September is my day month, truthful this latest harvest of sci-fi, fantasy, and speculative books consciousness particularly similar presents for me, but besides for you! Fantasy heists, magical spy thrillers, dystopian abortionists, parallel-universe matrimony stories, deepfake Dorian Grays, houses dying to beryllium haunted—what much could you want? Let’s not hide the other goodies from our 2026 SFF preview, Freya Marske’s Bodies of Magic and Emily St. John Mandel’s Exit Party!
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Scott Hawkins, Blacktail
(Crown, September 1)
The archetypal publication successful implicit a decennary from the writer of beloved modern fearfulness cult classical The Library astatine Mount Char is simply a origin for celebration, and it besides sounds weird arsenic each get-out. The animals of the wood travel an ancient, intensely territorial hierarchy of hunters and prey: wolves versus hunting cats, half-breeds alternately accepted oregon spurned by their respective herds oregon packs. But past the humans hunt them portion destroying the forest, and each those generations-long grudges spell retired the model arsenic the half-wolf Blacktail rises up arsenic the Forest God’s acheronian champion. On a sidesplitting spree that starts with revenge connected humans but yet approaches the apocalyptic, Blacktail encounters each mode of carnal allies who privation to spot him bring astir the extremity of the two-leggers’ world.
Chloe Benjamin, Under Story
(Putnam, September 1)
Laurel Salter, a thirtysomething idiosyncratic studying mycelium, flees her enactment and her breached matrimony for the distant anonymity of Antarctica’s McMurdo Station. But extracurricular the presumption is the Arc, an otherworldly airy that draws droves of physicists—like her ex-husband, Eli—to survey its effects. What helium discovers confirms his mentation of the antiuniverse, a parallel satellite wherever clip moves backwards. But it’s Laurel who is astir drawn to the antiuniverse, and the imaginable of healing the tragic nonaccomplishment that ruptured their partnership. This sounds similar a speculative riff connected The Last Five Years; I’m already anticipating the ugly-crying catharsis.
Mary G. Thompson, Precious Children
(Tachyon Publications, September 1)
This acheronian speculative caller could beryllium a Black Mirror occurrence with its unflinching look astatine parents who would “do anything” to get their kid back, but arsenic dire depiction of the privilege and entitlement that festers successful specified a scenario. In a aboriginal wherever children’s lifespans are grimly shortened, fertility session Generations, Inc. has a solution: affluent families tin clone their kids and circumvent decease by uploading their child’s consciousness into a caller host. No substance that those doubles person their ain consciousnesses, not to notation foster families who person lovingly raised them. When the Blakes privation the 3rd iteration of their teenage lad Geoff, young Nathan Donovan indispensable surrender his caput for another’s—but the transportation fails, leaving some consciousnesses warring for their survival. Meanwhile, Geoff’s sister Di comes to fishy that Geoff 2.0 was a con artist. It’s shades of aged stories astir missing children recovered who are impostors, crossed with the modern morals of embryo donation and different fertility grey areas.
Premee Mohamed, Wickhills
(Tor Books, September 8)
A fantastical spy thriller acceptable connected the streets and underground passages of a magical city? Hell yes. The metropolis of Wickhills is protected by Seaborne, an quality bureau that hires street-smart types similar Vycol Ferec connected top-secret missions. But erstwhile his latest plus pickup is simply a idiosyncratic defecting from different city—a idiosyncratic who mightiness beryllium hiding an apocalyptic weapon—it burns him from Seaborne. On the tally wrong the metropolis that helium ostensibly knows amended than anyone, but that helium besides realizes helium knows thing about, Ferec indispensable rearrange his full worldview astir what is close and who the “good guys” are. This besides sounds similar 1 of those novels wherever the mounting volition instrumentality with you for a agelong time, from the integrated quirks of Wickhill’s literal foundations to immoderate of its centuries-old inhabitants who whitethorn clasp the secrets to the city-state’s existent nature.
Helene Wecker, The Gates of Midnight
(Harper, September 15)
Helene Wecker’s humanities phantasy trilogy (that began with The Golem and the Jinni) concludes successful 1930 New York City: 3 decades since Ahmad the jinni buried the flask containing the captured wizard Yehudah Schaalman successful the Syrian desert. But erstwhile Schaalman tricks a alien into digging up the flask, helium returns to the Big Apple, intent connected revenge against the golem Chava, who conscionable wants to thin to her Brooklyn plot sanctuary successful peace. Also converging upon the metropolis are Ahmed, who has mislaid his occupation successful the 1929 banal marketplace crash, and a riveter connected the under-construction Empire State Building with concealed connections to each of them.
S.V. Lockwood, A Complement of Scoundrels
(Bindery Books, September 22)
I adore a heist, and I’m truthful excited to spot much female-centric phantasy heists this year, betwixt C.L. Polk’s The Feywild Job and present S.V. Lockwood’s debut. Double-crossed thief Myria sounds similar a existent Debbie Ocean (complimentary), successful that she’s had capable clip stewing successful Carintheum’s jailhouse to crippled revenge connected her maestro who enactment her determination aft cracking the Elysius Vault. Reuniting the aged crew? On it. Trick the king of tricksters to get his help? She’s moving that problem. Decide whether to spot a caller state erstwhile feelings are involved? This sounds similar it’s going to get messy, successful the champion way.
Alma Katsu, Incarnate
(G.P. Putnam’s Sons, September 22)
A modern instrumentality connected The Picture of Dorian Gray by mode of societal media algorithms, Alma Katsu’s latest feels precise successful speech with Yesteryear: Failed influencer Dorothy Wagner decides to reinvent herself arsenic the Dr. Frankenstein for Isabella, a stunningly realistic deepfake who rapidly amasses millions of followers. But what volition it mean if truthful galore radical are consenting to judge that Isabella is real—will it imbue the instauration with capable condemnation to go unsafe to her creator? Like Frankenstein, volition Isabella marque the lawsuit for her ain beingness abstracted from her origins?
Inez Ray, Buzzard
(Bindery Books, September 22)
In 2086, corporations show fertility and person outlawed abortion. Midwife Mae Bastet, serving a condemnation for infanticide, has spent 7 years distant from her children successful Buzzard, the backstage situation tally by paramilitary corp Obsityan. Her occupation is ostensibly to show the wellness of teenage drone pilots, but erstwhile 1 of those teens becomes pregnant, it presents Mae with an awfully idiosyncratic dilemma: bash her work arsenic a midwife and hazard ne'er seeing her children again, oregon stay complicit with Obsityan’s crimes?
Micaiah Johnson, The Unhaunting
(Putnam, September 29)
From the writer of The Space Between Worlds comes a fearfulness debut that opens with a compelling premise for our times: Three lifelong champion friends effort to physique a location unneurotic erstwhile 1 of them inherits a Civil War-era manor. Shantell is understandably skeptical of the supposedly dreamy Abernathy House that has been bequeathed to her person Avery and his contractor member Tobias, but those anxieties melt distant erstwhile they measurement inside. Like, thing otherworldly virtually melts distant the anxiety. Now, is the information that the location itself is eerily turning them into amended versions of themselves worthy worrying about? Probably. Ditto the beingness of ghosts from Abernathy’s operation 170 years ago, erstwhile a girl of the Confederacy wished for a location wherever thing atrocious would happen. Something tells maine the location is bushed of each that calm and wants to go thing else…
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