30 SFF Books Winter/Fall 2025

You wake up in a dream. Oddly enough...the last thing you remember is reading <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">Reactor's 30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025</a>...you're quite genre-savvy that way. You have the very distinct feeling <a href="https://69zh29cj.play.borogove.io/">you've done this before.</a> You stand in a plain white room lit with those awful flourescent overhead lights they only put in hospitals. Four Orbs rest on pedestals before you. How trite. [[A perfectly smooth orb made of sleek, soft, grey METAL. The air around it hisses and snaps.]] [[An orb papered with layers of MAPS. Some of them look old and weathered. Some of them are crisp are new. You only recognize some of the locations.]] [[A small, knobbled orb stained with some brown LIQUID. It looks leathery, and gross. It almost looks like–but that is too awful to consider.]] [[The largest orb looks a little worse for wear. You see where a few MAPS on its surface have peeled away to reveal dented METAL beneath. There are also some very ugly brown stains of an unidentifiable LIQUID.]]

You raise your hand towards the metal orb, and the hairs on your arm stand at attention. When you press a finger to the surface, it is warm, and a faint burst of static pricks your finger. You are now on in the plaza of a vast, crowded spaceship. People rush past you, //quite// rudely. Your countless studious hours of bad science fiction movies (and TV and books and straight-to-VHS spinoffs) have prepared you for this moment. Which way will you go? [[Up a set of stairs to the right, where a steady stream of people rush in and out of a set of doors. There is some shouting involved.]] [[To the left, down a darkened hallway. A guard stands outside, and no one greets him as they pass.]]

The maps are dry and textured under your fingers. When you open your eyes, you're in a large, stone room. The accommodations are modest but clean, and you hear the sound of voices outside your door. ' A group of people burst into the room, snipping and arguing at one another as they pull along two bundles of fabric. "These are the only garments appropriate for tonight's ball," one man says with a sniff. "Someone forgot to send your request to the tailor." Another man huffs and rolls his eyes. "I can't speak on that. Just choose what you'd like to wear and we'll dress you." He raises both outfits. Which will you choose? [[A long, dark piece made of sumptious black velvet. It's luxurious, it's decadent, and it shows more of your leg than you expected.]] [[A well-crafted but practical piece in green. It isn't fine enough for dinner, but at least you will be comfortable.]]

You reluctantly touch the wrinkled, stained orb. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww. When you open your eyes, you stand on a cliff overlooking the ocean. While the view would be beautiful on a more pleasant day, right now the cold spray stings your eyes, and the sky is dark and overcast. You see a path leading towards a large, imposing house. You see another leading down through the muck, towards a small town. [[Creepy house! Creepy house!]] [[This calls for civilization.]]

You open your eyes to see a kitchen. A NICE kitchen. Oh, goodness. You're a terrible cook. Harsh white lights turn to land on your face, and you hear a crowd erupt in cheers. "And we're back!" A voice shouts jovially. "ON AIR" Flashes overhead, and all you can see is a sea of veneers. This is basically the worst day ever. It's not too late to exit out of this narrative text game and pretend this scenario isn't happening. [[Examine the table.]] [[Realistically, you would've begged to go back to Kansas the first time the Munchkins started singing.|Start]]

You walk upstairs, elbowing your way through to a smaller chamber, from which a few others doors branch off. The doors never stay closed for long. "Excuse me!" You see a hand pop out above the crowd, and a young man rushes forward. "Finally!" A young woman appears from behind him, and the two scramble to arrange themselves before you. Ah yes, your aids. [["What's your report?"]]

You approach the guard. "Identification?" He asks gruffly. He already looks annoyed. His mustache is very stupid. [["It's right here, clipped to the left side of my belt, where I always keep it.]] [["You know what? I think I left it in my quarters..."|Up a set of stairs to the right, where a steady stream of people rush in and out of a set of doors. There is some shouting involved.]]

You make a show of shuffling around to reach your ID Card, which is of course where you always keep it. You would //never// leave your room without it. Not after the incident. You hand your ID to the guard, who peers it at with way too much scrutiny than the situation calls for. God, that mustache gets stupider by the second. "You're clear," he says, and hands it back to you with a nod. "Go ahead." [[Continue forward.]]

You pass into the hallway. Once you're sure the guard has turned away, you glance down at your ID card. The name in big block letters is yours, but the picture...the face is not. Or maybe- it's close, but- No. Something is not quite right. That guard should be fired. [[Keep walking.]]

You enter in a small office. There's a large viewport on the opposite wall, but this is clearly a room on the lower half of the ship, away from the best views and the best promotions. Computers and screens sprout on every available surface. "Oh, thank goodness, you're finally here," a woman says, glancing up at you from her desk. "I came as soon as I heard," you reply automatically. "Don't lie," she says briskly, then jerks her head to a set of headphones. "Can you take a listen? The brigadeer thought...well, he thought you might have some insight here." You slip the headphones over your head. [[Listen.]]

At first, you hear nothing. Then a slow, staticky crawl of noise. It's faint, but there's a rhythmic variation interrupting the droning background noise. You lean over the desk intently. It sounds like...but no... [[It sounds like your daughter.]] [[It sounds like your sister.]]

