At a Glance
- January 2026 launches a wave of new sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles.
- Notable releases include Charles Stross’s The Regicide Report, Alastair Reynolds’s Halcyon Years, and Seanan McGuire’s Through Gates of Garnet and Gold.
- The lineup features reimaginings, sequels, and fresh debut novels across a wide range of subgenres.
- Why it matters: These books offer fresh stories for genre fans and expand the literary landscape.
The new year starts with an impressive slate of genre fiction, featuring works from celebrated authors and fresh voices alike. From horror-infused Oz retellings to time-travel epics, January 2026 delivers a diverse array of stories that will keep readers hooked.
Reimaginings & Retellings
- The Bloody Brick Road: A Wizard of Oz Retelling – Maude Royer
Maude Royer
> “In this wildly creative, horror-soaked reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, nothing is as it seems in Dorothy’s dystopian nightmare.”
- The Luminous Fairies and Mothra – Shin’ichiro Nakamura, Takehiko Fukunaga, Yoshie Hotta
Shin’ichiro Nakamura
> “The original story that hatched Mothra, one of the most beloved monsters in the ‘kaijuverse’-available in English for the first time.”
- The Magic of Untamed Hearts – Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
> “After several years stuck as a ghost, Sky Flores learns to reconnect with the living again with the help of her handsome neighbor in this lush romance.”
- The Midnight Carousel – Fiza Saeed McLynn
Fiza Saeed McLynn
> “The Night Circus meets Water for Elephants in this enchanting, darkly glittering story of grief, obsession, revenge, and enduring love.”
- The East Wind – Alexandria Warwick
Alexandria Warwick
> “Two hearts circle each other in the eye of the storm in this highly anticipated follow-up to The Hurricane Wars-prepare for more enemies-to-lovers romance, magical adventures, and political schemes in this Southeast Asian-inspired world.”
- Fire Sword and Sea – Vanessa Riley
Vanessa Riley
> “The real Pirates of the Caribbean were Black, and women! From Vanessa Riley, acclaimed author of Queen of Exiles, comes a sweeping, immersive saga based on the life of the legendary 17th-century pirate Jacquotte Delehaye.”
- A Vow in Vengeance – Jaclyn Rodriguez
Jaclyn Rodriguez
> “Sexy, action-packed, and brimming with magic, A Vow in Vengeance is an unputdownable romantasy debut.”
Series & Sequels
- Through Gates of Garnet and Gold – Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire
> “A fan-favorite character returns in this action-packed installment of the Hugo Award-winning Wayward Children series. After Nancy was cast out of the Halls of the Dead and forced to enroll at Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children, she never believed she’d find her door again, and when she did, she didn’t look back.”
- The Younger Gods – Katie Shepard
Katie Shepard
> “Danger looms when a former priestess sails to the realm of the dead to find her fallen lover, only to discover the gods she thought she defeated are preparing for war.”
- A God of Countless Guises – Bradley P. Beaulieu
Bradley P. Beaulieu
> “Long ago, the elder gods devised a brutal contest – a game of ascension, where contestants gained power by killing their own. The prize? Godhood. Now, that game is stirring once again.”
- A Monsoon Rising – Thea Guanzon
Thea Guanzon
> “Two hearts circle each other in the eye of the storm in this highly anticipated follow-up to The Hurricane Wars-prepare for more enemies-to-lovers romance, magical adventures, and political schemes in this Southeast Asian-inspired world.”
- The Regicide Report – Charles Stross
Charles Stross
> “An occult assassin, a living god and an elderly queen face off in the thrilling conclusion to Charles Stross’ Hugo Award-winning Laundry Files series.”
- The Box Full of Darkness – Simone St. James
Simone St. James
> “A pulse-pounding story about siblings who return to the house they fled 18 years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his haunting request: Come home.”
- The Elsewhere Express – Samantha Sotto Yambao
Samantha Sotto Yambao
> “When you lose your way in life, the Elsewhere Express just might find you. Step on board the train that may take you to your life’s purpose in this wistful, Ghibli-esque fantasy from the bestselling author of Water Moon.”
- The Friend of the Family – Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz
> “A girl liberated from a carnival sideshow discovers her mysterious purpose in a moving novel about family, sacrifice, and transcendent love.”
- George Falls Through Time – Ryan Collett
Ryan Collett
> “Less meets the year 1300 in this exhilarating and thoughtfully genre-defying literary novel about a man transported through time in a moment of extreme stress, whose modern anxieties are replaced by medieval brutalities.”
- The Poet Empress – Shen Tao
Shen Tao
> “Wei Yin is desperate. After the fifth death of a sibling, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves … To save herself and the nation, she must survive the dangers of court, learn to read in secret, and compose the most powerful spell of all. A ballad of love. . . and death.”
- To Leave a Warrior Behind – Jon Tattrie
Jon Tattrie
> “Discover the untold story of Charles R. Saunders, the little known figure who wrote groundbreaking fantasy worlds and redefined an entire genre. Blending biography with a tribute to Saunders’ forgotten literary legacy, To Leave a Warrior Behind uncovers the life of an enigmatic recluse, and the worlds he left behind.”
