Escape into worlds where magic flows like rivers and heroes forge legends with every step. Whether you’re seeking epic quests across mystical realms or intimate tales of wonder, fantasy literature offers boundless adventures waiting to unfold. From timeless classics to modern masterpieces, these must-read fantasy books will transport you beyond the ordinary into realms where anything is possible.
Your Next Favourite Fantasy Read
The Listeners
9781035406203 | Headline Review | TPB
Maggie Stiefvater
The Avallon Hotel offers unrivalled luxury in the wild Appalachian Mountains, its curative sweetwater washing away the troubles of high society. June ‘Hoss’ Hudson, a local girl turned general manager, has known its power since she first stepped through the century-old doors – and into the fold of the Gilfoyle family, the hotel’s aristocratic owners.
But in 1942, the real world intrudes. War comes to the Avallon dressed in fine furs and government suits. Under the State Department’s watchful eye, the Gilfoyle heir welcomes three hundred enemy diplomats and Nazi sympathisers. And June must play host.
As dark alliances and unexpected desires crack the Avallon’s polished veneer, not every guest is who they seem. Not least Agent Tucker Minnick, listening for secrets through the hotel walls, whose coal tattoo threatens to betray his past and undo June. And more troubling is the secret she has guarded for years – that the mountain waters can harm as much as heal…
The extraordinary, genre-defying debut adult novel by the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author.
Wisteria
9781399726108 | Hodderscape | BPB
Adalyn Grace
Blythe Hawthorn has never let anyone tell her what to do . . . and she’s not about to start now.
Headstrong and passionate, she won’t be ruled by society, or by her overprotective father, and certainly not by the man she’s bound herself to, no matter how insufferable he is. She’s determined to be a thorn in his side for the rest of her days, even as he ensues that her life in his palace is anything but the decadent fairytale she imagined.
But as Blythe discovers a new side of herself linked to his past, she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to let an unexpected spark ignite . . . and discover the real truth about who she is inside.
Wearing The Lion
9781529431391 | Arcadia | TPB
John Wiswell
God. Hero. Idol. Monster. Murderer. The story of Hercules is one of the most famous ever told. But what if it’s wrong? Locus and Nebula Award-winning author John Wiswell brings his gentle, human storytelling to the most infamous of stories and discovers the heart inside us all.
Furious with Zeus for once again siring a child with a mortal woman, Hera finds herself redirecting all her fury at the baby himself, Heracles, an innocent named in her honour. As Heracles grows into a man – an unfathomably strong, loving man – he thanks Hera for all the blessings he feels she’s seen fit to bestow upon him.
In a moment of misdirected rage, however, Hera sends a fury to kill Heracles’ family. Heracles sets out on an epic quest to discover the name of the god who set their murders in motion. Desperate to keep him busy until she can come up with a solution, Hera sets Heracles a series of tests, as impossible as they are deadly: the Nemean lion, the hydra, the Stymphalian birds, the Aegean stables . . .
But Heracles’ innate kindness, along with his determination to discover the identity of the god who cost him everything he loves, carries him through each task. As his legend grows, so does Hera’s desperation.
A novel of friendship, of found family, of kindness and of legend, this is the story of Hercules as it has never been told before.
Every Version of You
9780857309150 | Verve Books | PBO
Grace Chan
In late-21st-century Australia, Tao-Yi and her partner Navin spend most of their time inside an immersive, consumerist virtual reality called Gaia. They log on, go to work, socialise and even eat in this digital utopia. Meanwhile, their aging bodies lie suspended in pods inside cramped apartments.
Across the city, in the abandoned real world, Tao-Yi’s mother remains stubbornly offline, dwindling away between hospital visits and memories of her earlier life in Malaysia.
When a new technology is developed to permanently upload a human brain to Gaia, Tao-Yi must decide what is most important: a digital future or an authentic past.
Stunning and spellbinding, Every Version of You unpicks the ties between life and technology to ask what truly makes us human, and what in our world is worth preserving. Perfect for fans of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
A Forgery of Fate
9781399714839 | Hodderscape | TPB
Elizabeth Lim
From the New York and Sunday Times bestselling author of Six Crimson Cranes comes a new breathtaking romantic fantasy inspired by Beauty and the Beast about a girl who paints the future and a cursed dragon lord, bound by love and deception in a plot to bring down the gods.
