Magical Books: Fantasy, Gothic, and Mythic Stories You Need to Read
If you’re looking for a new fantasy, gothic, or historical novel to get lost in, our curated list of books delivers unforgettable worlds, magical intrigue, and epic storytelling. These stories introduce unforgettable characters and immersive settings that will keep you turning pages late into the night. Whether you love dark folklore, witchcraft and magic, alternative histories, or epic journeys across time, these novels offer something for every reader looking for adventure.
Best Fantasy and Historical Fiction Books
- As Many Souls as Stars
- Audition for the Fox
- I, Medusa
- The Phoenix Pencil Company
- A Resistance of Witches
- The Red Winter
Fantasy, Gothic, and Historical Fiction Books to Add to Your Reading List
From mythological retellings and dark folklore to sweeping historical epics and magical adventures, these new novels deliver unforgettable characters and richly imagined worlds.
Fantasy and Speculative Fiction Books
- As Many Souls as Stars — Natasha Siegel
- Audition for the Fox — Martin Cahill
- The Fox and the Devil — Kiersten White
- Nightshade and Oak — Molly O’Neill
- A Widow’s Charm — Caitlyn Paxson
As Many Souls as Stars
by Natasha Siegel
"This novel will bend and twist your notion of what love is, while leaving you utterly bewitched." -- KIRKUS REVIEWS (Starred Review)
"Vivid and impressive...Fans of Addie LaRue will be enthralled." -- PUBLISHER'S WEEKY (Starred Review)
An inventive and romantic speculative novel about two women--a witch and an immortal demon--who make a Faustian bargain and are drawn into a cat-and-mouse chase across multiple lifetimes.
1592. Cybil Harding is a First Daughter. Cursed to bring disaster to those around her, she is trapped in a house with a mother paralyzed by grief and a father willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of magic.
Miriam Richter is a creature of shadow. Forged by the dark arts many years ago, she is doomed to exist for eternity and destined to be alone--killing mortals and consuming their souls for sustenance. Everything changes when she meets Cybil, whose soul shines with a light so bright, she must claim it for herself. She offers a bargain: she will grant Cybil reincarnation in exchange for her soul.
Thus begins a dance across centuries as Miriam seeks Cybil in every lifetime to claim her prize. Cybil isn't inclined to play by the rules, but when it becomes clear that Miriam holds the key to breaking her family curse, Cybil finds that--for the first time in her many lives--she might have the upper hand. As they circle each other, drawn together inescapably as light and dark, the bond forged between them grows stronger. In their battle for dominance, only one of them can win--but perhaps they can't survive without each other.
Natasha Siegel has written an unexpected love story that feels both epic and deeply personal. Ambitious, gothic, and magical, As Many Souls as Stars is about the lengths we go to protect ourselves, our legacy, and those we love.
"Dark longing waltzes hand-in-hand with historical elegance in this hypnotic gothic tale." -- S.T. Gibson, author of A Dowry of Blood
"[A]n epic story of deep loneliness, tormented love, and one woman's quest to set herself free--no matter how many lives she must be born into." -- Sunyi Dean, bestselling author of The Book Eaters
Audition for the Fox
by Martin Cahill
2025 USA TODAY BESTSELLER LIST
In this stellar debut fantasy, a trickster Fox god challenges an underachieving acolyte to save herself by saving her own ancestors. But are Nesi and her new friends from the past prepared to defeat the ferocious Wolfhounds of Zemin?
"Stunning imagination, daring premises, and deep character dives. A new author to watch."
--N. K. Jemisin, author of the Broken Earth series
[STARRED REVIEW] "A marvelous and heartbreaking tale."
--Library Journal
Nesi is desperate to earn the patronage of one of the Ninety-Nine Pillars of Heaven. As a child with godly blood in her, if she cannot earn a divine chaperone, she will never be allowed to leave her temple home. But with ninety-six failed auditions and few options left, Nesi makes a risky prayer to T'sidaan, the Fox of Tricks.
In folk tales, the Fox is a lovable prankster. But despite their humor and charm, T'sidaan, and their audition, is no joke. They throw Nesi back in time three hundred years, when her homeland is occupied by the brutal Wolfhounds of Zemin.
