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Happy fall reading to all who celebrate! So, sure, we all know that October is stuffed to the brim with horror book releases. But it is also full of amazing new SFF books about aliens, time travel, magic, dystopian worlds, and more! There is enough unusual activity to be found in this list of eight exciting new sci-fi and fantasy books out in October 2024 to keep Mulder and Scully busy for another season, maybe two. And to keep you up to your eyeballs in awesome reads for the rest of the year!
Today, you’ll find a vast assortment of stories to tickle your SFF fancy. There’s a demon and an angel working together to rebuild a city; an empire powered by the drained magic of necromancers; a cozy, enemies-to-lovers romantasy with swordfights; a new fairy tale set in the world of the classic Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell; a surreal tale of a warrior lost in a post-apocalyptic world after death; a speculative story collection from an award-winning legend of the genre; and more!
Now, let’s get to the books! Remember, please be sure to keep all tentacles and antennae inside the vehicle. And absolutely no flash photography — it frightens the faeries.
The Best New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Out October 2024
The City in Glass by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom, October 1)
This new standalone novel by Vo, the author of The Singing Hills Cycle, sounds delicious! It’s about Vitrine, an immortal demon, who has overseen the city of Azril for centuries. But then the angels have to go and ruin all her fun by burning it to the ground. Devastated, Vitrine binds an angel to her with a curse. But instead of being enemies, they begin to work together and rebuild the city. And when war threatens to level it again, they will have to decide if the city is worth saving a second time.
Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-il Kim, translated by Anton Hur (Tor Books, October 8)
Necromancers and dragons??! YES, PLEASE. Award-winning Korean author Sung-il Kim has conjured up a dark fantasy about an empire that runs on the magic of captive necromancers. In this land lives a young woman with magical abilities who begins to hear the voice of a long-dead sorcerer; a man looking for his best friend’s killer; and a swordswoman seeking help from the seven-eyed dragon confined in chains below a volcano. Put them all together and you get a hell of a good time!
Swordcrossed by Freya Marske (Bramble, October 8)
If you’re looking for a low-stakes romantasy this fall to go with your pumpkin spice, then this is the book for you! Matti is entering an arranged marriage in the hopes of restoring his family’s wealth. But until the marriage, he’s broke, which is why he ends up with the rakish criminal Luka as his swordsman for the ceremony. Luka is trying to put his crime behind him and finds himself giving Matti sword lessons. The two don’t exactly hit it off at first. But as they spend time together in lessons, and then trying to unravel the complications of their situations, the sparks will fly!
The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury Publishing, October 22)
A new story set in the world of the award-winning fantasy Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell! It’s real, I promise. This illustrated tale is about a young girl who talks to animals and the mysterious shadowy figure she encounters on a walk in the wintery woods. Also being released today is a 20th-anniversary edition of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and a new paperback edition of Clarke’s story collection The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories.
Kree: A Post-Exotic Novel by Manuela Draeger, translated by Lia Swope Mitchell (Univ Of Minnesota Press, October 22)
This book sounds so bananapants, I don’t even know where to start. Kree is a warrior in a post-apocalyptic world who winds up lost in the land after death. In this city, ruled by the Brothers, she is free to live a life of peace, as long as she follows their rules. She has a friend who hatched from an egg, needles in her skull, and hallucinations about blood rain. And that’s just for starters. But when things stop going right, Kree will have to embark on a quest to rectify them.
Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions by Nalo Hopkinson (Tachyon Publications, October 29)
It’s time to celebrate! Nalo Hopkinson, author of Brown Girl in the Ring and The Salt Roads, returns with her first story collection in almost a decade. These Afro-Caribbean-inspired stories contain a haunting at a funeral, two scientists who discover alien remains, a woman and her cyborg pig living in the future, and more!
SFF New Releases for Kids and Teens
We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord by Garth Nix (Scholastic Press, October 15)
From the author of Sabriel comes a new historical science fiction read! Kim has always been a little jealous of the attention his younger sister, Eila, receives for being so smart. One day, while the brother and sister are in the woods, they find a strange object, and Eila is affected by it. Soon, Eila has the ability to control people with her mind, and she uses her intelligence to start planning a takeover of the world. Can Kim keep his sister out of his head and save the planet?
Chai Jinxed by Emi Pinto (HarperCollins, October 22)
Things aren’t going well for Misha. She’s been expelled from school — again — and a rival tea shop has opened across from her family’s business. Misha decides the best way to save her family’s shop is to attend Margaret’s Academy of Tea and Brewing. If she can learn all the tips and tricks, she can help the business stay afloat. But the girl from across the street is there, too, and Misha has a knack for finding chaos and casting spells that cause disasters. Can she turn her luck around when she needs it the most?
Bonus Mentions
Because I can’t just stop at eight books, in October, be sure to watch for The Great When: A Long London Novel by Alan Moore, The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch, Januaries: Stories of Love, Magic & Betrayal by Olivie Blake, and House of Frank by Kay Synclaire. And for sequels, we get The Vanquishers: Rise of the Wrecking Crew by Kalynn Bayron, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman, House of Elephants (Witchlings #3) by Claribel A. Ortega, and Absolution: A Southern Reach Novel by Jeff VanderMeer.
There are also a bunch of amazing SFF titles out in paperback this month, including Starter Villain by John Scalzi, Starling House by Alix E. Harrow, Just a Pinch of Magic by Alechia Dow, and The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey.
If you want to learn about more sci-fi and fantasy books, check out 9 Twisted Science Fiction Novels About Time Travel and Must Be The Season of the Queer YA Witch. And be sure to sign up for our SFF newsletter, Swords and Spaceships, and listen to our SFF podcast, SFF Yeah!
Finally, you can also find a full list of new releases in the magical New Release Index, carefully curated by your favorite Book Riot editors, organized by genre and release date.
