Let us know which fantasy books from 2026 we missed
“We live in a world that allows everything, but forgives nothing.”
2026 is already shaping up to be an exciting year for fantasy readers, with a host of highly anticipated fantasy books primed to hit shelves. From epic new series debuts to long-awaited sequels, the upcoming fantasy releases promise to whisk fans into magical worlds filled with adventure, intrigue, and unforgettable characters. Whether you love high fantasy, urban fantasy, or magical realism, there’s something for everyone to look forward to among the most anticipated fantasy books of 2026. Today at What We Reading, we’re curating a list of the best fantasy books 2026 has to offer, highlighting new fantasy novels and returning favourites from beloved authors. If you’re already making your reading list or looking for must-read fantasy books, this roundup will ensure you stay right ahead of the curve.
Kicking off our list of the most anticipated fantasy books from 2026 is Sarah Parker’s second entry in her viral romantasy Moonfall series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons. Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the world will face its most devastating moonfall yet, forcing her to pick a path.
Desperate to save his kingdom from ruin, Kaan’s crown has never felt so heavy. His many larks to scattered friends and family remain unanswered, and time is running out. As allies merge and enemies surge with bloodthirsty agendas of their own, secrets brew hot enough to burn, but none so mighty as the truth nesting within the icy depths of Raeve’s long forgotten past.
Release date: 28 April 2026
Check Out The Best Books Everyone Will Be Reading In 2026
When Jack Solomon, a struggling musician who works in London’s West End, is killed, he awakens to a new reality in which light and music are used to create magic and where living eras of the past sprawl beneath modern London, layer upon layer, all the way back to recorded history.
Jack also soon discovers that many of those who reside in the stratums of London’s past have grown angry with the present world, and that their anger is being channelled by a powerful society of light-and-music-based magic wielders who can cross the realms between life and death, between present and past. A past where the dead are sowing revolution against the living, and all of history is at stake.
Release date: 16 June 2026
Once there was an island where the dead walked the Earth, and seven noble houses ruled by the arcane secrets of necromancy. A conqueror’s blade brought them low, burning their libraries, killing their lords, and extinguishing their eldritch magic. But defiant against the new order stands the House of Teeth and its last living members: beautiful Marozia, the heiress to the House, and her cousin, the uncanny Lady Agnes.
Though she has not uttered a word in seven years, Agnes is the true carrier of the House’s legacy. And she has her orders. Revenge burns in Agnes’ heart, but so do stranger passions – and it is Liuprand, the golden prince, who speaks to her soul. But Agnes’ final order is the most grave: She must not fall in love. One of the most hyped new fantasy books of 2026, Innamorata is a lush gothic romantasy about necromancy, vengeance, and soul-consuming love, the first entry in a duology by Ava Reid.
Release date: 17 March 2026
On a late August evening, Kensa comes across a dying sea monster under the light of a full moon. The first of its kind to grace the storm-torn shore of Portscatho in centuries, it is an omen. For scarlet-haired Kensa, daughter of the most feared smuggler to ever roam the Cornish coast, her destiny is sealed as apprentice to the local wise woman. Under the guidance of Isolde, Kensa learns secrets of the Old Ways, the ancient magic that binds land and sea.
But when Isolde sickens, Kensa turns to the Bucka, the Father of Storms, a vengeful sea god chained to the ocean. Desperate to save her mentor, Kensa makes a deal with the deadly creature: a pact that risks everything she’s sworn to protect. The Salt Bind is a hypnotising historical fantasy steeped in salt, superstition and seafolk and is easily one of the most hyped 2026 fantasy books we’ve seen so far.
Release date: 27 January 2026
Aisling Cathedral is in ruins. Rodrick Myndacious, Bartholomew, and Maude Bauer are rumoured to be dead – and the king has taken Sybil Delling as his bride. To show off their union and solidify his power over Traum, Benji proposes a series of tournaments throughout the hamlets. Captive and drugged, Sybil remains determined to vanquish him as she once did the Omens, even if it destroys the kingdom’s faith – and herself – in the process.
But then a mysterious knave rises to the top of the lists, a man with no name and no memory who might just be Sybil’s ticket to undoing Benji’s power. For in a land where stories repeat themselves, where a king’s power can prove as cruel as a god, the only way to truly destroy the Stonewater Kingdom’s faith is to save it.
Release date: 1 September 2026
When practical, unassuming second-year student Emma Curran wins an exciting research fellowship, she is ushered into the glittering debauchery of the University elite. There, she falls for the devastating, aristocratic Jasper Balfour, leader of the all-male Turnbull Club: a shadowy secret society that has created centuries of Britain’s leaders, power brokers, and history-makers.
One night, the Turnbulls propose a sinister little game: a fox hunt. The women run. The men chase. And Emma finds herself fleeing for her life through the streets, hunted by the boy she loves. Torn from her ordinary life and trapped in a dangerous, otherworldly realm, Emma awakens transformed. No longer mortal, she’s becoming something beastly. And now she must summon every ounce of cunning and ferocity to save her life.
