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Why You Need to Read…My Most Anticipated Speculative Fiction Books of 2023

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! A new year means new books to look forward to reading, alongside the ones from last year that we haven’t read yet. 2023 looks to be an exciting year once again for book releases. At the same time, it’s daunting to know that with several prequels/sequels/companion novels getting published this year, readers are trying to keep up with the books they still need to read, including myself. Regardless, I’m looking forward to reading some of the many books coming out this year.

Please note that the links will take you to the book’s Goodreads page. Here is a list of 50 (out of many more) books I hope to read in 2023:

Vita Nostra, #2 (Metamorphosis, #4): Assassin of Reality by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, translated by Julia Meitov Hersey –> March 14th

The Shepherd King, #2: Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig –> October 19th

The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec –> July 25th

Weyward by Emilia Hart –> March 7th

Wayward Children, #8: Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire –> January 10th

Godkiller, #1: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner –> January 19th

Amina al-Sirafi, #1: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty –> March 7th

The Nightshade Kingdom, #1: The Foxglove King by Hannah F. Whitten –> March 7th

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill –> February 28th

Craft Wars, #1: Dead Country by Max Gladstone –> March 7th

Magic of the Lost, #2: The Faithless by C.L. Clark –> March 7th

Iron Widow, #2: Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao –> August 29th

The Magician’s Daughter by H.G. Parry –> February 28th

Mistland, #1: Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan –> February 1st

Emily Wilde, #1: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett –> January 10th

Nocturne by Alyssa Wees –> February 21st

Lone Women by Victor LaValle –> March 21st

Iris at the Front, #1: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross –> April 4th

The Roots of Chaos, #0: A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon –> February 28th

The Spice Road Trilogy, #1: Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim –> January 24th

The Alameda Duology, #1: The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai –> January 10th

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline –> February 3rd

Venom & Vow by Anna-Marie McLemore and Elliot McLemore –> May 16th

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang –> July 1st

Wildseed Witch, #2: Charmed Life by Marti Dumas –> May 2nd

Witch King by Martha Wells –> May 30th

The Warden by Daniel M. Ford –> April 18th

The Radiant Emperor, #2: He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan –> August 22nd

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi –> February 14th

Rook & Rose, #3: Labyrinth’s Heart by M.A. Carrick –> August 15th

The Drowning Empire, #3: The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart –> April 20th

Tainted Blood Duology, #1: Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun –> August 8th

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati –> March 7th

Seven Faceless Saints, #1: Seven Faceless Saints by M.K. Lobb –> February 7th

The Stolen Heir Duology, #1: The Stolen Heir by Holly Black –> January 3rd

Flesh and False Gods, #1: Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong –> July 25th

The Murderbot Diaries, #7: System Collapse by Martha Wells –> November 14th

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn, #1: The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence –> May 9th

The Night Eaters, Volume 2: Her Little Reapers by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda (illustrator) –> Fall 2023

The Up-and-Under, #4: Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker –> October 17th

The Shadow of Perseus by Claire Heywood –> February 21st

Song of the Last Kingdom, #1: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amelie Wen Zhao –> January 3rd

Forever Desert, #1: The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses One Utomi –> March 21st

Between Earth and Sky, #3: The Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse –> August 1st

The Winter Sea, #1: Dark Water Daughter by H.M Long –> July 11th

The Sandsea Trilogy, #2: The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah –> November 14th

The Final Architecture, #3: Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky –> May 2nd

Alex Stern, #2: Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo –> January 10th

The Burning Kingdoms, #3 by Tasha Suri –> TBD

The Burning, #3: The Lord of Demons by Evan Winter –> TBD

This is just the “short list” of what I hope to read in 2023. Add the books I missed from last year and from previous years, and include the books outside of the speculative fiction genre, and I should be set with my reading list for 2023. As my list grows more daunting, I find the time needed to read as many books as I can.

Which 2023 book releases are you excited for the most?

9 thoughts on “Why You Need to Read…My Most Anticipated Speculative Fiction Books of 2023

  1. AHH!!! I enjoyed looking at your list and saving some of them onto my TBR. You have so many good ones here. Some are already on mine too. I’m definitely looking forward to Rook & Rose #3. I was so sad when it wasn’t out at the end of this year.

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