We recommend you read //The Bloodless Queen// by Joshua Phillip Johnson. <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/914te9GtGCL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Part ecological Orpheus and Eurydice myth and part gothic thriller, discover this atmospheric near-future sci-fi novel about fae mysteries deep within strange nature preserves. Perfect for readers of Jeff VanderMeer, Chuck Wendig, and Sunyi Dean. On the autumnal equinox of 1987, after fencing off half of the Earth’s land for huge nature reserves called Harbors, the leaders of the world called on their peoples to celebrate. Then began the horror and the magic. Everyone who died that day—all 132,329 of them—instead of going cold and still, turned odd and fae. They became mischievous and murderous, before disappearing into their nearest Harbor, never seen again. And each year after that on the autumnal equinox, the same terrible transformations would occur: the wretched dead not dying, but instead riddling and whispering of a faerie queen—bloodless and powerful—while fleeing into the wild confines of the Harbors. In the present day, Evangeline and Calidore are working as fencers, government-employed protectors whose magical powers come from mysterious tattoos of prime numbers. When they aren’t fixing the fences of the Midwest Harbor that separates the human world from Faerie or patrolling on the equinox, they are parents of an almost-seven-year-old daughter named Winnie. But as the new year’s autumnal equinox approaches, Evangeline and Calidore find themselves thrust into a vast conspiracy that stretches across governments, religions, and fencers worldwide. As they race to untangle this web of power and intrigue, they will need to confront the questions that have haunted the world since the fences were built: What lies at the heart of the Harbors? Who waits there? - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend you read //Saltcrop// by Yume Kitasei. <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71PGEROUjuL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - From the acclaimed author of //The Stardust Grail// comes the epic tale of two sisters who sail across oceans to find their missing third sister―and Earth’s environmental salvation. In Earth's not too distant future, seas consume coastal cities, highways disintegrate underwater, and mutant fish lurk in pirate-controlled depths. Skipper, a skilled sailor and the youngest of three sisters, earns money skimming and reselling plastic from the ocean to care for her ailing grandmother. But then her eldest sister, Nora, goes missing. Nora left home a decade ago in pursuit of a cure for failing crops all over the world. When Skipper and her other sister, Carmen, receive a cryptic plea for help, they must put aside their differences and set out across the sea to find―and save―her. As they voyage through a dying world both beautiful and strange, encountering other travelers along the way, they learn more about their sister's work and the corporations that want what she discovered. But the farther they go, the more uncertain their mission becomes: What dangerous attention did Nora attract, and how well do they really know their sister―or each other? Thus begins an epic journey spanning oceans and continents and a wistful rumination on sisterhood, friendship, and ecological disaster. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

The woman gestures to a room behind her with her clipboard. "We think we've bypassed their internal security. You better come take a look." The man is already edging towards a different room. "They've showed up on our scanners. We just need approval from you before we fire." [[Follow the woman.]] [[Follow the man.]]

We recommend you read //All That We See or Seem// by Ken Liu. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/bloomsbury-atlas/image/upload/w_568,c_scale,dpr_1.5/jackets/9781035915903.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Award winning author Ken Liu returns with his first sci-fi thriller in a brand-new series following former “orphan hacker” Julia Z as she is thrust into a high-stakes adventure where she must use her cybersecurity and hacking skills to unravel a virtual reality mystery, rescue a kidnapped dream artist, and confront the blurred lines between technology, identity, and the power of shared dreams. Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at fourteen as the “orphan hacker,” is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb. But when a lawyer named Piers—whose famous artist wife, Elli, has been kidnapped by dangerous criminals—barges into her life, Julia decides to put the solitary life she has painstakingly created at risk as she can’t walk away from helping Piers and Elli, nor step away from the challenge of this digital puzzle. Elli is an onierofex, a dream artist, who can weave the dreams of an audience together through a shared virtual landscape, live, in a concert-like experience by tapping into each attendee’s waking dream and providing an emotionally resonant and narrative experience. While attendees’ dreams are anonymous, Julia discovers that Elli was also providing a one-on-one dream experience for the head of an international criminal enterprise, and he’s demanding his dreams in return for Elli. Unraveling the real and unreal leads Julia on an adventure that takes her across the country and deep into the shadows of her psyche. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's “<a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a>” You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend you read //Slow Gods// by Claire North. <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81wZBQ3t4FL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - From one of the most original and dazzling voices in speculative fiction comes an intergalactic tale of conspiracy, war and the fall of empires. My name is Mawukana na-Vdnaze, and I am a very poor copy of myself. In telling my story, there are certain things I should perhaps lie about. I should make myself a hero. Pretend I was not used by strangers and gods, did not leave people behind. Here is one out there in deep-space, in the pilot's chair, I died. And then, I was reborn. I became something not quite human, something that could speak to the infinite dark. And I vowed to become the scourge of the world that wronged me. This is the story of the supernova event that burned planets and felled civilizations. This is also the story of the many lives I've lived since I died for the first time. Are you listening? Discover this thrilling and breathtakingly imaginative space opera from the multi-award-winning Claire North, perfect for fans of Ann Leckie, Adrian Tchaikovsky and Arkady Martine. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's “<a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a>” You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

You approach the house. You've seen abandoned houses before, but this looks to be the abandonest. The roof is caved in on one side, and even the ivy over the door is dead. [[Knock]]

You turn your back on the house and march towards the distant town. Something about it feels anxious and industrial. The town's name on the water tower is scoured over with rust. [[Walk home.]]

No answer, of course. You slip inside the door. [[Explore.]]

The house looks just as bad inside as out. The furniture is dusty and pocketed with small holes. The floorboards creak when you walk. Be careful–there's broken glass and old wrappers everywhere you step. [[Go upstairs.]]

You wander up the stairs. It's not what the Reactor Social Media Manager would've done, but that's fine. You find a large master bedroom. The room must have been luxurious once: the curtains and rug are stained and fraying, but the patterns are beautiful. The bedsheets have vanished. It's just an empty frame. [[To the bathroom.]]

You're feeling nosy, so it's time to check out the bathroom. That's where the real secrets are. A large vanity table dominates the opposite wall. Though the counter is dusty, there's still a few unbroken perfume bottles. Which do you sniff? [[A tall, thin bottle with a few drops of amber liquid. The stopper is shaped like a honey dipper.]] [[A squat, green bottle. The label reads "Spanish Moss," and the dark liquid within looks thick and congealed.]] [[A dark, spherical bottle. The glass is too dark to see through, but the smell is already rich and pungent.]]