Now, Nesi must learn a trickster's guile to snatch a fortress from the disgraced and exiled 100th Pillar: The Wolf of the Hunt.
The Fox and the Devil
by Kiersten White
An obsession with an immortal serial killer entangles a vampire hunter's daughter in a sapphic romance in this enthralling gothic fantasy from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lucy Undying.
"Grisly and electrifying, innovating and moving . . . Kiersten White never misses."--Allison Saft, author of A Dark and Drowning Tide
This stunning hardcover edition features an illustrated book case with character art underneath the jacket.
Anneke has a complicated relationship with her father, Abraham Van Helsing--doctor, scientist, and madman devoted to the study of vampires--until the night she comes home to find him murdered, with a surreally beautiful woman looming over his body. A woman who leaves no trace behind, other than the dreams and nightmares that now plague Anneke every night.
Spurred by her desire for vengeance and armed with the latest forensic and investigatory techniques, Anneke puts together a team of detectives to catch this mysterious serial killer. Because her father isn't the only inexplicable dead body. There's a trail of victims across Europe, and Anneke is certain they're all connected.
But during the years spent relentlessly hunting the killer, Anneke keeps crucial evidence to herself: infuriatingly coy letters, addressed only to her, occasionally soaked in blood, and always signed Diavola.
The closer Anneke gets to her devil, though, the less sense the world makes. Maybe her father wasn't a madman after all. Diavola might be something much worse than a serial killer . . . and much harder to destroy. Yet as Anneke unearths more of Diavola's tragic past, she suspects there's still a heart somewhere in that undead body.
A heart that beats for Anneke alone.
Nightshade and Oak
by Molly O'Neill
An Iron Age goddess must grapple with becoming human in this delightful historical fantasy of myth and magic from the author of the instant hit Greenteeth.
★ "Yet another excellent story rooted in the folklore of the British isles, this one charged with queer love." - Booklist (starred review)
When Malt, the goddess of death, is accidentally turned human by a wayward spell, she finds she's ill-equipped to deal with the trials of a mortal life. After all, why would a goddess need to know how to gather food or light a fire?
Unable to fend for herself, she teams up with warrior Bellis on a perilous journey to the afterlife to try to restore her powers. Frustrated by her frail human body and beset with blisters, Malt might not make the best travelling companion.
But as animosity slowly turns to attraction, these two very different women must learn to work together if they are to have any hope of surviving their quest.
A Widow's Charm
by Caitlyn Paxson
In this witty fantasy romance, a widow attempts to resurrect her dead husband by blackmailing her rakish necromancer neighbor--only to find herself falling for him instead.
"Witty, whimsical, and deeply kind, A Widow's Charm is beyond charming--it's wholly enchanting."--Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of The Everlasting
Lady Hildegarde Croft is accustomed to changes in position. After all, she rose from maidservant to lady of the manor when she married Lord Thorgoode Croft. But when he dies unexpectedly, the plans that would have protected her and the people of Croftholde die along with him. What's a widow to do?
Potential salvation arrives in the form of Lord Elmwood, who is fleeing the consequences of using his forbidden Charm to raise the dead. Now he's injured, destitute, and hiding out at the neighboring estate.
For Hilde, blackmailing Lord Elmwood to resurrect Thorgoode seems like the perfect solution. For Elmwood, beautiful Lady Croft seems like the ideal distraction from his troubles. The problem is, all she wants from him is the horrifying power he knows he can never use again.
"Witty, sexy, and deeply romantic . . . a warm, glowing hearth of a book."--New York Times bestselling author Tessa Dare
"Bursting with humor, heart, and healing love . . . an unmissable debut."--Allison Saft, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wings of Starlight
"Funny, sexy, and unbelievably charming--this novel is a new forever favorite."--Alexandra Vasti, USA Today bestselling author of Ladies in Hating
"A lush garden of warmth, wonder, and appetite that will leave you pleasantly sated and hungry for more."--Amal El-Mohtar, New York Times bestselling co-author of This Is How You Lose the Time War
Mythology and Folklore Inspired Fantasy
- I, Medusa — Ayana Gray
- House of Frost and Feathers — Lauren Wiesebron
- A Spell for Drowning — Rebecca Ferrier
- The Secret Market of the Dead — Giovanni de Feo
I, Medusa
by Ayana Gray
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A "captivating villain origin story" (People Book of the Week) reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine
This hardcover edition features a premium dust jacket with foil and a gorgeous custom-stamped case!
