives, and forbidden magic. Perfect for those seeking a darker, university aged Harry Potter and for fans of The Mortal Instruments.
7. Kagen the Damned (Kagen the Damned #1) by Jonathan Maberry
Fantasy | Adult | Epic Fantasy | Horror
Sworn by Oath
Kagen Vale is the trusted and feared captain of the palace guard, charged with protection the royal children of the Silver Empire. But one night, Kagen is drugged and the entire imperial family is killed, leaving the empire in ruins.
Abandoned by the Gods
Haunted and broken, Kagen is abandoned by his gods and damned forever. He becomes a wanderer, trying to take down as many of this enemies as possible while plotting to assassinate the usurper–the deadly Witch-king of Hakkia. While all around him magic–long banished from the world—returns in strange and terrifying ways.
Fueled by Rage
To find the royal children and exact his vengeance, Kagen must venture into strange lands, battle bizarre and terrifying creatures, and gather allies for a suicide mission into the heart of the Witch-king’s empire.
Kings and gods will fear him.
Kagen the Damned
8. Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
Fantasy | Adult | Historical Fiction | LGBT | Lesbian | Hollywood | Monsters
From award-winning author Nghi Vo comes a dazzling new novel where immortality is just a casting call away.
It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic.
“No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers.” Luli Wei is beautiful, talented, and desperate to be a star. Coming of age in pre-Code Hollywood, she knows how dangerous the movie business is and how limited the roles are for a Chinese American girl from Hungarian Hill—but she doesn’t care. She’d rather play a monster than a maid.
But in Luli’s world, the worst monsters in Hollywood are not the ones on screen. The studios want to own everything from her face to her name to the women she loves, and they run on a system of bargains made in blood and ancient magic, powered by the endless sacrifice of unlucky starlets like her. For those who do survive to earn their fame, success comes with a steep price. Luli is willing to do whatever it takes—even if that means becoming the monster herself.
Siren Queen offers up an enthralling exploration of an outsider achieving stardom on her own terms, in a fantastical Hollywood where the monsters are real and the magic of the silver screen illuminates every page.
9. Flame and Crystal Thorns (Fae and Crystal Thorns #1) by Kay L. Moody
Fantasy | Young Adult | Spin-off Series | Fae
She vowed she’d never return to Faerie…
But vows were made to be broken.
As a human girl, Chloe is perfectly happy being back in the mortal realm where she belongs. She's even become the town apothecary. When a fae from her past shows up begging her to return to Faerie, she utterly refuses.
But then she finds out an angry group of mortals are using iron to hold an entire castle full of fae hostage. And of course, the hostages include Chloe's older sister and her sister's beloved.
Reluctantly, Chloe packs a bag for what is supposed to be a short trip to Faerie.
But the mortals are more powerful than she expected. To fuel them, they have weapons, flames, and revenge. They won't stop until they control every court in Faerie.
With the help of a new and mysterious magic and a too-handsome-for-his-own-good fae companion, Chloe has to save Faerie before her sister and the other fae are killed.
13th May
10. Dreamtaker (The 13th Zodiac #2) by L. Krauch
Fantasy | Epic Fantasy | Action & Adventure
Fate smiles upon a thriving Chall under the rule of its new king. A time of celebration has come to the once guarded metal walls. Flowers bloom, and people arrive in anticipation of the royal wedding of the King of Chall to his princess.
But...
An unknown evil lurks beyond the eastern mountains. Smoke billows out of an abandoned outpost where a mad scientist tinkers with the blood of a titan. A new threat is born.
Will Fate have the strength to endure?
Only Time will tell..
Read book #1- The 13th Zodiac
17th May
11. All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay
Fantasy | Adult | Historical Fiction | Canada | Science Fiction Fantasy
Returning triumphantly to the brilliantly evoked near-Renaissance world of A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth and Sky, international bestselling author Guy Gavriel Kay deploys his signature ‘quarter turn to the fantastic’ to tell a story of vengeance, power, and love.
On a dark night along a lonely stretch of coast a small ship sends two people ashore. Their purpose is assassination. They have been hired by two of the most dangerous men alive to alter the balance of power in the world. If they succeed, the consequences will affect the destinies of empires, and lives both great and small.
One of those arriving at that beach is a woman abducted by corsairs as a child and sold into years of servitude. Having escaped, she is trying to chart her own course — and is bent upon revenge. Another is a seafaring merchant who still remembers being exiled as a child with his family from their home, for their faith, a moment that never leaves him. In what follows, through a story both intimate and epic, unforgettable characters are immersed in the fierce and deadly struggles that define their time.
All the Seas of the World is a page-turning drama that also offers moving reflections on memory, fate, and the random events that can shape our lives — in the past, and today.
12. Keeper of Scales by Anne Mollova
Fantasy | Young Adult | Epic Fantasy
A princess with a secret. An ancient evil rising. A kingdom caught in the balance.
For centuries, the Trianid has kept the kingdom of Dúramair peaceful and prosperous. Formed by Dúramair’s greatest warrior, an abbess who weaves visions of the future, and the Keeper of Scales, a healer gifted with Sight of the faerie realm, the Trianid has passed on its wisdom and responsibilities generation after generation to its carefully sought and selected apprentices.
Alyen, crown princess of Dúramair, has trained her whole life to be queen. She’s kept her Sight a secret, trusting that the Keeper of Scales will find an apprentice soon—for surely one other candidate can be found. But when news comes from the north of dark magic returning to Dúramair, Alyen is forced to make the hardest decision of her life. A decision that could determine the fate of her kingdom.
Alyen plunges into a world of elemental magic, new friendships, and a budding romance. But when tragedy strikes at the heart of the Trianid, she and her friends find that they are the last hope for Dúramair’s victory in the looming war. Forced to choose between love and duty, Alyen struggles to master her growing powers, knowing that if she fails, she risks destroying everything and everyone she loves.
13. The Stardust Thief (The Sandsea Trilogy, #1) by Chelsea Abdullah
Fantasy | Adult | High Fantasy | Magic | Jinn | One Thousand and One Nights Inspired
Neither here nor there, but long ago…
Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land—at the cost of sacrificing all jinn.
With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie’s past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything—her enemy, her magic, even her own past—is not what it seems, and she must decide who she will become in this new reality.
Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief weaves the gripping tale of a legendary smuggler, a cowardly prince, and a dangerous quest across the desert to find a legendary, magical lamp.
Make sure you add the ones you like to your ‘want to read’ list on Goodreads!
Which ones do you like the look of? Let me know in the comments☺️