We recommend you read //Honeyeater// by Kathleen Jennings. <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71vNi1pc-EL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - A richly imagined dark fantasy that pulses with the beautiful destruction of a town reclaimed by the natural world. Sub-tropical Bellworth is founded on floodplains and root-bound secrets. And Charlie, remarkable only for vanished friends and a successful sister, plans to leave for good, just as soon as he deals with his dead aunt’s house. Then Grace arrives, desperate, with roses pressing up through her skin, and drags Charlie into the ghost-choked mysteries of Bellworth, uncovering the impossible consequences of loss and desire — and a choice Charlie made when he was a boy. But peeling back the rumors and lies that cocoon the suburb disturbs more than complacent neighbors and lost souls. And Charlie and Grace are forced to a decision that threatens not only their lives, but all they believed those lives could be - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend you read //Psychopomp & Circumstance// by Eden Royce. <img src="https://mpd-biblio-covers.imgix.net/9781250330963.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Ignyte and Mythopoeic Award-winning author Eden Royce pens a Southern Gothic historical fantasy story of a contentious funeral in her adult fiction debut. Phee St. Margaret is a daughter of the Reconstruction, born to a family of free Black business owners in New Charleston. Coddled to within an inch of her life by a mother who refuses to let her daughter live a life other than the one she dictates, Phee yearns to demonstrate she's capable of more than simply marrying well. When word arrives that her Aunt Cleo, long estranged from the family, has passed away, Phee risks her mother's wrath to step up and accept the role of pomp―the highly honored duty of planning the funeral service. Traveling alone to the town of Horizon and her aunt's unsettling home, Phee soon discovers that visions and shadows beckon from every reflective surface, and that some secrets transcend the borders of life and death. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend you read //The Villa, Once Beloved// by Victor Manibo. <img src="https://covers.bksh.co/cover678378-large.png" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Some legacies are best left buried… Villa Sepulveda is a storied relic of the Philippines’ past: a Spanish colonial manor, its moldering stonework filled with centuries-old heirlooms, nestled in a remote coconut plantation. When their patriarch dies mysteriously, his far-flung family returns to their ancestral home. Filipino-American student Adrian Sepulveda invites his college girlfriend, Sophie, a transracial adoptee who knows little about her own Filipino heritage, to the funeral of a man who was entwined with the history of the country itself. Sophie soon learns that there is more to the Sepulvedas than a grand tradition of political and entrepreneurial success. Adrian’s relatives clash viciously amid grief, confusion, and questions about the family curse that their matriarch refuses to answer. When a landslide traps them all in the villa, secrets begin to emerge, revealing sins both intimately personal and unthinkably public. Sifting through fact, folklore, and fiction, Sophie finds herself at the center of a reckoning. Did a mythical demon really kill Adrian’s grandfather? How complicit are the Sepulvedas in the country’s oppressive history? As a series of ill omens befall the villa, Sophie must decide whom to trust—and whom to flee—before the family’s true legacy comes to take its revenge... - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

Oh, yeah, you live here! There's your apartment complex, in fact. It may be cheap and gross and implicated in the disappearence of 12 people in 1972, but at least you can say sometimes the hot water works. The pedestrian gate shudders open, and you almost step on something in the yellow grass. Something moving. [[Investigate.]]

It's a pile of worms! There's something cute about the way they're writhing around like a rat king. A worm king? You've never seen so many earthworms in one spot. Perhaps it rained in this four-inch diameter recently. [[Poke the worms.]] [[Respect the worms' boundaries.]]

We recommend you read //You Weren't Meant To Be Human// by Andrew Joseph White. <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71YBzg7tY9L._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - //Alien// meets //Midsommar// in this chilling debut adult novel from award-winning author Andrew Joseph White about identity, survival, and transformation amidst an alien invasion in rural West Virginia. Festering masses of worms and flies have taken root in dark corners across Appalachia. In exchange for unwavering loyalty and fresh corpses, these hives offer a few struggling humans salvation. A fresh start. It’s an offer that none refuse. Crane is grateful. Among his hive’s followers, Crane has found a chance to transition, to never speak again, to live a life that won’t destroy him. He even met Levi: a handsome ex-Marine and brutal killer who treats him like a real man, mostly. But when Levi gets Crane pregnant—and the hive demands the child’s birth, no matter the cost—Crane’s desperation to make it stop will drive the community that saved him into a devastating spiral that can only end in blood. //You Weren’t Meant to Be Human// is a deeply personal horror; a visceral statement about the lives of marginalized people in a hostile world, echoing the works of Stephen Graham Jones and Eric LaRocca. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

You allow the worms their fun and continue back to your apartment on the second floor. The elevator's always broken of course, so you opt for the stairs. One of the things you hate about this place is the giant windows. Anyone could look into your living room! Like the kind of the person who pokes worms, for example. As you pass the first floor, you have a prime view into the closest resident's living room. [[...Take a peek?]] [[Mind your own business.]]

We recommend you read //Happy People Don't Live Here// by Amber Sparks. <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81JSwXF4YVL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - In Amber Sparks’ highly anticipated debut novel, a reclusive mother and her saturnine daughter move into a haunted building brimming with eccentrics—and secrets. Just past the edge of summer, Alice and Fern arrive at the Pine Lake Apartments—a former sanitorium occupied by an ensemble of peculiar neighbors and a smattering of ghosts. Among the living: a professional mermaid, a handyperson moonlighting as a medium, and an awkward professor of medieval studies. For the determinedly private Alice, Pine Lake seems the perfect place to hide herself and her daughter—until the day Fern finds a dead body in the dumpster. Intent on solving this mystery, and dodging warnings from her increasingly paranoid mother, Fern’s investigation digs up long-buried secrets that implicate each of her neighbors . . . and conjures a new party from beyond the grave. A darkly funny gothic tale, //Happy People Don’t Live Here// is an unforgettable novel from a “master of the fantastic” (Roxane Gay) that takes a sharp look at love, family, and the sometimes-dangerous myths we make for ourselves. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

You would never violate someone's privacy like that. How rude. You walk into your apartment. You've tried to make the most of this place, but it's still pretty ugly. You keep accruing paintings of cats playing mahjong, and they are really starting to kill the vibe. [[Check the mail.]] [[Go to your bookshelf.]]

You have two letters, both from your alma mater. Which do you pick up? [[A sleek, professional printed postcard from your old college greek house. A thin red film covers your name; it smells like rotten meat.]] [[A small, pink and white greeting card. A tiny white bunny is painted on the front, and the card feels heavier than it should. It smells sickly sweet.]]