- Twelve Months – Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher
> “Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, has always managed to save the day-but, in this powerful entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files, can he save himself? … It’s been a tough year. More than ever, the city needs Harry Dresden the wizard-but after loss and grief, is there enough left of Harry Dresden the man to rise to the challenge?”
- The Twice-Wanted Witch – Katie Hallahan
Katie Hallahan
> “It’s been six months since McKenna Ellerbeck killed her second Archdemon, saved Arcadia Commons, and earned a spot on the Witches Council. Things should be good, right? Instead she’s overworked, underpaid, disrespected by her fellow Council members, all while fighting demons on a regular basis and suffering through having her mother as a roommate.”
- Sauúti Terrors Short Stories – Eugen Bacon, Stephen Embleton, Cheryl S. Ntumy
Eugen Bacon
> “A powerful dark science fiction collection in a stunning edition, bringing back the revolutionary Afrocentric Sauútiverse.”
- The Sea Child – Linda Wilgus
Linda Wilgus
> “In this enchanting, adventurous debut novel, a band of seafaring smugglers lands on the Cornish coast, where a young widow with a mysterious past becomes entangled in their schemes-and with their charismatic captain.”
- Ballad of the Bone Road – A.C. Wise
A.C. Wise
> “In the glittering city of Port Astor, where fae roads criss-cross human highways and ghosts whisper to the living, nothing is ever as it seems.”
- Enchanting the Fae Queen – Stephanie Burgis
Stephanie Burgis
> “Another irreverent, sparkling, and sexy installment in the Queens of Villainy series, where a seductive fae queen meets her unexpected match in the enemy empire’s valiant general.”
- Halcyon Years – Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Reynolds
> “A private investigator is hired to look into a mysterious, high-profile death aboard the starship Halcyon in this fresh new science fiction masterpiece from the creator of the beloved Revelation Space universe. Strap in for a gripping murder mystery.”
- Hearthspace – Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter
> “Thousands of years ago, a massive colony ship arrived at the Hearth-the celestial birthplace of millions of planets, ranging from habitable earth-like worlds to unimaginable hellscapes of pressure and heat. Using lightsails to navigate, humanity has spread itself across dozens of these worlds. But they have also forgotten their beginnings, where they came from… and a terrible secret is about to be unveiled.”
- Monster in the Moonlight – Annelise Ryan
Annelise Ryan
> “Under the light of the full moon, a quiet rural lane becomes the scene of a shocking crime that may be the work of a mythical monster.”
- On Sundays She Picked Flowers – Yah Yah Scholfield
Yah Yah Scholfield
> “In this sinister and surreal Southern Gothic debut, a woman escapes into the uncanny woods of southern Georgia and must contend with ghosts, haints, and most dangerous of all, the truth about herself.”
- Passage to Tokyo – Poppy Kuroki
Poppy Kuroki
> “In the second book in the Ancestor Memories historical fantasy series, a young woman finds herself back in 1920s Tokyo as Japan enters a new and dangerous era-and a deadly tragedy awaits her city.”
- Silver & Blood – Jessie Mihalik
Jessie Mihalik
> “On a deadly mission to kill the mythical beast that has been haunting her woods, a desperate mage finds her fate intertwined with the handsome, powerful man who saves her in this dark and sexy romantasy.”
- Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead – K.J. Parker
K.J. Parker
> “Not even the Church of the Invincible Sun is invincible-and somebody has to do its dirty work. Enter Sister Svangerd and her accompanying priest, both first-rate practitioners. Their mission is simple: to make a meddlesome princess disappear (permanently). To get to her, they must attend the legendary Ecumenical Council, the once-in-a-century convening of the greatest spiritual minds the world has to offer. But when they arrive, they find instead a den of villainy that would make the most hardened criminal blush.”
- This House Will Feed – Maria Tureaud
Maria Tureaud
> “Amidst the devastation of Ireland’s Great Famine, a young woman is salvaged from certain death when offered a mysterious position at a remote manor house haunted by a strange power and the horror of her own memories in this chillingly evocative historical novel braided with gothic horror and supernatural suspense.”
- To Ride a Rising Storm – Moniquill Blackgoose
Moniquill Blackgoose
> “A young indigenous woman and her dragon fight for the independence of their homeland in this epic sequel to the bestselling and multi-award-winning To Shape a Dragon’s Breath.”
- We Who Have No Gods – Liza Anderson
Liza Anderson
> “In a world of witches, a human woman must hunt or be hunted in this explosive debut novel filled with dangerous rivals, guarded secrets, and simmering chemistry.”
- The Wolf and the Crown of Blood – Elizabeth May
Elizabeth May
> “A princess and a war-weary god meet in the ashes of a broken city, forging a pact in blood and sacrifice.”
Key Takeaways
- January 2026 brings a diverse slate of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books from celebrated authors.
- The lineup includes reimaginings, sequels, and debut novels that span many sub-genres.
- Readers can explore fresh stories and classic retellings in one comprehensive release window.
The new year’s genre fiction surge promises fresh adventures and unforgettable characters for fans of all tastes.
