The year is quickly coming to a close, but despite this, some of my most anticipated fantasy book releases of the year are still to come. I’ve added so many good books to my TBR over the past few months, and November looks to be no exception.

The books that I’m most excited for in November include:

Iron Flame (The Empyrean #2) by Rebecca Yarros
Release date: November 7, 2023

Why I’m excited about it:

Fourth Wing was one of my favourite fantasy books of the year and I seriously cannot wait to return to Basgaith. It was highly accessible with a super fun plot, a gorgeous romance, and some great diverse representation, including chronic illness. The first book left on a major cliff hanger as well, so I feel like there’s so much to be excited about. 

Synopsis:

“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” ―Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College―Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits―and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College―and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Release Date: November 7, 2023

Why I’m excited about it:

Admittedly, I had never read something I would consider a “cozy fantasy” before Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes, but I really enjoyed it, particularly on audio. Getting to return to the same world with a similar vibe feels like the kind of warm hug I’m looking for as the cold November weather begins to sink in.

Synopsis:

Viv’s career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned.

Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk―so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it.

What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn’t possibly imagine.

Still, adventure isn’t all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.

The Once and Future Fling by Leigh Heasley
Release date: November 7, 2023

Why I’m excited about it: 
I read a couple of romance novels in October and really, thoroughly enjoyed them, so adding a new one to my TBR that has a fun fantasy twist is very exciting. I love the concept of a matchmaking time travel agency and can’t wait to see how this one unfolds. 

Synopsis:

Time travel is now legal, and matchmaking agency Kairos lets clients travel through time in search of love.

Ada Blum has always been “an old soul.” She’s convinced that she was born at the wrong time, and after a series of break-ins at her apartment and threatening messages, she’s determined to figure out where she really belongs. She thinks she wants to go to Regency England, meet her Mr. Darcy, and settle down. However, a disastrous date ends with Ada covered in rancid chicken stock and rethinking her plans.

She returns to The Kairos Agency and agrees to try an entirely different era. She travels to 1920s New York where she meets Henry Levison, a small-time hood. After yet another horrible experience, she’s about to give up on the whole matchmaking, time traveling adventure when she bumps into her first love, Samson St. Laurent, a State Senator with whom she had an affair that resulted in a major PR scandal for him and ruined Ada’s life.

Sam is on the run through time, trying to use his knowledge of the future to make a fortune. He says he wants to win Ada back, but she’s not sure that he’s entirely trustworthy. In some ways, she’s drawn to Henry, and when she discovers that he is going to be murdered, she decides to go back and save his life by bringing him to the present day―even if it violates every single Kairos rule.

As Ada jumps back and forth from the present to the past, she’ll have to decide where her heart truly lies and which man she wants in her future.

To Kill a Shadow by Katherine Quinn
Release date: November 28, 2023

Why I’m excited about it:

Marketed as a fantasy horror, this one sounds like a great mix of dark romance and fantasy. I’m looking forward to seeing how this unique premise plays out. 

Synopsis:

Jude Maddox knows nothing of love or even light. He knows only his grim duty as the Hand of Death, to lead the Knights of the Eternal Star into a land filled with nightmares and certain demise. It’s only when he sees her―a young woman with wild, amber eyes who’s as fierce, defiant, and swift as the shadow beasts themselves―that he feels the warmth of life in his blood…

The other Knights may fear their lethal commander, with his hard, merciless demeanor. Outcast Kiara Frey sees only a leader, a man who knows how to survive. Someone like her. But wanting him is as treacherous as the shadows themselves…and just as seductive.

With a kingdom on the verge of collapse, the Knights must now venture into the darkest heart of the land and uncover the secrets of the misted shadows, where evil will prey upon their minds and feast on their flesh.

It will betray their senses.

It will surpass their nightmares.

Most of them will die.

But they have no other choice. Because the only way to fight the darkness…is to become it.

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

Release date: November 28, 2023

Why I’m excited about it:

I absolutely love The Nutcracker, when I was younger I used to go see it performed with my family each year as a part of our Christmas tradition. I couldn’t be more excited for a fantasy novel that reimagines this story, it feels like the perfect way to kick off the holiday season.

Synopsis:

Light and dark—this is the cursed birthright placed upon Clara and Natasha by their godfather, Drosselmeyer, whose power and greed hold an entire city in his sway. Charming Clara, the favorite, grows into a life of beauty and ease, while Natasha is relegated to her sister’s shadow, ignored and unloved.

But Natasha seizes the opportunity for revenge one Christmas Eve, when Drosselmeyer arrives at the family gala with the Nutcracker, an enchanted gift that offers entry into an alternate world: the Kingdom of Sweets.

Following Clara into the glittering land of snow and sugar, Natasha discovers a source of power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy, who offers her own wondrous gifts . . . and chilling bargains. But as Natasha uncovers the truth about a dark destiny crafted long before her birth, she must reckon with forces both earthly and magical, human and diabolical, and decide to which world she truly belongs.

Are there any fantasy books that aren’t covered here that you’re particularly excited about? Let me know in the comments!