"Ayana Gray brings her fresh, dynamic storytelling to one of the most monstered, maligned, and misunderstood women of Greek myth, imagining all the girls that Medusa was and could have been."--Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne
AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone else's story. Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parents--both gods, albeit minor ones--she dreams of leaving her family's island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home.
In the colorful market streets of Athens and the clandestine chambers of the temple, Meddy flourishes in her role as Athena's favored acolyte, getting her first tastes of purpose and power. But when she is noticed by another Olympian, Poseidon, the course of Meddy's promising future is suddenly and irrevocably altered.
When her locs are transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identity--not as a victim, but as a vigilante--and with it, the chance to write her own story as mortal, martyr, and myth.
Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart's deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.
House of Frost and Feathers: A Folkloric Fantasy
by Lauren Wiesebron
A touch of The Bear and the Nightingale, a bit of Juniper & Thorn, and a sense of wonder makes up this lyrical Russian-inspired fantasy debut steeped in Slavic folklore, about a young woman in search of a home, and a home in search of people to make it feel lived in.
Marisha's time is running out. She's already lost her family to the sleeping plague, and she fears she'll be next. Penniless and desperate, Marisha is forced to accept a job as a sorceress apprentice to the notorious koldunya, the sorceress Baba Zima who dwells in a magical house on chicken legs.
But Baba Zima is renowned for being both clever and cruel. And most difficult of all is her current apprentice, Olena, a reluctant ally who wants nothing to do with Marisha. Despite her fears and Olena's cold demeanor, Marisha finds herself drawn into the magical world of koldunry and delves further into Olena's research--a cure for the sleeping plague.
Accompanying Olena on an increasingly dangerous, seemingly impossible search for a cure, she finds hidden connections between the sleeping plague, her own family's history, and her bizarre, recurring dreams: dreams of a masked ball where the deep sleepers are trapped endlessly dancing--and a monstrous beaked man who haunts her every step...
The Secret Market of the Dead
by Giovanni de Feo
An "enthralling" (Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library and Elusive) Italian-inspired gothic historical fantasy about a young woman who finds her power in the nocturnal realm that lurks beneath her town.
Just beyond the waking edges of Lucerìa, an 18th-century town in the kingdom of Naples, lies the Night: an enigmatic fiefdom governed by seven immortals and fueled by Moira, the power to reshape one's destiny.
On this porous border separating Day from Night, Oriana spends her time fantasizing about becoming a smith in her father's forge and eavesdropping on whispered tales of beasts and men who roam the nocturnal realm. But in the Night, these stories come alive, as Oriana saw for herself after she inadvertently trespassed into the Secret Market of the Dead, where vendors hawk Moira to those desperate enough to accept its immeasurably steep price.
Years later, when her father chooses her twin brother to succeed him, Oriana challenges her sibling to a series of trials to determine the forge's true heir. But as the twins' fierce competition escalates, with the town and her own family set firmly against her, Oriana realizes that to break free from the stifling confines of Day, she must once again embrace the Night--and, as always, everything comes with a cost.
A Spell for Drowning
by Rebecca Ferrier
A stunning historical fantasy debut steeped in the salt and superstition of the Cornish coast. Perfect for readers of Circe and Godkiller.
Forgotten sirens, mischievous sea gods, and the lore from days long since passed weave an irresistible tale.
The people of Portscatho are bound to traditions and to the sea, living side by side with the spirits, gods, and monsters that inhabit the rollicking waters. When Kensa and her half sister come across a dying sea beast on the Cornish shore, Kensa is quick to claim credit for the discovery and in doing so steals the glory and her sister's position as apprentice to the local wise woman. It seems an appropriate station for Kensa, who has always existed out of step with the others in the village.
Yet to be a wise woman is to be alone--unmarried, childless, relied upon, and lusted after yet never truly wanted. Kensa's only real company is her mentor, the wise woman Isolde.
