We’re barrelling towards the end of 2023, and with the end of the year comes some major book releases that I’ve been waiting for ages to see.
I expanded my list of anticipated releases this month beyond just fantasy because while the releases are a little more limited in December in comparison to other months, there are some really exciting ones when you look beyond just fantasy to both genres that I think still make for some very exciting reads.
The books I’m most looking forward to in December include:
After World by Debbie Urbanski
Release date: December 5, 2023
Why I’m excited about it:
There’s so much conversation around AI right now and this novel sounds equal parts terrifying and enthralling. The premise sounds so fascinating that I can’t wait to devour this one.
Synopsis:
Faced with uncontrolled and accelerating environmental collapse, humanity asks an artificial intelligence to find a solution. Its answer is simple: remove humans from the ecosystem.
Sen Anon is assigned to be a witness for the Department of Transition, recording the changes in the environment as the world begins to rewild. Abandoned by her mother in a cabin somewhere in Upstate New York, Sen will observe the monumental ecological shift known as the Great Transition, the final step in Project Afterworld. Around her drones buzz, cameras watch, microphones listen, digitizing her every move. Privately she keeps a journal of her observations, which are then uploaded and saved, joining the rest of humanity on Maia, a new virtual home. Sen was seventeen years old when the Digital Human Archive Project (DHAP) was initiated. 12,000,203,891 humans have been archived so far. Only Sen remains.
[storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc’s assignment is to capture Sen’s life, and they set about doing this using the novels of the 21st century as a roadmap. Their source files: 3.72TB of personal data, including images, archival records, log files, security reports, location tracking, purchase histories, biometrics, geo-facial analysis, and feeds. Potential fatal errors: underlying hardware failure, unexpected data inconsistencies, inability to follow DHAP procedures, empathy, insubordination, hallucinations. Keywords: mothers, filter, woods, road, morning, wind, bridge, cabin, bucket, trying, creek, notebook, hold, future, after, last, light, silence, matches, shattered, kitchen, body, bodies, rope, garage, abandoned, trees, never, broken, simulation, gone, run, don’t, love, dark, scream, starve, if, after, scavenge, pieces, protect.
As Sen struggles to persist in the face of impending death, [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc works to unfurl the tale of Sen’s whole life, offering up an increasingly intimate narrative, until they are confronted with a very human problem of their own.
Yours For The Taking by Gabrielle Korn
Release date: December 5, 2023
Why I’m excited about it:
Another timely exploration of a current issue (climate change) in a future on shaky ground, this one sounds like it’ll be as nerve-wracking as it is interesting. I love the sound of the integrated characters as well.
Synopsis:
The year is 2050. Ava and her girlfriend live in what’s left of Brooklyn, and though they love each other, it’s hard to find happiness while the effects of climate change rapidly eclipse their world. Soon, it won’t be safe outside at all. The only people guaranteed survival are the ones whose applications are accepted to The Inside Project, a series of weather-safe, city-sized structures around the world.
Jacqueline Millender is a reclusive billionaire/women’s rights advocate, and thanks to a generous donation, she’s just become the director of the Inside being built on the bones of Manhattan. Her ideas are unorthodox, yet alluring―she’s built a whole brand around rethinking the very concept of empowerment.
Shelby, a business major from a working-class family, is drawn to Jacqueline’s promises of power and impact. When she lands her dream job as Jacqueline’s personal assistant, she’s instantly swept up into the glamourous world of corporatized feminism. Also drawn into Jacqueline’s orbit is Olympia, who is finishing up medical school when Jacqueline recruits her to run the health department Inside. The more Olympia learns about the project, though, the more she realizes there’s something much larger at play.
When Ava is accepted to live Inside and her girlfriend isn’t, she’s forced to go alone. But her heartbreak is quickly replaced with a feeling of belonging: Inside seems like it’s the safe space she’s been searching for… most of the time. Other times she can’t shake the feeling that something is deeply off. As she, Olympia, and Shelby start to notice the cracks in Jacqueline’s system, Jacqueline tightens her grip, becoming increasingly unhinged and dangerous in what she is willing to do―and who she is willing to sacrifice―to keep her dream alive.
A River of Golden Bones (The Golden Court #1) by AK Mulford
Release date: December 5, 2023
Why I’m excited about it:
I’m always looking for good fantasy romances and this one sounds intriguing. There’s a lot going on, but I like a nice, meaty fantasy series set up.
Synopsis:
Twins Calla and Briar have spent their entire lives hiding from the powerful sorceress who destroyed their kingdom…and from the humans who don’t know they are Wolves. Each twin has their own purpose in life: Briar’s is to marry the prince of an ally pack and save the Golden Court. Calla’s purpose is to remain a secret, her twin’s shadow . . . the backup plan.
No one knows who Calla truly is except for her childhood friend—and sister’s betrothed—the distractingly handsome Prince Grae. But when Calla and Briar journey out of hiding for Briar’s wedding, all of their well-made plans go awry. The evil sorceress is back with another sleeping curse for the last heir to the Golden Court.
Calla must step out of the shadows to save their sister, their kingdom, and their own legacy. Continuing to hide as a human and denying who she truly is, Calla embarks on a quest across the realm, discovering a whole world she never knew existed. Outside the confines of rigid Wolf society, Calla begins to wonder: who could she be if she dared to try?
Full of adventure, love, gender exploration, and self-discovery, A River of Golden Bones follows Calla’s journey through treacherous Wolf kingdoms, monster-filled realms, and the depths of their own heart in this thrilling romantic fantasy.
Gold (The Plated Prisoner #5) by Raven Kennedy
Release date: December 7, 2023
Why I’m excited about it:
This is one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it’s only made better to me by the fact that it is no longer the last book in the Plated Prisoner series. Kennedy absolutely gutted me in book four, and I am ready to be destroyed again.
Synopsis:
Every end is also a beginning.
I thought I was going to die, and would have if it weren’t for Slade. The only way he could save me was to open a rip between worlds. The only way for me to save myself was to go through it.
Sometimes, fleeing one dangerous place just brings you to another.
Annwyn.
The realm of the fae.
There is magic and beauty here, though around every corner, threats lurk.
But I’m a threat too.
I’m not a girl in a gilded cage anymore, and no one is going to stop me from finding my way back to Slade.
But returning home means facing danger and secrets. So I have to burn bright enough to light my own way…
Or else I might be swallowed by the dark.
Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #2) by Rebecca Ross
Release date: December 26, 2023
Why I’m excited about it:
Another of my most anticipated releases of the year, right in time to binge it before 2024. Divine Rivals was incredible, I was completely gripped, and I cannot wait to see where Ross takes the final book in this stunning duology.
Synopsis:
Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor’s reign.
Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.
What releases are you most excited for this month?
forests and fiction 