Hello, friends! 2026 is shaping up to be a banner year for fantasy novels, with a TON of great books headed our way in the coming months. If I had to guess why, I’d say it’s partly because of the continuing romantasy readership surge, and partly because readers need to escape **waves hands at world**.
With so many books on the horizon, it means there are a lot of books that need to be shouted out. So for today’s post, I’m highlighting five exciting upcoming fantasy novels from Black authors—including four debuts!
Here are the at-a-glance titles, so you can go straight to placing your preorders:
- Black as Diamond by U. M. Agoawike (Bindery Books, March 3)
- Year of the Mer by L. D. Lewis (S&S/Saga Press, April 7)
- Witch Queen Rising by Savannah Stephens (Ace, April 21)
- The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass by Leslye Penelope (Redhook, August 11)
- Death Card by Jasmine Smith (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, August 11)
All Access members, read on for more about these five fantasy books by Black authors out in 2026.
Black as Diamond by U. M. Agoawike (Bindery Books, March 3)
If you like your fantasy novels on the scary side, pick up this dark fantasy debut about a winged warrior who stumbles upon a curse while searching for his brother’s missing squadron. Struck by an unbreakable, fatal curse, Asaru joins with former healer Wren to find the squadron and a cure for the curse while running from hired killers.
Year of the Mer by L. D. Lewis (S&S/Saga Press, April 7)
This is a queer dark fantasy debut that explores the story of The Little Mermaid long after Arielle landed her prince! Arielle’s granddaughter, Yemi, is set to inherit the throne of Ixia after her father is assassinated, until a coup forces her and her family into exile. Furious over her family’s treatment, Yemi looks for help from Ursula the sea-witch, who sees in Yemi the perfect way to get her own revenge.
Witch Queen Rising by Savannah Stephens (Ace, April 21)
In this fantasy debut set in New Orleans, the outcast daughter of a former Prime witchkin must return to take her place. Seraphine’s mother died under mysterious circumstances, and Phine herself has always been mistreated and misunderstood by her people, due to her powerful abilities. Now, she must win the witchkins over while trying to fight a curse that is slowly poisoning them.
The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass by Leslye Penelope (Redhook, August 11)
Award-winning author Leslye Penelope is back with this thrilling fantasy set just before the possible Y2K crisis. Five years ago, Zahara’s twin sister, Annica, disappeared. Since that day, no one, not even Zahara’s mother, remembers that Annica existed. Now it’s December of 1999, and Zahara has found proof of her sister’s existence, but her investigation has also unearthed some pretty dangerous family secrets.
Death Card by Jasmine Smith (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, August 11)
And last but not least is this queer YA fantasy debut about witchcraft and tarot. While giving a reading in her family’s occult shop, eighteen-year-old Mikaela Broussard has a vision of the young woman across from her stabbing her to death. So in order to find out why this lovely stranger, Joelle, might want to kill her, Mikaela decides to befriend her…only to start falling for the one person she knows might murder her!
Okay, star bits, now take the knowledge you have learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to know more about books, I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the BR podcast All the Books! and on Instagram.
Get access to exclusive content and features with an All Access subscription on Book Riot. Unlimited paywalled content The New Release Index, a powerful tool for finding your next favorite book Community features like commenting and poll participationJoin All Access to unlock members-only content
English (US) · 