These 12 fantasy novels dive into a world of magic and mythology

Fantasy today involves more than elves, dwarves, and goblins. The best in the genre are not just building alternate worlds; they’re looking to myths from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East to hopefully offer us more than the familiar. Moreover, they’re an engaging way to explore issues of our time and potential future. Here are 12 fantasy novels to help readers dive into a world of magic and mythology.

12 PHOTOS

1. To Cage a God, Elizabeth May (384 pages, DAW Books)

After years on the run, Sera and Galina can no longer escape their destiny – their mother imbued them with the power to bring down the tyrant ruling class, who are born with the power of the gods. It’s time for them to join the rebellion but can they survive this Imperial Russian-inspired political heist?

2. Five Broken Blades, Mai Corland (474 pages, Red Tower)

Six of Crows fans, eat your hearts out. The Korean-American author’s fantasy debut effortlessly melds six distinct voices – a royal spymaster, a thief, a hitman, a poison maiden, a noble, and an exiled prince, murderers all, who must work together to steal the crown and kill the God King. If they can manage not to betray one another, they might just pull it off.

3. Saints of Storm and Sorrow, Gabriella Buba (480 pages, Titan Books)

Gabriella Buba’s Filipino-inspired fantasy debut is a wrenching story of rage wrought by the wreckage of colonization. Living a life of feigned piety as a novice, Lunurin hides that she is goddess-blessed as she protects abandoned mixed-race girls from the convent's horrific abuse. Then, one day, she makes a devastating discovery that will awaken a storm of fury.

4. The Curse of Sins, Kate Dramis (640 pages, Sourcebooks Casablanca)

An all-consuming romantasy to rival Fourth Wing, the sequel to The Curse of Saints does not suffer from second-book woes. Aya is the foretold second saint destined to save the realm, which means the kingdoms want her submissive or die. War is coming to their shores and Aya and Will keep secrets to protect themselves from the queen. It seems no matter what they decide people will die. Kate Dramis’s writing is subtle but devastatingly effective.

5. A Vicious Game, Melissa Blair (430 pages, Union Square & Co.)

The Canadian Indigenous author’s third book in the Halfling Saga sees the rebellion in disarray and a new tyrant king on the throne. To free the subservient halflings from their mortal colonizers, Keera, Riven, and Killian must rally the remaining elders before their powers disappear.

6. The Will of the Many, James Islington (640 pages, Saga Press)

From the very first sentence, the Australian author keeps readers on the edge of their seats with this riveting new series. Years after the slaughter of his family, Vis Telimus finds himself at the Academy among the children of the elite. Although he promises to serve the Catenan Republic to avoid discovery, Vis must discreetly solve a murder, search for an ancient weapon and uncover secrets that will tear the Republic apart.

7. The Weavers of Alamaxa, Hadeer Elsbai (352 pages, Harper Voyager)

Hadeer Elsbai draws from her Egyptian roots to build a tale that explodes with rage at the injustices faced by women. Nehal and Giorgina come together despite their differences and while this conclusion to the Alamaxa Duology is action-packed, where it really succeeds is in the depiction of female relationships – both platonic and romantic.

8. The Bone Shard Daughter, Andrea Stewart (435 pages, Orbit)

It’s not easy to get the queen of romantasy to blurb your book, but Stewart has the blessing of Sarah J. Maas. This wondrous tale borrows from Chinese mythology. The Emperor’s mastery of bone-shard magic has allowed him to rule. When he refuses to recognize his daughter, Lin, as heir, she decides to master the forbidden art in secret. But the magic comes at a great price.

9. The Wings Upon Her Back, Samantha Mills (336 pages, Tachyon Publications)

The Hugo and Nebula award-winning short-story author now has a debut novel that tackles what happens when censorship and misinformation by the state disillusion a warrior. In this case it’s Zenya, who joined the mechanically modified warrior sect as a young teen. Now named Zemolai, she makes a terrible error that leaves her wingless as she begins a perilous journey to uncover the truth.

10. The Wolf and the Woodsman, Ava Reid (448 pages, Harper Voyager)

Two people on opposing sides clash over what is truly righteous or evil. Slowly, Évike, a woman born in a pagan village, and a woodsman, secretly the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, build common ground in identifying the hypocrisy in religious zeal. A haunting story that revels in the darkness of Hungarian folklore and expertly zeroes in on the power religion holds over identity.

11. House of Open Wounds, Adrian Tchaikovsky (608 pages, Head of Zeus)

The British author’s Children of Time series won a Hugo Award in 2023. The second book in the Tyrant Philosophers series follows the pacifist priest Yasnic as he works in a field hospital that sees some of the worst cases in a bloody war. The Pallaseen are invading and destroying other lands to seek “perfection” but their search for utopia has led to the suffering of many, requiring the field hospital’s crew to work in secret lest they be disbanded for working with unapproved magic.

12. Heavenbreaker, Sara Wolf (424 pages, Red Tower)

If Philip K. Dick and Terry Gilliam wrote a soap opera with a Hunger Games-style live broadcast, this would be it. Civilization has broken off into seven space stations after Earth was destroyed by aliens and the various houses hold jousting tournaments in some of the few enormous machines used in the war. Bent on revenge and destroying those who killed her mother, Synali von Hauteclare makes a deal to become one of their champions.