But Isolde won't live forever, and when she falls ill, Kensa will do anything to save her and retain her newfound elevation within the community. Even if that means having to seek help from the Bucka, a terrifying and unfathomable sea god who guards the tides around Portscatho. In doing so, she'll risk her life, her family, and everything she's sworn to protect.
Beautifully written, expertly crafted, and full of engaging and compelling Cornish mythology, A Spell for Drowning tackles the expectations and limitations put on women by society, what it means to be feared and needed at the same time, and how the desire for acceptance can either save or destroy us.
With the historical wonder of A Thousand Ships, A Spell for Drowning is in good company with compelling historical fantasies that enchant readers across the board.
Gothic Fantasy and Dark Historical Fiction
- House of Monstrous Women — Daphne Fama
- Odessa — Gabrielle Sher
- Psychopomp & Circumstance — Eden Royce
- The Red Winter — Cameron Sullivan
House of Monstrous Women
by Daphne Fama
A young woman is drawn into a dangerous game after being invited to the mazelike home of her childhood friend, a rumored witch, in this gothic horror set in 1986 Philippines.
In this game, there's one rule: survive.
Orphaned after her father's political campaign ended in tragedy, Josephine is alone taking care of the family home while her older brother is off in Manila, where revolution brews. But an unexpected invitation from her childhood friend Hiraya to her house offers an escape. . . .
Why don't you come visit, and we can play games like we used to?
If Josephine wins, she'll get whatever her heart desires. Her brother is invited, too, and it's time they had a talk. Josephine's heard the dark whispers: Hiraya is a witch and her family spits curses. But still, she's just desperate enough to seize this chance to change her destiny.
Except the Ranoco house is strange, labyrinthine, and dangerously close to a treacherous sea. A sickly-sweet smell clings to the dimly lit walls, and veiled eyes follow Josephine through endless connecting rooms. The air is tense with secrets, and as the game continues it's clear Josephine doesn't have the whole truth.
To save herself, she will have to play to win. But in this house, victory is earned with blood.
A lush new voice in horror arises in this riveting gothic set against the upheaval of 1986 Philippines and the People Power Revolution.
Odessa
by Gabrielle Sher
In a powerfully imagined Russia at the height of the pogroms, a grief-stricken family turn to ancient magic to bring their daughter back from the grave.
"A triumph ... Count me in for whatever Sher writes next." ―Nat Cassidy, author of Mary and When the Wolf Comes Home
Yetta is a bright, quick teenage girl with a wild, searching spirit. Stifled by her mother's anxiety, her father's rules, and the path that's been laid out for her, she craves the kind of freedom she doesn't know the edges of. But her family has reason to be cautious and restrictive. Fear has wrapped itself around their shtetl. Jews are mysteriously disappearing, and there are whispers of an impending Gentile attack. When violence comes to their door, Yetta is killed.
Her father, in his grief, fumbles through his nascent knowledge of ancient texts and old magic to bring her back. By some miracle, Yetta is returned--but although she looks the same, Yetta is not the girl she once was. She knows there is a secret her family is keeping from her. The answer resides, in part, in the monstruous being stalking the villagers and their enemies, lurking in the woods beyond the shtetl, something that may be of her father's making, and a being which has plans of its own.
Psychopomp & Circumstance
by Eden Royce
An NPR Books We Love Pick A Library Journal Best Book of 2025 Pick A Locus Magazine Books We Loved Pick A The Lineup Best Horror Book of 2025 Pick!
Shirley Jackson Award-winning author Eden Royce pens a Southern Gothic historical fantasy story of a contentious funeral.
"A tale of loss and hope and how the present can give way to new futures."--Kirkus Reviews
Phee St. Margaret is a daughter of the Reconstruction, born to a family of free Black business owners in New Charleston. Coddled to within an inch of her life by a mother who refuses to let her daughter live a life other than the one she dictates, Phee yearns to demonstrate she's capable of more than simply marrying well.
When word arrives that her Aunt Cleo, long estranged from the family, has passed away, Phee risks her mother's wrath to step up and accept the role of pomp--the highly honored duty of planning the funeral service. Traveling alone to the town of Horizon and her aunt's unsettling home, Phee soon discovers that visions and shadows beckon from every reflective surface, and that some secrets transcend the borders of life and death.