You always feel centered with your books. You've enjoyed collecting rare and vintage paperbacks recently, and you have two new acquisitions to add to these shelves. Which one will you pick up first? [[A heavy, leatherbound book with no title or author. It feels old, smart, and expensive.]] [[A cheap pulpy paperback. The cover is RIDICULOUS. How is she bending her hips like that?]]

We recommend you read //Girl Dinner// by Olivie Blake. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1739553944i/222793034.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - From the New York Times bestselling author of //The Atlas Six//, //Girl Dinner// is a darkly-fun novel about power, lust, and eating your fill, as wealthy moms and sorority girls practice a sinister new wellness trend . . . Good girls deserve a treat. Every member of The House, the most exclusive sorority on campus, and all its alumni, are beautiful, high-achieving, and universally respected. After a freshman year she would rather forget, sophomore Nina Kaur knows being one of the chosen few accepted into The House is the first step in her path to the brightest possible future. Once she's taken into their fold, the House will surely ease her fears of failure and protect her from those who see a young woman on her own as easy prey. Meanwhile, adjunct professor Dr. Sloane Hartley is struggling to return to work after accepting a demotion to support her partner's new position at the cutthroat University. After 18 months at home with her newborn daughter, Sloane's clothes don’t fit right, her girl-dad husband isn’t as present as he thinks he is, and even the few hours a day she's apart from her child fill her psyche with paralyzing ennui. When invited to be The House’s academic liaison, Sloane enviously drinks in the way the alumnae seem to have it all, achieving a level of collective perfection that Sloane so desperately craves. As Nina and Sloane each get drawn deeper into the arcane rituals of the sisterhood, they learn that living well comes with bloody costs. And when they are finally invited to the table, they will have to decide just how much they can stomach in the name of solidarity and power. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend you read //We Love You, Bunny// by Mona Awad. <img src="https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781668059869/we-love-you-bunny-9781668059869.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - In the cult classic novel //Bunny//, Samantha Heather Mackey, a lonely outsider student at a highly selective MFA program in New England, was first ostracized and then seduced by a clique of creepy-sweet rich girls who call themselves “Bunny.” An invitation to the Bunnies’ Smut Salon leads Samantha down a dark rabbit hole (pun intended) into the violently surreal world of their off-campus workshops where monstrous creations are conjured with deadly and wondrous consequences. //When We Love You, Bunny// opens, Sam has just published her first novel to critical acclaim. But at a New England stop on her book tour, her one-time frenemies, furious at the way they’ve been portrayed, kidnap her. Now a captive audience, it’s her (and our) turn to hear the Bunnies’ side of the story. One by one, they take turns holding the axe, and recount the birth throes of their unholy alliance, their discovery of their unusual creative powers—and the phantasmagoric adventure of conjuring their first creation. With a bound and gagged Sam, we embark on a wickedly intoxicating journey into the heart of dark academia: a fairy tale slasher that explores the wonder and horror of creation itself. Not to mention the transformative powers of love and friendship, Bunny. Frankenstein by way of //Heathers//, //We Love You, Bunny// is both a prequel and a sequel, and an unabashedly wild and totally complete stand-alone novel. Open your hearts, Bunny, to another dazzlingly original and darkly hilarious romp in the Bunny-verse from the queen of the fever-dream, Mona Awad. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend //The Library at Hellebore// by Cassandra Khaw. <img src="https://mpd-biblio-covers.imgix.net/9781250877826.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - A deeply dark academia novel from USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw, perfect for fans of //A Deadly Education// and //The Atlas Six// who are hungry for something a little more diabolical. The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers. Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance, and a normal life after graduation. At least, that’s what Alessa Li is told when she’s kidnapped and forcibly enrolled. But there’s more to Hellebore than meets the eye. On graduation day, the faculty go on a ravenous rampage, feasting on Alessa’s class. Only Alessa and a group of her classmates escape the carnage. Trapped in the school’s library, they must offer a human sacrifice every night, or else the faculty will break down the door and kill everyone. Can they band together and survive, or will the faculty eat its fill? - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend //A Game in Yellow// by Hailey Piper. <img src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781668077085_p0_v2_s600x595.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - //Euphoria// meets //Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke// in this latest novel by the Bram Stoker Award–winning author Hailey Piper, following a couple whose search to spice up their sex life leads them down a path of madness. A kink-fixated couple, Carmen and Blanca, have been in a rut. That is until Blanca discovers the enigmatic Smoke in an under-street drug den, who holds pages to a strange play, //The King in Yellow//. Read too much, and you’ll fall into madness. But read just a little and pull back, and it gives you the adrenaline rush of survivor’s euphoria, leading Carmen to fall into a game of lust at a nightmare’s edge. As the line blurs between the world Carmen knows and the one that she visits after reading from the play, she begins to desire more time in this other world no matter what horrors she brings back with her. Bram Stoker Award–winning author Hailey Piper masterfully blends horror, erotica, and psychological thriller in this captivating and chilling story. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

You look ravishing. That's //so// your color. That's why you chose it. Your assistants guide you downstairs, but they don't notice how their hurried steps ruffle a tapestry as pass by. You glimpse the entrance to a shadowy staircase. How mysterious! How gothic! [[The ball will have to continue without you.]] [[We don't have time for this.]] [[Can I go change really quick?|A well-crafted but practical piece in green. It isn't fine enough for dinner, but at least you will be comfortable.]]

Choosing comfort over style will make you look more nonchalant. You don't even look like you want to be there–and that's why you'll look the best of them all. When you say this to one of her assistants, he gives you a wan smile. [[To the ball!]] [[Um. I guess I could wear the other thing.|A long, dark piece made of sumptious black velvet. It's luxurious, it's decadent, and it shows more of your leg than you expected.]]

You slip behind the tapestry. It's dry and dusty back here. How no one has thought to look behind a wall hanging in this castle is a mystery. It's like they don't even know they live in a fantasy novel route of a text-based narrative game. Weird... You hear the faintest whisper as you ascend the stairs. Something by the window. [[Check it out.]] [[You're smarter than that.|Go upstairs.]]

