Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading.
Twitter: @MissLiberty
Holy cats, I am so excited about the 2026 slate of science fiction and fantasy books! When you love to read, every Tuesday is like your birthday, with more presents for you to unwrap. Unfortunately, I would use up all the internet if I made a list of all the books I am looking forward to picking up this year. So instead, on top of these sequels and these debuts, here are two SFF books I can’t wait to get my hands on, as well as three more from other Rioters.
And you can check out the whole list of Book Riot’s most anticipated books of 2026 for even more! (You can use the menu at the top to filter for fantasy or science fiction picks.)
2 of My Most Anticipated Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2026
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett (Del Rey, February 17)
A 1920s cat shelter that serves as a front for an illegal magic shop? YES, PLEASE. Agnes Aubert needs a place for her cat shelter, and Havelock is a cranky magician and landlord who needs a business to make his establishment seem legit. I’m already sold; I don’t need to know any more, although I am hoping that maybe the cats get to do magic, too.
The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu (Tor Books, April 7)
This is the debut novel from Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author John Chu, about quantum physics and generational trauma. It follows Ellie and her family as their world starts to fall apart. Ellie must make a tough choice when she discovers a device that helps her ailing mother get better but causes the rest of the universe to break down.
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3 of Book Rioters’ Most Anticipated Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2026
Here are more amazing SFF books coming this year that other Book Riot writers are excited about. (Yes, I am also excited about them.) You can browse our full list of Most Anticipated Books for more upcoming sci-fi and fantasy releases.
Hell’s Heart by Alexis Hall (Tor Books, March 10)
If Sky Daddy was 2025’s unhinged take on Moby-Dick, Hell’s Heart is 2026’s. Given that Moby-Dick is my favorite book of all time, I am always eager to read anything that claims it as an influence. This spacefaring version follows the narrator I in pursuit of spermaceti, a hallucinogen produced by Leviathans swimming in Jupiter’s currents. With women cast in the roles of Ishmael, Ahab, and Queequeg, this book promises a story even more queer than the original, and that’s saying something. —Isabelle Popp
Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom, March 24)
After experiencing the brilliance of her novella The River Has Roots and the Bigolas Dikolas Wolfwood-famed and stunning This is How You Lose the Time War, co-authored with Max Gladstone, I am chomping at the bit for Amal El-Mohtar’s upcoming short story collection. Mohtar’s writing has always struck me as masterful, lyrical, and mesmerizing, and I can’t wait to dive into the full scope of her talent. Seasons of Glass and Iron is sure to be a compendium of beautiful stories, folktales, and imaginings of our world’s possibilities. You don’t want to miss it. —Lyndsie Manusos
Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsai (Wednesday Books, April 14)
This debut gives us a look at Chinese folklore from a bit of a different angle. In it, Kang Siying is a necromancy priestess who must take a dangerous job retrieving the corpse of a prince for a big commission to take care of her ailing father. But when she reanimates the dead prince, he doesn’t respond to her like reanimated corpses usually do. Instead of obeying her commands, he comes back as himself, but he needs life force, or qi, to stay on the earthly plane. The two journey around the countryside, purifying evil spirits for qi for the prince, and uncovering secrets along the way—secrets that could threaten the entire kingdom. —Erica Ezeifedi
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.
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