The Red Winter
by Cameron Sullivan
A LibraryReads pick! An Indie next pick!
DELUXE EDITION--the hardcover edition of The Red Winter features beautiful red sprayed edges!
A devastating love story. A bewitching twist on history. A blood-drenched hunt for purpose, power, and redemption.
In 1785, Professor Sebastian Grave receives the news he fears most: the terrible Beast of Gévaudan has returned, and the French countryside runs red in its wake.
Sebastian knows the Beast. A monster-slayer with centuries of experience, he joined the hunt for the creature twenty years ago and watched it slaughter its way through a long and bloody winter. Even with the help of his indwelling demon, Sarmodel - who takes payment in living hearts - it nearly cost him his life to bring the monster down.
Now, two decades later, Sebastian has been recalled to the hunt by Antoine Avenel d'Ocerne, an estranged lover who shares a dark history with the Beast and a terrible secret with Sebastian. Drawn by both the chance to finish the Beast for good and the promise of a reconciliation with Antoine, Sebastian cannot refuse.
But Gévaudan is not as he remembers it, and Sebastian's unfinished business is everywhere he looks. Years of misery have driven the people to desperation, and France teeters on the edge of revolution. Sebastian's arcane activities - not to mention his demonic counterpart - have also attracted the inquisitorial eye of the French clergy. And the Beast is poised to close his jaws around them all and plunge the continent into war.
Debut author Cameron Sullivan tears the heart out of history with this darkly entertaining retelling of the hunt for the Beast of Gévaudan. Lifting the veil on the hidden world behind our own, it reimagines the story of Europe, from Imperial Rome to Saint Jehanne d'Arc, the madness of Gilles de Rais and the first flickers of the French Revolution.
"An absolute feast of a book: rich, red, sinfully delicious. I've rarely been this satisfied--or this hungry for more." --Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House
"So bloody good. The Red Winter is absolute ripper entertainment--miss it at your peril!" --Shelley Parker-Chan, bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun
"A gorgeous tangle of history and fresh-made myth. You'll eat this one up." --Cassandra Khaw, bestselling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth
"Charming, haunting, ambitious, and a great deal of fun." --T. Kingfisher, New York Times bestselling author of A Sorceress Comes to Call
Historical Fantasy and Epic Alternate History
- Mother of Rome — Lauren J. A. Bear
- Upon a Starlit Tide — Kell Woods
- A Resistance of Witches — Morgan Ryan
- Written on the Dark — Guy Gavriel Kay
Mother of Rome
by Lauren J a Bear
A powerful and fierce reimagining of the earliest Roman legend: the twins, Romulus and Remus, mythical founders of history's greatest empire, and the woman whose sacrifice made it all possible.
The names Romulus and Remus may be immortalized in map and stone and chronicle, but their mother exists only as a preface to her sons' journey, the princess turned oath-breaking priestess, condemned to death alongside her children.
But she did not die; she survived. And so does her story.
Beautiful, royal, rich: Rhea has it all--until her father loses his kingdom in a treacherous coup, and she is sent to the order of the Vestal Virgins to ensure she will never produce an heir.
Except when mortals scheme, gods laugh.
Rhea becomes pregnant, and human society turns against her. Abandoned, ostracized, and facing the gravest punishment, Rhea forges a dangerous deal with the divine, one that will forever change the trajectory of her life...and her beloved land.
To save her sons and reclaim their birthright, Rhea must summon nature's mightiest force - a mother's love - and fight.
All roads may lead to Rome, but they began with Rhea Silvia.
Upon a Starlit Tide
by Kell Woods
Upon a Starlit Tide is a dark and enchanting historical fantasy combining elements of "The Little Mermaid" and "Cinderella" into a wholly original tale of love, power, and betrayal.
*The hardcover edition features beautiful custom endpapers.*
Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758. To Lucinde Léon, the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner, the high walls of Saint-Malo are more hindrance than haven.
While her sisters are busy trying to secure advantageous marriages, Luce spends her days secretly being taught to sail by Samuel, her best friend--and an English smuggler. Only he understands how the waves call to her. Then one stormy morning, Luce rescues a drowning man from the sea.
Immediately drawn in by the stranger's charm, Luce is plunged into a world of glittering balls and faerie magic, seduction and brutality. Secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface, but as Luce wrestles with warring desires, she finds that her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper.