Release date: 24 February 2026
The ExtraOrdinary or Merit City, a secret group of individuals gifted with a power connected to their manner of near-death experience, have been keeping a low profile, avoiding the ever-watchful eye of EON in the wake of the showdown with Marcella and Eli.
But when EON begins to change under the leadership of a new director with a terrifying agenda, the time for hiding is over. The path to the truth of what happened to EON leads Victor, Sydney, Mitch and the rest into the enemy’s lair at EON headquarters, where they encounter unexpected allies, shocking new abilities, and the ultimate confrontation. Against all the years, the betrayals, and the odds – the arch rivals and their allies will meet for a final time in this gripping conclusion to the Villains trilogy by V.E. Schwab.
Release date: 6 October 2026
Blessed with the power of illusion, Iverson Pomeroy has many tricks up her sleeve. However, none of them is a match for the enchanted collar at her throat, which keeps her bound as an assassin and mistress to a ruthless king. Forced to play the role of his obedient pet, she plots a secret to destroy him and claim the freedom she has always been denied. When a mysterious reaper, Thorne, arrives in the city with his sights set on the same weapon Ivy needs, she must decide how far she’s willing to go.
With a tenous alliance tying them together, Ivy learns there is more to her reluctant companion than meets the eye. He sparks her curiosity and ignites dangerous desires within her. But will the secrets they harbour destroy each other? One of the most anticipated 2026 fantasy books, Madeline Taylor’s Heir of Illusion is a propulsive dark romantasy brimming with desire and destruction.
Release date: 10 February 2026
Who is Vivien Featherswallow? Is she The Swallow, the most wanted rebel in all of Britannia? Is she a Brasstongue on the cusp of translating a new language? Or is she just Viv, the girl who lost the love of her life right after playing spy? Though this war might have begun with bombs and teeth, it will be fought with tongues. And Viv will soon learn that everything she thought she knew – even about herself – might be a lie. A sequel to the New York Times bestsellingA Language of Dragons, A War of Wyverns is one of the best new dragon romantasy books coming in 2026.
Release date: 1 January 2026
Hundreds of years ago, a brutal war split a land in two. Starside is the realm of magic and immortals; Stormside is where mortals fight for scraps of that magic. Every fifty years, the gates between the two open, and fifty challengers are allowed to journey across Starside on a deadly quest to access a pool of magic that can heal, grant wealth, or extend life. But Aris isn’t entering for these things. She’s seeking vengeance – she’s going to kill the gods.
But Starside is deadlier than it seems. If the ancient creatures, magic-wielding beasts, and bloodthirsty immortals weren’t dangerous enough, a new peril has even immortals fearing what rises from the ground at night. With a blade most would kill to claim, Aris can’t trust anyone. Especially not Harlan Raker, the merciless and mysterious king’s guard who betrayed her years ago – and who may now be the key to her survival.
Release date: 24 March 2026
Anabelle Gage is trapped in a male body, and it’s rotting from the inside out. In Caimor, where the magical elite buy and swap designer bodies like clothes, Ana can’t afford to escape her tattered form. When she fails the entrance exam to the prestigious Paragon Academy, her last hope of earning a new body implodes. As the clock ticks down to her final breath, she’s forced to use her illusion magic to steal a healthy chassis.
However, Ana is caught by none other than the headmaster of Paragon Academy, who poses a brutal ultimatum: face execution, or become a mercenary at his command. With no option but to accept, Ana will fight, steal, and kill her way to salvation in this gripping new fantasy novel. As Ana is pulled into a tangled web of secrets, the line between villain and hero shatters – and Ana must choose which side is worth dying for.
Release date: 3 February 2026
Prince Sloth hates leaving his enchanted library, but when a forgotten deity threatens the very fabric of the Underworld, he’s thrust into a race against time. He must find the Book of Nightmares – an ancient artefact that has the power to break worlds – before it unleashes a deadly game to free its master, the Goddess of Night. When a betrayal leaves him marked and desperate, his path collides with a young woman who possesses a legendary Phoenix Tear – a portal stone unlike any other.
Lore Brimstone has always loved getting lost in a book – but she has never meant literally. Yet, after visiting a travelling caravan, she soon finds herself transported to a terrifying but oddly familiar world – with a calculating prince at her side. Realising they are living out her favourite novels one by one, they face off against an increasingly dark magic as they try to survive the story.
Release date: 10 February 2026
In the years since the violent upheaval caused by the auction of Kuwei Yul-Bo, the merchants of Ketterdam have been under attack. Secret businesses exposed. Ships sunk. Slavers hunted as they once hunted their victims. All the work of a mysterious sea captain and her ship, the Wraith.
Now, two investigators meet to uncover the truth behind the latest disaster: a massacre on an island off the shores of Ketterdam. Among the evidence collected is a private correspondence between notorious crime boss Kaz Brekker and an anonymous sailor aboard the Wraith. In this hyped new 2026 fantasy book by Leigh Bardugo, we follow the lead investigator as he tries to piece together how such a disaster transpired, and explore the Grishaverse like never before.
Release date: 30 June 2026
Check Out Our Guide On How To Read The Grishaverse Books In Order
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
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