Readers, Start Your Engines! 8 Rad New SFF Books Out January 2025

A new Heather O’Neill novel is always a reason to celebrate! In this dark fairytale, a young girl lives in the small forgotten European country of Elysia. In this country, stories of fantasies and fairytales fuel the culture, and Sofia’s mother is a revered writer. But when Elysia comes under attack, the children are sent away on a train. Sofia’s mother gives her a manuscript to take with her, but when the train breaks down in the woods, she loses it and becomes lost in the forest. Now Sofia will find out if she can utilize any of the lessons she has learned from the stories and find her way out of the darkness.

From the author of the Celestial Kingdom series comes a standalone fantasy romance! Liyen is a mortal royal who vows to end her kingdom’s obligation to the immortal guards when she takes the throne. She is now the leader after the death of her grandfather, whose death she plans to avenge. When she is called to the Immortal Realm, she cozies up the one immortal she thinks can best help her agenda: the dangerous God of War. But as she forges ahead with her plans, she must also now fight an attraction to the God of War, or risk jeopardizing her life and her kingdom.

I am a big fan of weird-ass things suddenly appearing and disrupting the Earth, so I think this sounds awesome! When a tower with the word “ascend” suddenly appears in the sky in England, 13 strangers will have to traverse its many stories before the clock runs out if they want to save themselves and possibly the world. But death is following closely behind, and without any idea what they’re headed for, the odds are against them. (And for more sudden weird-ass appearance stories, also check out Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, Ascension by Nicholas Binge, and An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green.)

Be gay, do crime: This queer, debut sci-fi novel is a heist story! Once upon a time in future Hawai’i, Edie trusted Angel, and now Edie has spent eight years in prison. Womp womp. Then Edie gets word that early parole is available—they just have to do one last job. For Angel. Edie thinks it would be outrageous to trust Angel again. But they’d also really like to get out of prison, so Edie agrees. What could go wrong?

How mage I help you? Naila is a student at the legendary academy for mages in the city of Amoria. Things aren’t going so well—she’s having a hard time controlling her powers. If she fails to do so, she will be exiled, or even destroyed by her own powers. When a tragedy strikes the Academy, Naila is saved by Haelius Akana, the most powerful living mage. Under his tutelage, Naila begins to become in control of her powers. But as a civil war starts to brew and Haelius’s enemies move closer, time may run out before she can use them.

This is a queer debut fantasy set in the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia. Bennie is risking everything to prove that the dangerous conditions in the mines are killing the workers, including her best friend. When she finds a strange woman half-dead in a dirty mine slough, she tells Bennie she is the witch of the mountain. Motheater is the protector of the mountain, and with Bennie’s help, they may be able to save the mountains from the coal industry.