You sweep into a gorgeous ballroom filled with swirling dancers. A live band plays nearby, and they aren't even that bad. What else is there to do but dance? [[Select your victim I mean dance partner.]]

We recommend you read //House of the Beast// by Michelle Wong. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1734737948i/209098258.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Step into the House of the Beast in this dark fantasy debut from //The Legend of Korra// graphic novel illustrator Michelle Wong, about a young woman who strikes a deal with a mysterious and alluring god to seek revenge on her aristocratic family—featuring illustrations throughout by the author. Born out of wedlock and shunned by society, Alma learned to make her peace with solitude, so long as she had her mother by her side. When her mother becomes gravely ill, Alma discovers a clue about her estranged father and writes a message begging for help. Little does she know that she is a bastard of House Avera, one of the four noble families that serve the gods and are imbued with their powers—and her father is a vessel of the Dread Beast, the most frightening god of all, a harbinger of death. In a desperate exchange for her mother’s medicine, Alma agrees to sacrifice her left arm to the Beast in a ceremony that will bind her forever to the House and its deity. Regardless, her mother soon passes, leaving Alma trapped inside the Avera’s grand estate, despised by her relatives and nothing but a pawn in her father’s schemes. Now vengeance is the only thing that keeps Alma going. That, and the strange connection she has with her god—a monster who is constantly by her side, an eldritch being taking the form of a beautiful prince with starlit hair that only she can see. He tells Alma that she has been chosen to bring change upon their world, and with his help, Alma plots a perilous journey to destroy the House that stole everything from her. A gripping fantasy novel marked by divine rituals, intense combat, and twisted romance, //House of the Beast// is a tale of revenge, resilience, and the power of love to see us through the darkness. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

As you continue towards the ballroom, a small figure with 0 respect for personal space sidles up beside you and slips a small bottle into your hand. "Choose wisely," he whispers, then scurries down into another hallway. Hey, did no one see that guy? [[Look at the bottle.]]

There are many little bowls before you. And one big bowl. The crowd is staring. There's still some scattered claps. Your forehead is very sweaty. You see some ingredients you don't recognize. [[Is that red liquid...smoking?? Dump it in.]] [[There's some sort of parchment scribbled with words you can't read here that someone is pretending is a normal ingredient. Dump it in.]] [[Add it all. Who cares anymore.]]

We recommend you read //The Memory Hunters// by Mia Tsai. <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91oOBuHLJnL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - //Inception// meets //Indiana Jones// in this propulsive fungal science fantasy following a headstrong academic and her equally stubborn bodyguard as they unearth an ancient secret that rocks the foundations of their society—and challenges their unspoken love for one another. Kiana Strade can dive deeper into blood memories than anyone alive. But instead of devoting her talents to the temple she’s meant to lead, Key wants to do research for the Museum of Human Memory. . . and to avoid the public eye. Valerian IV's twin swords protect Key from murderous rivals and her own enthusiasm alike. Vale cares about Key as a friend—and maybe more—but most of all, she needs to keep her job so she can support her parents and siblings in the storm-torn south. But when Key collects a memory that diverges from official history, only Vale sees the fallout. Key’s mentor suspiciously dismisses the finding; her powerful mother demands she stop research altogether. And Key, unusually affected by the memory, begins to lose moments, then minutes, then days. As Vale becomes increasingly entangled in Key’s obsessive drive for answers, the women uncover a shattering discovery—and a devastating betrayal. Key and Vale can remain complicit, or they can jeopardize everything for the truth. Either way, Key is becoming consumed by the past in more ways than one, and time is running out. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend you read //Mad Sisters of Esi// by Tashan Mehta. <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91Yj-6dfaYL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Myung and Laleh are keepers of the whale of babel. They roam within its cosmic chambers, speak folktales of themselves, and pray to an enigmatic figure they know only as 'Great Wisa'. To Laleh, this is everything. For Myung, it is not enough. When Myung flees the whale, she stumbles into a new universe where shapeshifting islands and ancient maps hold sway. There, she sets off on an adventure that is both tragic and transformative, for her and Laleh. For at the heart of her quest lies a mystery that has confounded scholars for the truth about the mad sisters of Esi. Fables, dreams and myths come together in this masterful work of fantasy by acclaimed author Tashan Mehta, sweeping across three landscapes, and featuring a museum of collective memory and a festival of madness. At its core, it In the devastating chaos of this world, where all is in flux and the truth ever-changing, what will you choose to hold on to? - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

You sweep every little powder, piece of paper, and weird jewel into the large bowl, prompting a burst of cheers. The bowl begins emitting a high-pitched whine, smoking thickly. "It's time to taste the dish!" The voice from earlier calls, and a garishly large neon sign reading TASTE THE DISH descends on the left side of the set. If this is how you die, well...this is how you die. This is so stupid. [[You expect to die.]] [[You hope to live.]]

We recommend //Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus is Alive!// by Melissa Lozada-Oliva. <img src="https://images.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/9781662601828" width:"500" height="600"</img> - From the hyper-online author of //Dreaming of You// and //Candelaria// comes a spiky and surprising short stories about women and their jealous men, predatory teachers, monsters, fame, inherited trauma, and their own personal BS. These stories explore the pain and uncertainty of girlhood and young adulthood. Stylish, subversive, and suspenseful, Lozada-Oliva uses elements of body horror and fabulism to great effect, investigating themes of class, race, gender and sexuality, and late stage capitalism. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend //We Will Rise Again//, edited by Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1742402817i/223524087.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - From genre luminaries, esteemed organizers, and exciting new voices in fiction, an anthology of stories, essays, and interviews that offer transformative visions of the future, fantastical alternate worlds, and inspiration for the social justice movements of tomorrow. In this collection, editors Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older champion realistic, progressive social change using the speculative stories of writers across the world. Exploring topics ranging from disability justice and environmental activism to community care and collective worldbuilding, these imaginative pieces from writers such as NK Jemisin, Charlie Jane Anders, Alejandro Heredia, Sam J. Miller, Nisi Shawl, and Sabrina Vourvoulias center solidarity, empathy, hope, joy, and creativity. Each story is grounded within a broader sociopolitical framework using essays and interviews from movement leaders, including adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha, charting the future history of protest, revolutions, and resistance with the same zeal for accuracy that speculative writers normally bring to science and technology. Using the vehicle of ambitious storytelling, //We Will Rise Again// offers effective tools for organizing, an unflinching interrogation of the status quo, and a blueprint for prefiguring a different world. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