Or the scales of a seamaid's tail.
"Magnificent. This is a must-read!"--Juliet Marillier, award-winning author of the Sevenwaters and Blackthorn & Grim series
A Resistance of Witches
by Morgan Ryan
AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
RESISTANCE IS MAGIC
"War II meets A Discovery of Witches...I raced through this one." --Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Briar Club
"Historical fantasy at its absolute best." --Alexis Henderson author of The Year of the Witching and An Academy for Liars
As World War II rages around her, a witch abandoned by her coven must journey to find a book of unspeakable power before it lands in Nazi hands
Stubborn, plain-spoken and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be accepted into the Royal Academy of Witches. Now, with Hitler's army rampaging across Europe, the witches of Britain have joined the war effort, and Lydia is key to the cause: she must use her magic to track down magical relics before Hitler and his sycophants can. When a Nazi witch infiltrates the Academy with heart-breaking consequences, the coven is left shaken, exposed and divided. The elder British witches have no interest in further loss of coven life in service of a government that has forced them into hiding for decades, no matter the consequences to the world. But with the discovery of the Grimorium Bellum, an ancient book that leaves a trail of death and destruction wherever it goes, Lydia knows her mission has never been more urgent.
Alone and woefully outnumbered, Lydia makes her way to the heart of occupied France, where she finds allies in Rebecca Gagne--a fierce French resistance fighter chockful of secrets--and Henry Boudreaux--a handsome Haitian-American art historian with a little magic of his own. Together, they traverse the country, stalked by the natural and supernatural alike, in search of the grimoire. But, as Lydia soon discovers, finding the book is only half the battle--the Grimorium Bellum has a dark agenda all its own. Lydia must subdue it before the Witches of the Third Reich can use it--but she'll have to survive the book herself, first.
Written on the Dark
by Guy Gavriel Kay
A Globe and Mail Top 100 Book of 2025
Both sweeping and intimate, a majestic novel of love and war that brilliantly evokes the drama and turbulence of medieval France
Thierry Villar is a well-known--even notorious-- tavern poet, familiar with the rogues and shadows of that world, but not at all with courts and power. He is an unlikely person, despite his quickness, to be caught up in the deadly contests of ambitious royals, assassins, and invading armies.
But he is indeed drawn into all these things on a savagely cold night in his beloved city of Orane. And so Thierry must use all the intelligence and charm he can muster as political struggles merge with a decades-long war to bring his country to the brink of destruction.
As he does, he meets his poetic equal in an aristocratic woman and is drawn to more than one unsettling person with a connection to the world beyond this one. He also crosses paths with an extraordinary young woman driven by voices within to try to heal the ailing king--and help his forces in war. A wide and varied set of people from all walks of life take their places in the rich tapestry of this story.
A new masterwork from the internationally bestselling author of All the Seas of the World, A Brightness Long Ago, and Tigana, Written on the Dark is an elegant tour de force about power and ambition playing out amid the intense human need for art and beauty, and memories to be left behind.
Literary Fantasy and Imaginative Fiction
- The Capital of Dreams — Heather O’Neill
- The Painted Room — Inger Christensen
- The Phoenix Pencil Company — Allison King
- The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter — Brionni Nwosu
The Capital of Dreams
by Heather O'Neill
"The Capital of Dreams is not so much a novel to read but one to live (and dream) in. A dark, wistfully comic fable that's as imaginative as it is poignant. An entire world that only Heather O'Neill could create."--Iain Reid, bestselling author of We Spread and Foe
From the hugely acclaimed author of literary fiction beloved by literary lights, including Emily St. John Mandel, Kelly Link, and Mona Awad, a dark dystopian fairytale about an idyllic country ravaged by war--and a girl torn between safety and loyalty.
Sofia Bottom lives in Elysia, a small country forgotten by Europe. But inside its borders, the old myths of trees that come alive and faeries who live among their roots have given way to an explosion of the arts and the consolations of philosophy. From the clarinetists to the cabaret singers, no artist is as revered as Sofia's brilliant mother, the writer Clara Bottom. How can fourteen-year-old Sofia, with her tin ear and enduring love of ancient myths, ever hope to win her mother's love?
