4 New and Notable Fantasy Novels

by MK French

There are some great fantasy novels coming out today. Whether you are looking for a romatasy, young adult supernatural mystery, or a fantastical adventure, you will find something here. At the end, I've added a review of a fantasy novel that came out a few months ago in case you missed it.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. Free books were provided for an honest review.

Maggie and Arthur's Magic Moment by Leslie Rene

July 2026; Ace; 978-0593956182
audio, ebook, print (432 pages); romantic fantasy

Maggie Linden is the Linguistics and Incantation Translation professor, and her syllabus was slashed, but she was close to finishing the spring semester anyway. She kissed a masked stranger at Beltane and is hoping to eventually find him again. In the meantime, an accident in alchemist Arthur Taliesin's lab renders most of the building uninhabitable. Now he and Maggie have to share an office in the basement. She wants him out and offers to help him reverse the magic threatening the school. As they work together, she soon realizes that Arthur isn't the grump everyone thinks he is.

We see the magical Beltane bonfire from the start; Maggie doesn't feel comfortable with a relationship, and anonymous kisses are more her speed at the time due to a failed past relationship. We get the rundown on how magic works in this world, with components, runes, specific language, and ritual to affect the world. Arthur Taliesin's well known for his alchemy skill yet made a grave mistake during a spell that resulted in a massive amount of damage. Though he wants to fix it on his own, it's complicated, and Maggie's offer to help puts the two in close proximity. They learn more about each other and how well they complement their strengths. We know it's inevitable, and watching it happen is part of the fun.

The magic system and world-building are very detailed, and I enjoyed reading those parts of the book. I enjoyed the friendships that Maggie has with Dahlia and Arthur with his brother. Arthur is more aloof and anxious than grumpy, and we see glimpses of that tendency toward being a romantic long before Maggie acknowledged it. Both have their fears about relationships and the future, and work through them together. This is a romance, so we get our happily ever after. 

Buy Maggie and Arthur's Magical Moment at Amazon

Hell To Pay by Lora Beth Johnson

July 2026; G.P. Putnam's Sons; 978-0593856529
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); YA supernatural mystery

Elle Fields is a thief able to steal secrets and magic from the dead. After her parents’ disappearance and her brother’s death, Elle doesn't have a crew any longer and is adrift. When a mysterious stranger wants her to steal a soul from the Afterlife,  she's convinced it will restore her old life. She must get her old crew back together and try to do the impossible. But how hard could it be to raise the dead?

Told from Elle's POV, we see how she uses her knowledge and abilities to con the recently dead. It also gives us the rules of magic in this world, and the risks involved before she even gets the job of stealing a soul. She outlines what's involved in a heist as well as con schemes, and we soon see the different steps involved to get what they need to ultimately do the soul heist and resurrection: their job is to find their benefactor's sister, and Elle hopes she can do the same for her brother. The job is complicated, the steps convoluted, and we learn more about the Syndicates and magic as we go. The crew and Rook all have hidden layers, and we only see them after it's relevant. For all that she trusts her crew, she also hides a lot. At one point, she even says that manipulation is her love language. 

Just when you think you have a handle on what's happening, there are switchbacks and twists that redefine what just happened. Essentially, Elle's precarious relationship with the truth and tendency to do a con also extends to the reader. We find out exactly what's going on with the heists, the underworld and what is at stake when we discover the actual job Elle was hired to do. The story kept me glued to every page, and I enjoyed the world-building here.  It's a fun and exciting book to read. 

Buy Hell to Pay at Amazon

The Harpy Knight by Sara Omer

July 2026; Titan Books; 978-1835412848
audio, ebook, print (432 pages); fantasy

Bataar Rhah is looking to conquer Aglea in the north, where monster- infested marshes and Prince Nassar and his entourage have also fled, spreading a ghoulish plague wherever they go. Princess Nohra is betrothed to Bataar, despite the horrors he inflicted on her country and family. While Nohra still wants vengeance as he forces her to conquer her mother's lands, she also has feelings for Bataar’s wife, Qaira. Her best friend Darya’s terrifying demonic powers are being used as a weapon, and Bataar’s own supernatural gifts are more difficult to control. One wrong move could tip everything into chaos. 

The Harpy Knight is the second half of the Chaos Constellation trilogy, following The Gryphon King. It definitely helps to have read that book first, but we have a summary of the first book in a letter and Nassar's view of events in the prologue to catch up. Nohra hates Bataar even as she loves Qaira, and is still determined to kill him to avenge her father. There's nothing but war and blood, and she is a princess accustomed to war. Even so, there are monsters out there, creatures that can't be reasoned with. As much as there are complications with Bataar and Qaira, as well as the kingdoms Bataar is conquering, these creatures are worse, and war brings out the worst in Nassar.

There's a large cast of characters like the first novel, but it still is tightly focused on Bataar, Nohra, and Qaira. War is awful and doesn't discriminate; we see how it affects the people in the cities as well as the named characters. Battles are bloody and protracted in many cases, and we see how Bataar and Nohra are affected by the deaths around them. Nassar is almost a caricature at times, and at others he is chilling and cruel to read, making me thankful we're not in his POV for the book. The final quarter of the book is even more devastating than before, and no doubt sets up the final book of the trilogy. Hopefully, it gets to a positive conclusion. 

Buy The Harpy Knight at Amazon

The Lighthouse at the End of the World by Philip Suggars

March 2026; Titan Books; 978-1835412497
ebook, print (448 pages); fantasy

Oyster McLellen runs with a gang to support his struggling family after his father abandoned them years ago. When a money drop goes wrong, Oyster has to get it back to make up to his boss. Pursuing the thieves across South London leads him to a beach with washed-up items. He's now in Greater London, a city built on the detritus of our own, and Oyster's father might have ended up. Oyster's allegiances are torn, and he will have to choose who to align himself with. Something ancient is brewing, and the consequences will determine the fate of Londons and life everywhere.

Being in a gang isn't all it's cracked up to be. As much as his father once trained his boss, Oyster isn't given any special treatment and has trouble running the three-card Monty and gets picked up by police. He's confused by all the oddities happening to him, and so are we; as he learns about Greater London and his ability to move between worlds, there are signs of a bigger conflict, older gods and groups looking for power. Oyster flits along, being pushed by those who know more about the past and what it means for the present than he does, gradually collecting information and connecting the dots along the way.

There's a lot of British slang and gang activities, so that can confuse people who aren’t used to it. You can figure out what they mean, though even I was just as confused as Oyster for chapters at a time in the first half. It's still compelling, though, because you want to find out what's going on and why Oyster's father is so important. Once the shape of the overall plot can be seen, the pages just fly by. Oyster is at the center of the overall issue, moving between worlds and outside of time. This is the nature of the lighthouse, to be the beacon at the end of the universe, and it's here that the final showdown takes place. I really enjoyed how the different threads came together, and we fully understand the importance of the ritual.

Buy The Lighthouse at the End of the World at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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