It seems like most people came to this event paired up, and standing alone is making you feel awkward. It's so eighth grade dance. You decide to look busy by heading towards the food table. As you turn, you bump ouch directly ow into an attractive stranger! Who could've seen this coming? Not the Reactor Social Media Manager writing it! The woman holds out a hand to steady you. In her other she's clutching a letter, but her fingers obscure the name. [["Let me make it up to you on the dance floor," you say very suavely.]] [["I'm so sorry. I need to leave right now immediately."]]

We recommend you read //Wild Reverance// by Rebecca Ross. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1737937394i/222376906.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic. But in a land where gods often kill each other to steal power and alliances break as quickly as they are forged, Matilda must come of age sooner than most. She may be known to carry words and letters through the realms, but she holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest of allies to ensure her survival. And to complicate matters . . . there is a mortal boy who dreams of her, despite the fact they have never met in the waking world. Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life―begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. When his request went unanswered, Vincent moved on, becoming the hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda. That is, until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him. As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams. There may be a chance for Matilda to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, but at immense sacrifice. She will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: to be vulnerable, and to allow herself to finally be loved. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

She looks confused, but you're already gone. Absolutely mortifying. You've retreated to the opposite wall, away from the music and chandeliers and hazardous obstacles. But you're not alone. A man is leaning against the wall, half-obscured in shadow. "Can't be two brooding strangers at a party," he says grimly. [["Come here often?"]] [["I'll go find my own corner then."]]

We recommend you read //Never the Roses// by Jennifer Lambert. <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81R0C3+3ZlL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - UNSTOPPABLE WAR. UNSPEAKABLE SINS. IMPOSSIBLE LOVE. Genevieve Gornichec’s The Witch’s Heart meets Madeline Miller’s Circe in this epic and deeply emotional romantic fantasy debut by Jennifer K. Lambert. The Dread Sorceress Oneira has retired. She’s exhausted from fighting the endless wars of kings and queens, and has long accepted that her death is near. Alone at last but for a few uninvited companions―a near-mythical wolf, a goddess’s avatar, and a feline that embodies magic itself―Oneira realizes that she’s bored. On a whim, or perhaps at the behest of fate, she makes an unlikely trip to the most extensive library in existence: the home of her most powerful rival, the sorcerer Stearanos. By recklessly stealing a book from him, Oneira inadvertently initiates a forbidden correspondence. Taunting notes and clever retorts reveal a connection neither has found―nor could ever find―in any other. But Oneira soon learns that Stearanos, bound to a vile king, is tasked with waging war on the queen she once served. A relationship with him is far too dangerous to pursue despite their mutual desire―and yet, Oneira can’t seem to stay away. A bond with Stearanos could alight the long-extinct flame of life within her… or it could destroy her entirely. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

What a weirdo. Not your romantasy love interest of choice. Nowhere to go now but into the fray. You drift towards the center of the room as the previous song peters out, and a new, energetic riff begins. Couples break apart and reform around you, and you find yourself left adrift once again. Is NO ONE here friendly to outsiders?? "Over here!" Good thing the Girl Writing This has your back. Two people are waving you over enthusiastically. "We'll rotate! Quick!" [[What's the French word for a meeting of three?]] [[Two dance partners is just one more person's toes to step on.]]

We recommend you read //Tenderly, I Am Devoured// by Lyndall Clipstone. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1725201748i/214438301.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Perfect for fans of //Saltburn//, //For the Wolf//, and //House of Hollow//, //Tenderly, I Am Devoured// is a moody, monstrously Gothic romantasy in which a young woman must bind herself to a dangerous chthonic demon with the help of the son of a rival family to save her family's legacy―and herself―from ruin. Expelled from her prestigious boarding school following a violent incident, eighteen-year-old Lacrimosa Arriscane returns home in disgrace to discover her family on the point of financial ruin. Desperate to save them, she accepts a marriage of convenience… to Therion, the chthonic god worshipped by Lark’s isolated coastal hometown. But when her betrothal goes horribly wrong, Lark begins to vanish from the mortal realm. Her only hope is to seek help from Alastair Felimath: the brilliant, arrogant boy who was her first heartbreak, and his alluring older sister, Camille. As the trio delve into the folklore of gods, Lark falls under the spell of the Felimath siblings. Ensnared by a fervent romance, they perform a bacchanalia with hopes the hedonistic ritual will repair the connection between Lark and her bridegroom. Instead, they draw the ire of something much darker, which seeks to destroy Therion―and Lark as well. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

Turns out, big fantasy parties with romantic strangers just aren't for you. There's a door cracked behind one of the sparkling champagne stations. [[Slip out.]]

Ah, finally. You can take a breath. It's much quieter back here, with the music muffled and the absence of dancers and dresses of absurd size. You wander down the empty hall. Ahead of you, there's a side door that seems to lead the night outside. To your right, you see a larger, more ornate entrance into a candlelit library. [[Let's get out of here.|Take a walk.]] [[They won't notice if ONE book is missing...]]

We recommend you read //Katabasis// by RF Kuang. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1738769146i/210223811.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own. Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality—her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world—that is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault. Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

It's a small, green vial with a piece of paper tied to the neck. Written in looping black ink is one word: POISON. Subtle! "The council has requested you join for a private dinner before the festivities," one of your assistants chirps, and steers you away from the distant sounds of music and merriment. If you'd wanted the other route, you already had the chance to switch to it! [[Allow yourself to be steered.]]

You enter a large dining room with several long tables and a grand fireplace. For a private party, there are still lots of people here, chattering over baskets of bread and tacky wine goblets. Your assistants direct you to a seat near the table's end before disappearing. You glance once more at the bottle in your hand. Yes, it's still there. You sure hope you know what to do with this thing. [[Check out your fellow guests.]]

