Resolve to read more books in 2026—and start right here with io9’s first list of the year rounding up all the new sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles coming your way in January. Check out new books by Charles Stross, Jim Butcher, Seanan McGuire, Alastair Reynolds, and more.
January 6 
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The Bloody Brick Road: A Wizard of Oz Retelling by Maude Royer
“In this wildly creative, horror-soaked reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, nothing is as it seems in Dorothy’s dystopian nightmare.” (January 6)
A God of Countless Guises by Bradley P. Beaulieu
“Long ago, the elder gods devised a brutal contest – a game of ascension, where contestants gained power by killing their own. The prize? Godhood. Now, that game is stirring once again.” Sequel to The Book of the Holt. (January 6)
A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon
“Two hearts circle each other in the eye of the storm in this highly anticipated follow-up to The Hurricane Wars—prepare for more enemies-to-lovers romance, magical adventures, and political schemes in this Southeast Asian-inspired world.” (January 6)
The Shop on Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz
“An enthralling new romantic suspense novel filled with deeply entrenched grudges, psychic dangers, and a conspiracy that threatens not only two families but also the entire paranormal community.” (January 6)
The Starseekers by Nicole Glover
“Indiana Jones meets Hidden Figures in this brand-new stand-alone historical fantasy set in the world of The Conductors, in which the space race of the mid-20th century will be determined by magic… if not murder.” (January 6)
Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire
“A fan-favorite character returns in this action-packed installment of the Hugo Award-winning Wayward Children series. After Nancy was cast out of the Halls of the Dead and forced to enroll at Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children, she never believed she’d find her door again, and when she did, she didn’t look back.” (January 6)
January 13 
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The Book of Blood and Roses by Annie Summerlee
“A vampire hunter goes undercover at a mysterious university—and finds herself falling in love with her roommate, an alluring vampire, in book one of a seductive sapphic paranormal fantasy.” (January 13)
Detour by Jeff Rake and Rob Hart
“A space shuttle flight crew discovers that the Earth they’ve returned to is not the home they left behind in the first book of this emotional, mind-bending thriller series from the creator of the hit Netflix show Manifest and the bestselling author of The Warehouse.” (January 13)
The East Wind by Alexandria Warwick
“Rapunzel meets the myth of Psyche and Cupid in a standalone fantasy romance tale of love, survival and healing, as a mortal woman and a god unite to overcome deadly trials—and their own tortured pasts—in the climactic final installment of the Four Winds series.” (January 13)
Fire Sword and Sea by Vanessa Riley
“The real Pirates of the Caribbean were Black, and women! From Vanessa Riley, acclaimed author of Queen of Exiles, comes a sweeping, immersive saga based on the life of the legendary 17th-century pirate Jacquotte Delehaye.” (January 13)
Graceless Heart by Isabel Ibañez
“A lush tale full of enemies-to-lovers tension, whimsical magic, villain romance, and slow-burn desire, set in an enchanted, perilous Florence where forbidden power could ignite a war.” (January 13)
Ice by Jacek Dukaj, translated by Ursula Phillips
“A Trans-Siberian odyssey through political, criminal, scientific, philosophical and amorous intrigues, and into an endless winter to confront something utterly alien.” (January 13)
Into the Midnight Wood by Alexandra McCollum
“A whimsical queer romance about two mismatched roommates whose fragile—and definitely not romantic at all—balance is upended by an impending family wedding and an otherworldly danger in the nearby enchanted wood.” (January 13)
The Luminous Fairies and Mothra by Shin’ichiro Nakamura, Takehiko Fukunaga, and Yoshie Hotta, translated by Jeffrey Angles
“The original story that hatched Mothra, one of the most beloved monsters in the ‘kaijuverse’—available in English for the first time.” (January 13)
The Magic of Untamed Hearts by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
“After several years stuck as a ghost, Sky Flores learns to reconnect with the living again with the help of her handsome neighbor in this lush romance.” (January 13)
The Midnight Carousel by Fiza Saeed McLynn
“The Night Circus meets Water for Elephants in this enchanting, darkly glittering story of grief, obsession, revenge, and enduring love.” (January 13)
A Vow in Vengeance by Jaclyn Rodriguez
“Sexy, action-packed, and brimming with magic, A Vow in Vengeance is an unputdownable romantasy debut.” (January 13)
The Younger Gods by Katie Shepard
“Danger looms when a former priestess sails to the realm of the dead to find her fallen lover, only to discover the gods she thought she defeated are preparing for war.” (January 13)
January 20 
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A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James
A “pulse-pounding story about siblings who return to the house they fled 18 years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his haunting request: Come home.” (January 20)
The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao
“When you lose your way in life, the Elsewhere Express just might find you. Step on board the train that may take you to your life’s purpose in this wistful, Ghibli-esque fantasy from the bestselling author of Water Moon.” (January 20)
The Friend of the Family by Dean Koontz
“A girl liberated from a carnival sideshow discovers her mysterious purpose in a moving novel about family, sacrifice, and transcendent love.” (January 20)
George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett
“Less meets the year 1300 in this exhilarating and thoughtfully genre-defying literary novel about a man transported through time in a moment of extreme stress, whose modern anxieties are replaced by medieval brutalities.” (January 20)
The Poet Empress by Shen Tao
“Wei Yin is desperate.