Fortune finds those who leap . . .
A gifted art forger, Truyan Saigas has the unique ability to paint the future. But when her father is lost at sea, not even magic can heal her family, or save her two younger sisters from the dangerous consequences of her mother’s gambling debts.
Then Elang, a mysterious dragon lord, offers her a deal: in exchange for a fresh start for her mother and sisters, Tru must enter a marriage contract and join him in his desolate undersea palace.
Once there, Tru will embark on her most dangerous forgery yet. To infiltrate the tyrannical Dragon King’s inner circle and paint a future so treasonous, it could upend both the mortal and immortal realms . . .
YOUR FAVOURITE TROPES
Enemies to lovers ⚔️💗
Slow burn romance ❤️🔥
Sassy FMCS >ᴗ<
Marriage of convenience 💍
He falls first (and harder) 🦵🧎♂️
Six Wild Crowns
9780356522678 | Orbit | TPB
Holly Race
THE TUDOR QUEENS AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN THEM BEFORE – DISCOVER YOUR NEW EPIC FANTASY OBSESSION.
*** THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ***
The king has been appointed by god to marry six queens. Those six queens are all that stand between the kingdom of Elben and ruin. Or so we have been told.
Each queen vies for attention. Clever, ambitious Boleyn is determined to be Henry’s favourite. And if she must incite a war to win Henry over? So be it.
Seymour acts as spy and assassin in a court teeming with dragons, backstabbing courtiers and strange magic. But when she and Boleyn become the unlikeliest of things – allies – the balance of power begins to shift. Together they will discover an ancient, rotting magic at Elben’s heart. A magic that their king will do anything to protect.
A captivating epic fantasy filled with dragons, court politics and sapphic yearning, perfect for fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree and House of the Dragon.
Lady’s Knight
9780008714062 | Electric Monkey | PBO
Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
A rollercoaster of a medieval romp and a sapphic love story, set in a world of dragons, witches and excellent snacks from NYT bestselling duo, Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner. Perfect for fans of Gwen and Art are Not in Love, Twin Crowns and My Lady Jane.
A blacksmith’s daughter with a secret.
A lady with a plan.
We’re in for one unforgettable knight…
Gwen has spent the past several years manning the blacksmith’s in place of her father, an open secret in the village in which she lives. A much more covert secret, however, is that she knows not only how to craft but also how to wield a sword, and an incognito stunt at the local jousting tournament manages to catch the eye of the wily Lady Isobelle.
Isobelle has secret dreams too, but she’s been promised in marriage to the winner of the whole stupid tournament, which means an end to any freedom or choices for her. Desperate to avoid this fate, when she connects the newcomer knight to the female smithy she saw earlier that day, she begins to hatch a scheme…
Petty knights. Backstabbing noblemen. A prison breakout. Cheesecake-on-a-stick. One particularly large and angry dragon.
Will our ladies survive the night? And can our knight save the day?
A Dance of Lies
9781526681393 | Bloomsbury | TPB
Brittney Arena
2025’s most-anticipated new debut romantic fantasy is the epic, unmissable story of hope after heartbreak, secrets, betrayal, dancing – and the touch of a goddess of death.
My protector is gone, revealed to be a monster. But I remind myself that I am not a damsel. I’m no princess bound within a tower.
I am a shadow.
Vasalie Moran was once a dancer in King Illian’s court – until he framed her for murder. Barely surviving her two years in the dungeons, she’s suddenly called to face her King. He offers her a deal: become his spy at the month-long royal Gathering and he’ll grant her freedom.
As Illian’s orders grow bloody and dangerous, forcing her to harm and betray those around her, Vasalie discovers the monster she serves may be aligned with a bigger monster – one far closer to home. With her world threatened, Vasalie enlists the help of Illian’s brother and greatest adversary, the King of the East.
As the rivalry between brothers escalates with Vasalie caught in the middle, the truth of her past comes to light. If she wants to survive, she must decide who to trust, who to fight for, and how much of her soul she’s willing to damn in the process.