There are many people seated around you, and none stand out in particu-wait. Hmm. You do recognize some faces. [[Remember.]]

Your family has a fondness for fine blacksmithing. Your parents were both swordsman. There was once a weapon passed down from parent to child: a tool from which your family took its name. It vanished sometime before it could fall into your hands. The man two seats down...he thumbs a sheath with your family crest. Several years ago, a fire struck your lands. The wheat burned, and the grapes blackened on their vines. Your sister always suspected it was the work of your neighbors. Their eldest daughter butters her bread at your left. And the royal at the head of the table. They know what they did. Yes, you know what to do. [[The man.]] [[The neighbor.]] [[The royal.]] [[Enjoy your dinner.]]

We recommend you read //The Door on the Sea// by Caskey Russell. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1738726019i/224003904.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - An epic quest fantasy debut that is the Tlingit indigenous response to //The Lord of the Rings// When Elān trapped a salmon-stealing raven in his cupboard, he never expected it would hold the key to saving his people from the shapeshifting Koosh invaders plaguing their shores. In exchange for its freedom, the raven offers a secret that can save Elān’s home: the Koosh have lost one of their most powerful weapons, and only the raven knows where it is. Elān is tasked with captaining a canoe crewed by an unlikely team including a human bear-cousin, a massive wolf, and the endlessly vulgar raven. To retrieve the weapon, they will face stormy seas, cannibal giants and a changing world. But Elān is a storyteller, not a warrior. As their world continues to fall to the Koosh, and alliances are challenged and broken, Elān must choose his role in his own epic story. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend you read //Birth of a Dynasty// by Chinaza Bado. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1731636099i/220971136.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Combining the political intrigue of //She Who Became the Sun// with the gorgeous world-building of //Children of Blood and Bone//, //Birth of a Dynasty// is the start of a thrilling epic fantasy trilogy centered around three families’ fight for power in Ahkebulin, a land where magic is feared, giants are real, and prophecy holds sway. We shall not forgive. We shall not forget. We will have our vengeance. After witnessing the massacre of everyone he’s ever known and loved, M’Kuru Mukundi, the sole surviving member of the High Noble House Mukundi of Madada, vows revenge. M’kuru flees to a small village where he hides under the guise of farm boy Khalil Rausi… unaware that the real Khalil’s father is the bloodthirsty General of Zenzele army, and under the direction of the King’s scheming son, Prince Effiom, was responsible for the murder of M’kuru’s people. When an imposter claiming to be M’kuru shows up in the village, the real M’kuru—now Khalil—must bide his time amongst his enemies, pretending to be everything that he hates in order to get vengeance. In another part of the country where giants roam free, young Zikora Nnamani, the only daughter of Lord Nnamani, knows nothing of political intrigue—she wants little more than to be a fierce Seh Llinga warrior. But a well-known prophecy places too much potential power on her small shoulders, and—as far as Prince Effiom and the King know—she is the only living threat to their dynasty ruling forever. However, when a messenger arrives to “invite” Zikora to stay at the palace, her family is not in a position to refuse. Before she is taken away, she begins The Rite of Blessing, a magical inheritance that she will need to learn how to use, but that may also bring the world one step closer to the completion of the prophecy that Prince Effiom so fears. Between scheming ladies at court, backstabbing princes on the prowl, and paranoid kings, M’kuru and Zikora must do what they can, no matter how terrible, to save their people and claim vengeance for their families. But they are just two young people against an entire kingdom—and a prophecy destined to thwart their dreams—and the last thing they can do is trust anyone…even each other. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend you read //When They Burned The Butterfly// by Wen-yi Lee. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1741289205i/222376977.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - A fierce, glamorous sapphic fantasy reimagining the secret societies of postcolonial Singapore, for fans of //Jade City//, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and the feverish intensity of RF Kuang’s Poppy War trilogy. Singapore, 1972: Newly independent, a city of immigrants grappling for power in a fast-modernizing world. Here, gangsters are the last conduits of the gods their ancestors brought with them, and the back alleys where they fight are the last place where magic has not been assimilated and legislated away. Loner schoolgirl Adeline Siow has never needed more company than the flame she can summon at her fingertips. But when her mother dies in a house fire with a butterfly seared onto her skin and Adeline hunts down a girl she saw in a back-alley barfight—a girl with a butterfly tattoo–she discovers she’s far from alone. Ang Tian is a Red Butterfly: one of a gang of girls who came from nothing, sworn to a fire goddess and empowered to wreak vengeance on the men that abuse and underestimate them. Adeline’s mother led a double life as their elusive patron, Madam Butterfly. Now that she’s dead, Adeline’s bloodline is the sole thing sustaining the goddess. Between her search for her mother’s killer and the gang’s succession crisis, Adeline becomes quickly entangled with the girls’ dangerous world, and even more so with the charismatic Tian. But no home lasts long around here. Ambitious and paranoid neighbor gangs hunt at the edges of Butterfly territory, and bodies are turning up in the red light district suffused with a strange new magic. Adeline may have found her place for once, but with the streets changing by the day, it may take everything she is to keep it. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

What are you going to do, KILL PEOPLE??? You have a nice jello ham dinner and then you leave. [[Take a walk.]]

The night air is cool, and the stars are out. It is very quiet; all you can hear is the rustling of grass. The moon is full and lights your way ahead. [[Take the path.]]

The bushes flanking your walkway smell sweet and rich, and fireflies follow your steps. Though the ground here is getting a bit mucky. You need to watch your footing. The path splits into three directions ahead of you. [[Deeper into the forest, where the trees grow thick enough to make the path gloomy. You can see marks in the dirt where two people have recently walked.]] [[Through the mud, towards deepening water and the sound of windchimes.]] [[Out of the woods, where you spy a rocky shore and a distant figure.]]

We recommend you read //The Maiden and Her Monster// by Maddie Martinez.

