Each December, every year, I make a preorder list of books for the upcoming year. I make sure to include debuts, on principle, and I try to focus on releases within that same year as opposed to books released years ago. My list ranges from MG to Adult, but is primarily focused on SFF since that’s the market I hope to one day be a part of. And, before you ask, the list will no doubt change throughout ’22, but I’ll never delete any books. I’ll only add. There’s that principle again, I guess.
So, without further ado, behold my ‘22 preorder list, complete with blurbs and my reasons for wanting to read these fantastic books.
Settle in, this is gonna be a long one—31 books long, to be precise.
JANUARY
In this Indian-inspired debut fantasy, royal siblings must work together against their will, planning to stab each other in the back during their combined quest for a mysterious object of legend that’ll unlock a new magic in the world in order to prevent an invasion—and I’m sold. That’s it. I need no more.
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In this debut adult fantasy, inspired by the legend of Chang’e, the Chinese moon goddess, a young woman grows up on the moon, exiled alongside her mother for stealing an elixir of immortality, after which she must disguise her identity in her quest to free her mother from the most powerful immortal in the realm—yes, please, I’ll take this. No questions asked.
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FEBRUARY
It’s a YA fantasy about a girl who sacrifices herself for her brother (and his beloved) by jumping into the watery depths of the Spirit Realm where she must find a way to appease the malevolent Sea God who demands a bride every year—except she discovers him caught in an enchanted sleep, and the longer that she stays in the spirit realm, attempting to wake him and appease him, the closer she herself comes to death.
I mean, what’s not to like here? And the stakes? Someone hold my hand, please.
Not gonna lie, I was sold on this book without even reading the pitch, and purely because one of the comp titles is The Witch’s Heart (2021) by Genevieve Gornichec. A River Enchanted is an adult fantasy about a bard who returns home to assist in finding girls who’ve gone lost, taken by the spirits of his homeland, and he must use his music to do so, with an heiress convincing him to do so, yet the spirits turn more sinister by the day, and there’s just a lot to love here, okay, okay, okay?
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It’s an adult romantic fantasy with a Tinker Bell who’s banished from her homeland for selling the hottest drug in Neverland—pixie dust—after which she wants absolution, which takes the shape of seducing a pirate and stealing precious gems from under his hook—and I’m sold. End of story. Don’t need to know more.
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In this adult fantasy debut, we’ve got a protagonist who wants nothing more than becoming a weapons master—and I’m sold. Come on. Aren’t you sold, too? Maybe it helps if I also mention that the protagonist’s final exam to become a weapons master includes a bloody insurrection, staged by corrupt nobles and priests, that enslaves his brother? And to rescue his brother, the protagonist must embrace not only his abilities as a warrior, but also his place as last of the ancient Mage Kings?
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In this YA Jazz Age fantasy where magic buys votes, a politically savvy teen must weigh her desire to climb the social ladder against her heart—do you need to know more? I don’t.
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MARCH
I’m not gonna say a whole lot here, since I don’t yet know a whole lot, except that this anthology is based off SJ Whitby’s Cute Mutants Series, and if you haven’t read that yet, you’ve failed yourself.
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In this YA fantasy, the protagonist is a sharpshooter who needs the help of an alchemist (enter certified soft boi, Wes) in chasing down the last living mythical creature that has spurred the Halfmoon Hunt where the winner will earn fame, riches, and an ancient magical secret. Like, come on? Gimme?
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A subversive, LGBTQ+ YA take on the Arthurian legend where the chosen one wins the kingdom and has to get married to keep it—and to stay alive—after clumsily beheading the evil king with a dull sword and is now at a loss for what to do. I’m sold. I want this down my gullet, right now.
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A LGBTQ+ adult sci-fi in which the protagonist is on the run from people wanting to study his gravity powers, which takes him to a pleasure moon full of mixed-species fugitives, and here he must survive when the crime boss of a resort-casino notices him working a circus job and realizes there’s a bounty on his head, and—good god, do I want to hold this book in my grubby little hands.
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As one of the reviews for this book so aptly says: “A feminist adventure story set against the backdrop of the dangerous pearl-diving industry in 19th-century Western Australia, about a young English woman who sets off to uncover the truth about the disappearance of her eccentric father.”
I mean, come on? Who doesn’t need this? Nobody!
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APRIL
In this feminist adult fantasy debut, the protagonist is desperate for independence, so she turns to texts she once read with her mother in which she discovers a magic that is hers alone and which transforms her into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored (if also vilified) queen—except there are consequences. There are always consequences, indeed, and I am desperate to know what they are, please?
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This is the sequel to Roanhorse’s Black Sun (2020)—and that’s all I need to know for me to preorder this one. If you haven’t read Black Sun, you’re missing out on one of the more recent masterpieces in adult fantasy. And I genuinely mean that. Sadly, it seems lesser known than some more popular releases, and I’d love to change that.
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MAY
In this adult fantasy debut…
A merchant, a jinn, a prince, and a thief walk into the desert.
“For treasure,” says the merchant.
“For redemption,” says the jinn
“For adventure!” says the prince.
“For revenge,” says the thief.
For better or worse, they get exactly what they wish for.
That’s it. That’s the pitch, courtesy of the author itself, and what more can I say?