When the country's greatest enemy invades, and the Capital is under threat, Clara turns to her daughter to smuggle her new manuscript to safety on the last train evacuating children from the city. But when the train draws to a suspicious halt in the middle of a forest, Sofia is forced to run for her life and loses her mother's most prized possession. Frightened and alone in a country at war, Sofia must find a way to reclaim what she has lost. On a harrowing journey of survival through woods and razed towns, colliding with soldiers, survivors, and other lost children, Sofia must make the choice between kindness and her own survival.
In this stunning coming-of-age story set in an imaginative world yet reflective of our own times, Heather O'Neill delivers a vivid, breathtaking dark fairytale of life, death, and betrayal.
The Painted Room
by Inger Christensen - Denise Newman
The Painted Room is a magnificent three-part short novel about the Italian Renaissance, and, specifically, the intrigue surrounding the frescoes that Mategna (1431-1506) made on the walls of a famous bridal chamber in the ducal palace of Lodovico III Gonzaga. Prince Lodovico of Mantua invites Mantegna to his palace to decorate the chamber, and the paintings are slowly completed. The painting of the duke and his family looks so peaceful--you would never guess that a murder had just taken place.The prince's secretary records its progress in his gossip-laden diary, while the story of the prince's daughter, the dwarf Nana, digs deeper into darker motivations, involving deceit, vendettas, an assassination, and the dalliances of Pope Pius II. Mantegna's young son, Bernardino, helps complete the paintings and introduces a note of high fantasy into the narrative. What results is a beautiful yet startling picture of the Renaissance, as rich and colorful as the men and women depicted on the palace walls.
The Phoenix Pencil Company
by Allison King
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK
"The Phoenix Pencil Company is a masterful blending of history, fantasy, and romance that sank into my heart . . . This book had me smiling through my tears." -- Fonda Lee, author of the Green Bone Saga
In this dazzling debut novel, a hidden and nearly forgotten magic--of Reforging pencils, bringing the memories they contain back to life--holds the power to transform a young woman's relationship with her grandmother, and to mend long-lost connections across time and space.
Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer, journaling the details of her ordinary life and coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-proclaimed recluse, she's always struggled to make friends and, as a college freshman, finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and Monica worries about them constantly--especially her grandmother, Yun, who survived two wars in China before coming to the States, and whose memory has begun to fade.
Though Yun rarely speaks of her past, Monica is determined to find the long-lost cousin she was separated from years ago. One day, the very program Monica is helping to build connects her to a young woman, whose gift of a single pencil holds a surprising clue. Monica's discovery of a hidden family history is exquisitely braided with Yun's own memories as she writes of her years in Shanghai, working at the Phoenix Pencil Company. As WWII rages outside their door, Yun and her cousin, Meng, learn of a special power the women in their family possess: the ability to Reforge a pencil's words. But when the government uncovers their secret, they are forced into a life of espionage, betraying other people's stories to survive.
Combining the cross-generational family saga and epistolary form of A Tale for the Time Being with the uplifting, emotional magic of The Midnight Library, Allison King's stunning debut novel asks: who owns and inherits our stories? The answers and secrets that surface on the page may have the unerasable power to reconnect a family and restore a legacy.
The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter
by Brionni Nwosu
A young woman at the crossroads of life and death embarks on an extraordinary journey across time in an epic novel about beauty, hope, endurance, and endless loves.
Most humans cower in the face of Death. Not Nella May Carter. She sees him. She doesn't hide. Instead, she bargains.
Born enslaved in eighteenth-century Georgia, Nella still believes in the will to survive amid the most untenable of conditions, in the glory of life, and in the ultimate goodness of the human race. She asks that Death, doubtful and curious, allow her to live long enough to prove it. He's giving Nella all the time in the world.
Challenged, Nella embarks on an epic journey across the globe and centuries. Each new incarnation records the joys and losses, and the friendships and heartbreaks, throughout her lifetimes. When she meets handsome and passionate professor Sebastian Moore--the first man to whom she has ever revealed her secrets--Nella yearns for the mortality that escapes her. She can't bear to leave this love behind.
As Death keeps watch, has Nella's journey come to an end? Or is a new one just beginning?