We recommend you read //Fate's Bane// by CL Clark. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1738953900i/222376644.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - Ignyte Award-winning author C. L. Clark brings fantasy to the fens with //Fate's Bane//, a tragic sapphic adventure. Warring clans. Burning hearts. Deadly fate. The clans of the fens enjoy a tenuous peace, and it is all thanks to Agnir, ward and hostage. For as long as she can remember she has lived among the enemy, learning their ways, growing strong alongside their children. When a burgeoning love for the chieftain's daughter lures them both to a hidden spring, a magic awakens in them that could bind the clans under one banner at last--or destroy any hope of peace. By working their intentions into leather, they can weave misfortune for their enemies... just like the Fate's Bane that haunts the legends of the clans. Ambitions grow in their fathers' hearts, grudges threaten a return to violence, and greedy enemies wait outside the borders, seeking a foothold to claim the fens for themselves. And though their Makings may save their families, the legend that gave them this power always exacts its price. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

Tree branches snag your hair as you push them aside. No one has walked this path in a long time. Ahead of you stretches a vast, glassy ocean. There is something strange about its stillness. And you're not sure you should be leaving the safety of the forest. [[Walk to the water.]] [[Approach the figure.]]

We recommend you read //The Maiden and Her Monster// by Maddie Martinez. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1742254865i/222377141.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - A gorgeous, atmospheric debut fantasy that reimagines the Jewish myth of golem in a tale rooted in history, folklore, and sapphic romance—perfect for fans of Katherine Arden, Ava Reid, Hannah Whitten, and Naomi Novik. The forest eats the girls who wander out after dark. As the healer’s daughter, Malka has seen how the curse of the woods has plagued her village, but when the Ozmini Church comes to collect their tithes, they don’t listen to the warnings about a monster lurking in the trees. After a clergy girl wanders too close to the forest and Malka’s mother is accused of her murder, Malka strikes a bargain with a zealot Ozmini priest. If she brings him the monster, he will spare her mother from execution. When she ventures into the blood-soaked woods, Malka finds a monster, though not the one she expects: an inscrutable, disgraced golem who agrees to implicate herself, but only after Malka helps her free the imprisoned rabbi who created her. But a deal easily made is not easily kept. And as their bargain begins to unravel a much more sinister threat, protecting her people may force Malka to endanger the one person she left home to save—and face her growing feelings for the very creature she was taught to fear. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend you read //A Land So Wide// by Erin Craig. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1733854705i/222419258.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - From the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of //House of Roots and Ruin//, comes an irresistible blend of dark fairytale and romantic fantasy set in the beautiful but brutal Canadian wilderness. Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious Scottish lumber merchant, the tiny town on the edge of the American continent is blessed with rich natural resources that have made its people prosperous—but at a cost. The same woods that have lined the townsfolks’ pockets harbor dangerous beasts: wolves, bears, and the Bright-Eyeds—monsters beyond description who have rained utter destruction down on nearby settlements. But Mistaken’s founders made a deal with the mysterious Benevolence: the Warding Stones that surround the town will keep the Bright-Eyeds out—and the town’s citizens in. Anyone who spends a night within Mistaken’s borders belongs to it forever. Greer, a mapmaker and eccentric dreamer, has always ached to explore the world outside, even though she knows she and her longtime love, Ellis Beaufort, will never see it. Until, on the day she and Ellis are meant to finally begin their lives together, Greer watches in horror as her beloved disappears beyond the Warding Stones, pursued by a monstrous creature. Swiftly realizing that the stories she was raised on might be more myth than fact, Greer figures out a way to escape Mistaken for the very first time. Determined to rescue Ellis, she begins a trek through the cold and pitiless wilderness. But Greer is being hunted, not only by the ruthless Bright-Eyeds but by the secret truths behind Mistaken’s founding, as well as her own origins. Playfully drawing from Scottish folklore, Erin A. Craig’s adult debut is both a deeply atmospheric and profoundly romantic exploration of freedom versus security: a stunning celebration of one woman’s relentless bravery on a quest to reclaim her lost love—and claim her own future. - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

A knight looks out over the water, sword in hand. Her armor is dented, and she looks tired. "I have to do it again." Her grip tightens. "There's no one but me." [[You will join her.]] [[You will tell her story.]]

We recommend you read //The Isle in the Silver Sea// by Tasha Suri. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1740827191i/219134676.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - From World Fantasy Award-winning author Tasha Suri comes //The Isle in the Silver Sea//, a heart-shattering romantasy of sapphic longing, medieval folklore and a love that spans the centuries. In a Britain fuelled by stories, the knight and the witch are fated to fall in love and doom each other over and over, the same tale retold over hundreds of lifetimes. Simran is a witch of the woods. Vina is a knight of the Queen's court. When the two women begin to fall for each other, how can they surrender to their desires, when to give in is to destroy each other? As they seek a way to break the cycle, a mysterious assassin begins targeting tales like theirs. To survive, the two will need to write a story stronger than the one that fate has given to them. But what tale is stronger than The Knight and the Witch? - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]

We recommend you read //The Everlasting// by Alix E. Harrow. <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1748205221i/225653560.jpg" width:"500" height="600"</img> - From the New York Times bestselling author of //Starling House//, Alix E. Harrow, comes a moving and genre-defying adventure through time – as a reluctant lady knight and a not-so-heroic-historian will fight through time and space to rewrite their tragic fates . . . and finally reveal the truths hidden beneath the greatest legend ever told. It begins where it ends: beneath the yew tree – a girl not yet a knight, and a boy without a story. It is where she pulls a sword from the heartwood and becomes a legend. And it is where, more than a thousand years later, he will find her – and lose her – and find her – and lose her again. It is where a new story will be written – but whose will it be? - Read about our book editor's thoughts - and check out the full list! - in Reactor's <a href="https://reactormag.com/30-more-sff-titles-to-look-forward-to-in-2025/">30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.</a> You can also find us at Twitter (@reactormag), Bluesky (@reactorsff.bsky.social), Instagram/Threads (@reactorsff), and Facebook (Reactor Magazine). Let us know what you got, and what books you're looking forward to! [[Start over.|Start]]