In this adult sci-fi, we follow a smuggler whose freighter breaks down in a strange rift in deep space where it encounters a supposed research vessel from the future. I don’t need to know more than that mystery and setting alone; do you?
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Holly Black’s first venture into adult fantasy? Yes, please. I don’t even care what this book is about. I just want it. That said, if you like con artists, shadow magic with lethal consequences, and sharp prose, then this book is for you.
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This YA fantasy novel (companion to Echo North, 2019) is about a storyteller and his daughter. The twist? The storyteller was once the formidable North Wind, but he lost his power by trading it away in exchange for mortality because he loved his daughter’s mother too much to live without her. This book is the story of the daughter, Satu, as she embarks on a perilous journey to reclaim her father’s magic—but she isn’t the only one searching for it.
Can you scream stakes and worldbuilding? If not, then I can scream it for you.
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JUNE
In this sequel to the YA fantasy novella A Spindle Splintered (2020), the protagonist is a professional fairytale fixer who’s done fixing damsels in distress. Until, of course, the last person shows up who simply must be fixed, and it turns out the person isn’t a princess, but an evil queen—and I won’t go quietly into the night waiting for this book, I’m telling you…
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In this African and Arabian-inspired adult fantasy, three women band together against a cruel Empire that divides people by blood—red, blue, and clear—and as the Empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, cities to burn, and for me to scream bloody murder until I get to hold this book in my hands.
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In this adult contemporary sci-fi, the setting is a New York City where a minority of the population has lost the need for sleep, and a journalist fights to uncover the truth behind his boss’s murder while his own Sleeplessness spirals out of control.
I mean, the setting and the stakes alone had me gasping for this book immediately; what about you?
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JULY
- THE BOOK OF GOTHEL by Mary McMyne
In this debut adult fantasy, we get the story of the witch who put Rapunzel in the tower, Haelewise, starting from when she was the strange, shunned child of an overprotective mother who dies and leaves her unmoored—until she finds the tower of Gothel and those who live there.
I mean, if you don’t wanna hear more about this story, I’m not sure what you wanna hear more about, you know?
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As taken directly from the source, because wow, did this pitch have me hooked immediately: “Set in a planet-sized matriarchal city where magic and technology freely bleed together, a male courtesan’s quest for vengeance against his aristocrat father draws him into an ancient struggle between dragons, necromancers, and his home district’s violent history.”
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This epic adult fantasy has everything you could want, basically: elementals forged in boiling volcanoes and subterranean passages, a protagonist forced to work in secret as an enforcer for a corrupt magnate when he’s cursed with a flesh binding that’ll have magic killing him at the first sign of disobedience—and do you need to know more? Maybe you want to know that the magnate dies, leaving the protagonist to rediscover the person he once was and escape his flesh binding before the land falls apart around him?
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AUGUST
Things you can find in this contemporary fantasy debut, as best said by the author herself:
“Literal book eating; violent road trip thru Northern Britain; a kickass mother-son duo; cults, conspiracies, & hidden societies; bone-deep platonic friendships (and ace rep); modern gothic vibes; 90s video game nostalgia”
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This adult fantasy novella has a refugee practitioner of blood magic discovering a strange disease that causes political rifts in their new homeland, leading to lethal accusations of ineptly-performed blood magic —and I’m done, that’s it, I want to inhale this book right now.
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SEPTEMBER
This debut adult fantasy deals with the maligned and immortal witch of legend known as Baba Yaga as she risks all to save Russia and her people from Tsar Ivan the Terrible. When her old friend Anastasia—now the wife of the Tsar, and suffering from a mysterious illness—arrives in her forest desperate for her protection, Yaga realizes the fate of all of Russia is tied to Anastasia’s, and so Yaga must step out of the shadows to protect the land she loves. But what Yaga can’t know is that Ivan is being manipulated by powers far older and more fearsome than anyone can imagine.
I mean, the sheer stakes in this, both small-scale and large-scale, and the deep-seeded motivation of friendship against the backdrop of 16th century Russia; what more can you ask for?
I don’t need to say much here, do I? Except that I am overjoyed we’ll be getting four books, rather than three, and who’s with me?
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OCTOBER
N/A
NOVEMBER
In this xianxia-inspired contemporary debut fantasy, we meet a magical temporary agency calligrapher who becomes involved with a client and must embrace her powers in order to battle a deadly feud. Check, please? I’m ready to buy, right now?
This fantasy duology is pitched as King Arthur meets Peaky Blinders with vampires—and let’s just stop there, because that’s enough for me to buy it. What about you?
In this LGBTQ+ MG debut, 12-year-old nonbinary Callie’s ex-hero dad is summoned to the royal capitol of Helston to train a hopeless prince as an epic war looms, while Callie lunges for the opportunity to become an official knight in training. Helston is full of powerful people who believe knighthood is for boys and magic is for girls, and Callie and Co. will have to fight both the dangers beyond the kingdom and the bigotry from within.
Like come on? If this doesn’t scream MG Tamora Pierce, then what does? I’m in!
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And that’s it. That’s my preorder list for 2022 as of today’s date. Liable to change, of course, as we actually enter 2022, but so far this is it. 31 books. Since I managed to read 50 books during 2021, I imagine this is doable. With the caveat that I’ll no doubt add more. Speaking of…
Did I miss any books?
Then do tell me in the comments below!
A.R.Frederiksen 