Far off 2022 releases to keep an eye on – adult SFF edition

In this new epic fantasy, three societal outcasts must work together to fulfill the orders of a dead king's ghost or risk their nation falling to a tyrant

The king is dead, his queen is missing. On the amber coast, the usurper king is driving Zavonia to the brink of war. A dangerous magical power is rising up in Biela Miasto, and the only people who can set things right are a failed bodyguard, a Landstrider witch, and the assassin who set off the whole sorry chain of events.

Valdas, Captain of the High Guard, has not only failed in his duty to protect the king, but he's been accused of the murder, and he's on the run. He's sworn to seek justice, but his king sets him another task from beyond the grave. Valdas doesn't believe in magic, which is unfortunate as it turns out.

Mirza is the healer-witch of a Landstrider band, valued and feared in equal measure for her witchmark, her scolding tongue, and her ability to walk the spirit world. When she's given a task by Valdas' dead king, she believes that the journey she must take is one she can never return from.

Lind is the clever assassin. Yes, someone paid him to kill the king, but who is to blame, the weapon or the power behind it? Lind must face his traumatic past if he's to have a future.

Can these three discover the real villain, find the queen, and set the rightful king on the throne before the country is overcome?

Scott Drakeford's epic fantasy debut, Rise of the Mages combines gripping, personal vengeance with compelling characters for an action packed first book in a trilogy.

Emrael Ire wants nothing more than to test to be a weapons master. His final exam will be a bloody insurrection, staged by corrupt nobles and priests, that enslaves his brother.

With the aid of his War Master tutor, herself an undercover mage, Imrael discovers his own latent and powerful talents.

To rescue his brother, Emrael must embrace not only his abilities as a warrior but also his place as last of the ancient Mage Kings―for the Fallen God has returned.

And he is hungry.

Titanic meets The Shining in S.A. Barnes’ Dead Silence, a SF horror novel in which a woman and her crew board a decades-lost luxury cruiser and find the wreckage of a nightmare that hasn't yet ended.

A GHOST SHIP.
A SALVAGE CREW.
UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS.

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

What they find at the other end of the signal is a shock: the Aurora, a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick trip through the Aurora reveals something isn’t right.

Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Words scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold onto her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.

NO MAN IS ABOVE THE LAW

The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest. Rebels, heretics and powerful patricians all challenge the power of the imperial throne.

Only the Order of Justices stands in the way of chaos. Sir Konrad Vonvalt is the most feared Justice of all, upholding the law by way of his sharp mind, arcane powers and skill as a swordsman. At his side stands Helena Sedanka, his clerk and protege, orphaned by the wars that forged the empire.

When the pair investigate the murder of a provincial aristocrat, they unearth a conspiracy that stretches to the very top of imperial society. As the stakes rise and become ever more personal, Vonvalt and Helena must make a choice: will they abandon the laws they've sworn to uphold in order to protect the empire?

Introducing an unforgettable protagonist destined to become a fantasy icon, The Justice of Kings is an unmissable debut where action, intrigue and magic collide.

From New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author Daniel Abraham, co-author of the Expanse, comes a monumental epic fantasy trilogy that unfolds within the walls of a single great city, over the course of one tumultuous year, where every story matters, and the fate of the city is woven from them all.

Kithamar is a centre of trade and wealth, an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories unfold. This is Alys's.

When her brother is murdered, a petty thief from the slums of Longhill sets out to discover who killed him and why. But the more she discovers about him, the more she learns about herself, and the truths she finds are more dangerous than knives.

Swept up in an intrigue as deep as the roots of Kithamar, where the secrets of the lowest born can sometimes topple thrones, the story Alys chooses will have the power to change everything.

Non-stop action, space battles and intrigue abound in the second in a galactic-scale, gender-swapped space opera trilogy inspired by the life of Alexander The Great.

The Republic of Chaonia fleets under the joint command of Princess Sun and her formidable mother, Queen-Marshal Eirene, have defeated and driven out an invading fleet of the Phene Empire, although not without heavy losses. But the Empire remains strong and undeterred. While Chaonia scrambles to rebuild its military, the Empire's rulers are determined to squash Chaonia once and for all by any means necessary.

On the eve of Eirene's bold attack on the rich and populous Karnos System, an unexpected tragedy strikes the republic. Sun must take charge or lose the throne. Will Sun be content with the pragmatic path laid out by her mother for Chaonia's future? Or will she forge her own legend despite all the forces arrayed against her?

