Sarah J. Maas returns to Prythian, Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee conclude the Breathmarked duology, and Yoon Ha Lee launches a new space opera in this week’s fantasy and science fiction releases. Here are ten books arriving October 27, covering the week of October 26–November 1, 2026.
1. A Court of Splintered Harmony by Sarah J. Maas
Release date: October 27, 2026
Sarah J. Maas returns to Prythian in A Court of Splintered Harmony, the sixth A Court of Thorns and Roses novel and the opening movement of the Valkyrie Cycle. The Night Court and the rest of Prythian are still recovering from the war with Hybern when another threat begins to gather.
Koschei has spent millennia bound to a mountain lake, but his allies are moving against the human lands. With old alliances already strained, the courts face a conflict that recovery alone will not prepare them for. Bloomsbury’s description places that growing danger at the center of the new installment.
2. Mark of the Warrior by Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee
Release date: October 27, 2026
Mark of the Warrior concludes the Breathmarked duology that began with Breath of the Dragon. After the Guardian Tournament, Jun is sent into exile with a task that could determine his future: recover the stolen Scroll of Heaven. His search takes him east alongside his rival, Yin Yue.
Jun also hopes to find the mother and twin brother he has been separated from. Sai, meanwhile, has become High Keeper of the Scroll of Earth, placing the brothers on opposing sides as war approaches. Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee bring the family’s divided loyalties and martial arts conflict to their conclusion.
3. Code and Codex by Yoon Ha Lee
Release date: October 27, 2026
In Code and Codex, an interstellar empire polices language itself. The Censorate permits only lingua rubra, a language that can alter reality, and its ruler Aurelia can compel obedience from anyone who understands her. Valentina’s job is to extract useful information from foreign texts before destroying them.
Aurelia now wants to command the Basilisk, a prisoner whose gaze once destroyed a fleet. He has made himself immune to her spoken orders, creating a problem her usual powers cannot solve. Yoon Ha Lee’s new space opera follows the struggle over language, history, and imperial control; the publisher also has an opening excerpt.
4. Nether Vortex by Kevin J. Anderson
Release date: October 27, 2026
Kevin J. Anderson continues Nether Station in Nether Vortex, combining a stranded-spacecraft story with cosmic horror. Karla wakes from cryosleep carrying a warning: the ancient entity Agoc is heading toward Earth. The danger extends well beyond the station and the people who first encountered it.
On the other side of a wormhole, the crew of the Neil Armstrong is caught in an interstellar war, far from any easy route home. The print and ebook editions arrive this week. Readers following the series on audio have a later date, with Blackstone listing the audiobook for December 29.
5. All the Skills 6 by Honour Rae
Release date: October 27, 2026
All the Skills 6 brings the sixth installment of Honour Rae’s deck-building LitRPG series to print this week. Arthur and Brixaby have a dragon hive to lead, and making it stronger means recruiting wild dragons while dealing with threats that cannot be solved by simply collecting a more powerful card.
Mind-controlling scourglings and the Mind Singer threaten the Blood Moon Hive as Arthur’s responsibilities expand. This is a new print release of an existing installment, rather than a newly released story across every format: Podium released the audiobook in June. Readers new to Arthur’s card-based powers should begin with the first All the Skills.
6. The Riven Kingdom by Juliet E. McKenna
Release date: October 27, 2026
A king’s sudden death begins the struggle in The Riven Kingdom. King Venais is killed by lightning while hunting, leaving his daughter to claim the throne and a country to work out what comes next. The succession reaches beyond the royal household into the lives of clerics, traders, and ordinary people.
Juliet E. McKenna follows the consequences of that upheaval across a kingdom where political uncertainty also has a supernatural cost. As fear and conflict spread, they take form in the Shadow Realm. The result is an epic fantasy concerned with both the people competing for power and those who must live with their decisions.
7. The Fist of Memory by Wole Talabi
Release date: October 27, 2026
The Fist of Memory brings first contact to a near-future Nigeria, where an alien vessel has arrived without explaining its intentions. Assassin Tope is drawn into the mystery after a job goes wrong, setting him on a path that crosses with South African astronomer Itumeleng.
Her unusual dreams may hold a connection to the visitors, while questions about memory begin to undermine what the characters believe about reality. Wole Talabi combines a thriller’s pursuit and danger with a science-fiction mystery about humanity’s encounter with an intelligence it does not understand. The silent spacecraft is only the beginning of the problem.
8. The Killing of a Chestnut Tree by Oliver K. Langmead
Release date: October 27, 2026
Consulting detective Havelock Harper and his lover, Major Sebastian Wright, are summoned to investigate a murder at the Duke of Farleigh’s estate in The Killing of a Chestnut Tree. The victim is a chestnut tree. In this world, that is a crime with witnesses who may be rooted to the ground.
Trees communicate through writing in their bark, giving Harper a forest to question as he follows the case. Oliver K. Langmead opens a new fantasy mystery series with the pair, bringing a detective-and-companion setup into a setting where the landscape can offer testimony and the usual assumptions about a murder investigation no longer apply.
9. Rosemary & Thyme by Olivia Atwater
Release date: October 27, 2026
Olivia Atwater returns to the Victorian Faerie Tales series with Rosemary & Thyme, following The Witchwood Knot. Clarimonde Betony has been branded a black magician and is fleeing a mysterious pursuer. Her unlikely ally is Lord Foxglove, a faerie whose help comes with reasons to be suspicious.
Their search leads toward Whitby and a weapon under the care of the Leanansidhe. The book’s wider release is this week, after the author’s own shop offered the ebook early. Atwater’s book page introduces the uneasy partnership at the heart of this return to her dangerous version of Victorian faerie.
10. An Uncertain Magic by AM Kvita
Release date: October 27, 2026
An Uncertain Magic returns to Joan Greenwood and the magical New York introduced in An Unlikely Coven. Joan has found friends, work at an architecture firm, and a place in a city whose magic has a mind of its own. Then her best friend becomes possessed by a god.
Astoria Wardwell, Joan’s rival and crush, turns up with a similar problem, giving the two an urgent reason to work together. With a new cult taking shape and gods threatening the city, Joan’s attempt to build an ordinary life is interrupted by a crisis on a much larger scale. This is the second Green Witch novel.
For more recent releases, see last week’s fantasy and science fiction roundup.
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