Dark Fantasy and Medieval Fantasy
- Once Was Willem — M. R. Carey
- Motheater — Linda H. Codega
Motheater
by Linda H Codega
In this nuanced queer fantasy set amid the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, the last witch of the Ridge must choose sides in a clash between industry and nature.
After her best friend dies in a coal mine, Benethea "Bennie" Mattox sacrifices her job, her relationship, and her reputation to uncover what's killing miners on Kire Mountain. When she finds a half-drowned white woman in a dirty mine slough, Bennie takes her in because it's right--but also because she hopes this odd, magnetic stranger can lead her to the proof she needs.
Instead, she brings more questions. The woman called Motheater can't remember her true name, or how she ended up inside the mountain. She knows only that she's a witch of Appalachia, bound to tor and holler, possum and snake, with power in her hands and Scripture on her tongue. But the mystery of her fate, her doomed quest to keep industry off Kire Mountain, and the promises she bent and broke have followed her a century and half into the future. And now, the choices Motheater and Bennie make together could change the face of the town itself.
Once Was Willem
by M R Carey
From the international bestselling author of The Girl with All the Gifts comes a wildly original and enthrallingly dark medieval fantasy unlike anything you've read before - a fable of twisted folklore, macabre magic, and the strangest of found families.
"A masterpiece of medieval dark fiction." - Christopher Buehlman, author of Between Two Fires
"A wild fever dream - monstrous and beautiful." - Seanan McGuire, author of Every Heart a Doorway
Eleven hundred and some years after the death of Christ, in the kingdom that had but recently begun to call itself England, I, Once Was Willem, rose from the dead to defeat a great evil facing the humble village of Cosham. The words enclosed herein are true.
I speak of monsters and magic, battle and bloodletting, and the crimes of desperate men. I speak also of secret things, of that which lies beneath us and that which impends above. By the time you come to the end of this account you will know the truth of your own life and death, the path laid out for your immortal soul, your origin and your inevitable end.
You will not thank me.
"It's been a long time since a book has reached out and just entirely enveloped me in its world the way Once Was Willem did. Astounding, and I loved every moment of it." - RJ Barker, author of The Bone Ships
If You Loved These Books, Try These Fantastic Reads
If you liked The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Try:
- As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel
- The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu
These novels explore immortality, love across lifetimes, and the consequences of magical bargains.
If you liked Circe
Try:
- I, Medusa by Ayana Gray
- A Spell for Drowning by Rebecca Ferrier
These books reimagine mythology and folklore with powerful female protagonists navigating gods, magic, and destiny.
If you liked A Discovery of Witches
Try:
- A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan
- House of Frost and Feathers by Lauren Wiesebron
Both feature witches navigating powerful magic, dangerous secrets, and high-stakes conflicts.
If you liked The Bear and the Nightingale
Try:
- House of Frost and Feathers by Lauren Wiesebron
- Nightshade and Oak by Molly O’Neill
These stories draw heavily on folklore and myth, weaving magic into richly atmospheric historical settings.
If you like gothic fantasy
Try:
- House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama
- The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White
- Odessa by Gabrielle Sher
Dark secrets, eerie settings, and haunting supernatural forces drive these gothic tales.
These new fantasy and historical novels prove that imagination knows no limits. Whether you’re drawn to witches battling dark magic, mythological heroines reclaiming their stories, or sweeping tales of love and survival across centuries, each of these books offers a unique world to explore. Add one—or several—to your reading list and discover the stories readers are talking about right now. Your next unforgettable adventure might be waiting on the very next page.
Frequently Asked Questions About Fantasy and Historical Fiction Books
What are the best new fantasy books to read right now?
Some of the best new fantasy and historical fantasy books include As Many Souls as Stars, I, Medusa, A Resistance of Witches, The Red Winter, and Upon a Starlit Tide. These novels blend mythology, magic, history, and adventure.
What fantasy books feature witches or magic?
Books like A Resistance of Witches, House of Frost and Feathers, and A Widow’s Charm feature powerful witches, magical systems, and supernatural forces.
What are some gothic fantasy books?
Gothic fantasy readers may enjoy House of Monstrous Women, The Fox and the Devil, and Odessa, which combine eerie settings with supernatural elements.