Based on the intense, high fantasy game in the vein of World of Warcraft, Bloodstone is a sweeping epic adventure of four iconic gladiators who must band together to overthrow an evil sorceress.

The old tales whisper of an object of incredible unnatural power—the Bloodstone: an artifact so powerful it sank an entire continent before being sealed away in a hidden tomb. But things that are hidden often have a way of revealing themselves, and now the power-hungry Vanira has claimed the Bloodstone and with it, the throne of the mighty empire of Stormwrath. But in order to sate her ambition for global domination, Vanira must first master the Bloodstone’s power and create an army of loyal soldiers and monsters alike.

Vrahk, a fierce berserker from the wilds finds himself captured into the Stormwrathi Arena, where Vanira pits him against fighters from the far corners of the world, in an effort to find the mightiest warrior. But even death does not spare these unfortunate souls from suffering: using the Bloodstone, Vanira is able to resurrect the combatants after a match, interning them in an endless cycle of violence and pain.

Among the fighters are Kyreina, a loyalist guard, and a fire mage named Uwazi from the tropical south, each with their own axe to grind with Vanira. When the last surviving heir to the ousted Royal Family smuggles herself into the arena as a disguised fighter, these bold heroes unite with a common goal: destroy the Bloodstone, and kill the sorceress who wields it.

Veteran game and fantasy author Ari Marmell bring to life the characters from this beloved tabletop game with vivid realism and intense combat action, perfect for fans of sword-and-sorcery fantasy and tabletop games alike.

The Empire rules by blood

Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.

Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.

Clear is the blood of the servants, of the crushed, of the invisible.

The Aktibar - a set of trials held every ten years to find the next Ember rulers of the Empire - is about to begin.

All can join but not just anyone can win; it requires great skill and ingenuity to become the future wardens of Strength, Knowledge, Truth and Duty.

Sylah was destined to win the trials and be crowned Warden of Strength. Stolen by blue-blooded rebels she was raised with a Duster's heart; forged as a weapon to bring down from within the red-blooded Embers' regime of cruelty. But when her adopted family were brutally murdered those dreams of a better future turned to dust.

However, the flame of hope may yet be rekindled because Sylah wasn't made to sparkle, she was born to burn.

And it's up to her whether she rules the empire or destroys it.

In the vein of Madeline Miller's Circe, Kaikeyi reimagines the life of the vilified queen of the Indian epic the Ramayana, from her childhood as an overlooked princess, to her role as a warrior, diplomat, and most-favored queen—and her ultimate downfall.

Read an explosive fantasy action in this Hindu philosophy inspired Adult Fantasy THE SURVIVING SKY, which combines the worldbuilding of THE BROKEN EARTH trilogy by N.K. Jemisin and the relationship dynamics in EMPIRE OF SAND by Tasha Suri.

Ahilya is a second-class citizen in a floating city made of plants, high above a storm-ravaged planet, campaigning for change that will benefit all classes. Complicating her goals is her rocky marriage to Iravan, the most revered leader of their magical society, responsible for psychically manipulating the floating city’s architecture. But the Earthrage storms below are growing longer and deadlier. And as Iravan falls under investigation for being too powerful, truths emerge that challenge everything she believes about their privileged society and the origin of the storms.

Now Ahilya faces a choice: expose her society’s secrets and destroy her marriage and culture? Or keep silent and perpetuate the inequality that has held her back her entire life? As the floating city’s architecture fails and they begin to plummet into the storm, the consequences of Ahilya’s choice will ripple not only across her heart, but her entire civilization.

The Four Realms—Life, Death, Light, and Darkness—all converge on the city of dusk. For each realm there is a god, and for each god there is an heir.

But the gods have withdrawn their favor from the once vibrant and thriving city. And without it, all the realms are dying.

Unwilling to stand by and watch the destruction, the four heirs—Risha, a necromancer struggling to keep the peace; Angelica, an elementalist with her eyes set on the throne; Taesia, a shadow-wielding rogue with rebellion in her heart; and Nik, a soldier who struggles to see the light— will sacrifice everything to save the city.

But their defiance will cost them dearly.

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First in a trilogy

Queer goth metal fantasy
4 worlds
7 points of view
5 magic systems

Coming spring 2022.