For a couple of months now, I’ve been running lists each month of my most anticipated fantasy releases on Instagram and it’s come to be a piece of content that I really enjoy producing. I love looking forward at all the great books to come, and it’s helped me to ensure that my TBR list is never-ending.

I’m convinced that there’s never been a better time to be a fantasy reader. There are so many amazing books and authors out there producing absolutely fantastic and unforgettable books. My dream is to somehow find a way to spend all of my time reading, but in the meantime, I’ll have to settle for reading while I can and maintaining a heavy TBR pile of all the things I hope to get to in the future. 

Here are my most anticipated October books for new releases: 

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
Release date: October 10, 2023

Why I’m excited about it: 

Clare is known for creating unforgettable epic fantasy and while I haven’t read anything by her (yet), so many of the bookstagrammers I admire and resonate with have absolutely raved about this book. Forbidden love, dangerous magic, and lots of secrets? Sign me up please.

Synopsis: 

In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, the richest of nobles and the most debauched of criminals have one thing in common: the constant search for wealth, power, and the next hedonistic thrill.

Kel is an orphan, stolen from the life he knew to become the Sword Catcher—the body double of a royal heir, Prince Conor Aurelian. He has been raised alongside the prince, trained in every aspect of combat and statecraft. He and Conor are as close as brothers, but Kel knows that his destiny is to die for Conor. No other future is possible.

Lin Caster is one of the Ashkar, a small community whose members still possess magical abilities. By law, they must live behind walls within the city, but Lin, a physician, ventures out to tend to the sick and dying of Castellane. Despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend without access to forbidden knowledge.

After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, the criminal ruler of Castellane’s underworld. He offers them each what they want most; but as they descend into his world of intrigue and shadow, they discover a conspiracy of corruption that reaches from the darkest gutters of Castellane to the highest tower of its palaces. As long-kept secrets begin to unravel, they must ask themselves: Is knowledge worth the price of betrayal? Can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war—and the world into chaos?

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young
Release date: October 17, 2023

Why I’m excited about it:
Adrienne Young is another author who has been on my TBR for ages, and The Unmaking of June Farrow sounds like the perfect start for me. I love the concept of battling a centuries-old family curse with mystery and romance sprinkled in. 

Synopsis:

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’sdecades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Release date: October 3, 2023

Why I’m excited about it:
I love books about books and writing and libraries and anything bookish, and the premise of this one, that orphan and caregiver Opal gets an opportunity to explore a creepy home of a famous writer from her hometown sounds right up my alley.

Synopsis:

I dream sometimes about a house I’ve never seen….

Opal is a lot of things―orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier―but above all, she’s determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper. One that gets them out of Eden, Kentucky, a town remarkable for only two things: bad luck and E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth century author ofThe Underland, who disappeared over a hundred years ago. 

All she left behind were dark rumors―and her home. Everyone agrees that it’s best to ignore the uncanny mansion and its misanthropic heir, Arthur. Almost everyone, anyway.

I should be scared, but in the dream I don’t hesitate.

Opal has been obsessed with The Underland since she was a child. When she gets the chance to step inside Starling House―and make some extra cash for her brother’s escape fund―she can’t resist.

But sinister forces are digging deeper into the buried secrets of Starling House, and Arthur’s own nightmares have become far too real. As Eden itself seems to be drowning in its own ghosts, Opal realizes that she might finally have found a reason to stick around. 

In my dream, I’m home.

And now she’ll have to fight.

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Gaunzon
Release date: October 3, 2023

Why I’m excited about it:

I’ve seen SO many people on bookstagram talking about this book and describing it as compulsively readable. It also has all of my favourite tropes, including an enemies to lovers romance.

Synopsis:

The heart is a battlefield.

All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, she found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire’s shadows.

Prince Alaric, the emperor’s only son and heir, has been tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire’s rule with the strength of his armies and mighty shadow magic. He discovers the greatest threat yet in Talasyn: a girl burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. He tries to kill her, but in a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen.

This war can only end with them. But an even greater danger is coming, and the strange magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Talasyn and Alaric must decide… are they fated to join hands, or destroy each other?

An exquisite fantasy brimming with unforgettable characters and sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance set in a richly drawn world, The Hurricane Warsmarks the breathtaking debut of an extraordinary new writer.

The Witches at the End of the World by Chelsea Iversen
Release date: October 17, 2023

Why I’m excited about it:

I had the pleasure of reading this novel in ARC format courtesy of NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark and thought it was fantastic. A really original premise based around Norwegian witches during the peak of the witch-burning phenomenon that swept many places, it had a lot of heart and is a story that’s stuck with me since. 

Synopsis:

Rage burns brighter than any spellfire…

Deep in the birchwoods of Norway, magic courses through the veins of two sisters. For years they’ve been alone, but sweet-tempered Kaija is tired of living in shadows and longs for a life filled with community, even if it means stifling her magic. But Minna is a witch through and through, with wrath always simmering just below the surface. Different as they may be, both will never forget the day they were driven from their village. The day their mother burned.

When Kaija leaves to pursue a new life, Minna is left alone in the darkness of the forest. Devastated and outraged at the betrayal, Minna casts a curse to punish those who took everything from her. What she doesn’t realize is that this act will incite a deadly chain of events. Soon it will destroy everything, including the life Kaija has lovingly built. But once a witch’s rage boils, regret means nothing―she can’t take back what’s already done. 

Someone will have to burn.

The Queen of Days by Greta Kelly
Release date: October 24, 2023

Why I’m excited about it: 
The combination of a heist and a fantasy setting is pure magic to me, I will literally always grab for a book with this premise. I’ve been searching for something to fill the void left in me by the Six of Crows duology and it sounds like this one might be able to do it. 

Synopsis:

For Balthazar and his family of thieves, stealing a statue during the annual celebration of the god Karanis was just a good bit of fun…or a way to stick it to the governor who murdered his parents. And yeah, the small fortune in reward doesn’t hurt—even if his boss also hired the mysterious Queen of Days to join the crew as “the weapon of last resort…”

Whatever that means.

But Bal doesn’t know the ceremony isn’t simply empty words and dusty tradition; it’s true magic. The kind of magic that rips open a portal for the god himself. Only the idol that Karanis planned on using for a body now lies broken at the Queen of Days’ feet. And half of it is missing.

With the aid of a lovable brawler, a society lady turned bomb maker, a disgraced soldier, and a time-eating demon, Bal must hunt down the missing half of the statue if he has any hope of earning his money, keeping his crew alive…and perhaps even saving all of humanity. But as his journey sends him racing through the city—and across realities—he discovers that doing all this might just doom the city.

The city be damned. It’s time to kill a god.

Did I miss any new fantasy releases here that you’re excited about in October? Let me know in the comments!