Jason Asano returns in He Who Fights with Monsters 13, Steven Erikson continues Tales of Witness with Legacies of Betrayal, and V. E. Schwab closes the Villains trilogy with Victorious. October 6 also brings a new Osten Ard novel from Tad Williams and the final Talisman book from Stephen King.
This week’s fantasy and science fiction releases include several long-awaited series finales, a new journey through Osten Ard, and an audiobook set in Michael J. Sullivan’s world of Elan. Here are ten books to look for during the week of October 4–10.
You can also catch up on last week’s fantasy and science fiction releases for September 27–October 3.
He Who Fights with Monsters 13 by Shirtaloon
Jason Asano returns to Earth with powerful allies and enough strength to frighten the people who once pushed him around. The planet has plenty for him to deal with: divided magical factions, the aftermath of a monster catastrophe, and vampires preparing for another war. His family also needs his attention, regardless of how powerful he has become.
The thirteenth He Who Fights with Monsters novel continues Shirtaloon’s long-running LitRPG series. Aethon releases the ebook and audiobook together this week, with Heath Miller returning to narrate Jason’s latest attempt to solve problems without taking over the world.
Legacies of Betrayal by Steven Erikson
A new holy war is taking shape in Seven Cities, and the Malazan marines of the Fifth and Sixth squads have orders they would rather avoid. Their mission looks bad enough on its own. The possibility that their commanders consider them expendable makes it worse.
Legacies of Betrayal is the third Tales of Witness novel, continuing Erikson’s return to the Malazan world after the original Book of the Fallen sequence. Tor’s US hardcover and ebook arrive this week, bringing the story back to the soldiers caught inside the empire’s larger conflicts.
Victorious by V. E. Schwab
The rivalry between Victor Vale and Eli Ever has left consequences neither could contain. In Victorious, allies and enemies are drawn into a new confrontation, with an unexpected opponent shaping what happens next. The publisher is keeping much of the setup quiet, leaving readers to discover how those old grudges finally play out.
This is the third and final Villains novel, following Vicious and Vengeful. Schwab returns to the series’ morally compromised characters and extraordinary powers for its conclusion, with Tor’s US edition arriving October 6.
The Splintered Sun by Tad Williams
With the King of Hernystir dying, rival claimants and warlords are pulling the kingdom apart. Flann, a bandit with a group of unlikely allies, sets out to help the king’s legitimate heir secure his father’s blessing. Sorcery and enemies on the road threaten to end that effort before it can restore any order.
Williams returns to Osten Ard in a story set three hundred years before The Dragonbone Chair. The Splintered Sun opens a new series within that world, taking readers into an earlier struggle over its future. The US and UK editions both arrive October 6.
The Fires of December by Brandon Sanderson
Release Date: October 6, 2026 (Ebook)
December lives in a land sustained by rivers of demon blood. When she learns that a plague could poison those rivers and devastate the kingdom, she travels upstream to warn the royal court. Convincing anyone to listen will be difficult for a woman with little money or standing, even with a priestess and an aspiring fashion designer at her side.
Sanderson’s standalone Cosmere novel reaches general ebook release on October 6, following its earlier delivery to crowdfunding backers. The retail hardcover follows on December 8. You can read more about the story in our spoiler-free review.
Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King and Peter Straub
Jack Sawyer is older now, but the worlds he crossed in The Talisman and Black House still need him. Infected teenagers are spreading destruction on the American side, while a force called the Gullet threatens Mid-World. Jack and his companions have to stop a danger that reaches beyond any one world.
Other Worlds Than These closes the Talisman trilogy and returns to the mythology of King’s Dark Tower books. Scribner publishes the hardcover this week, with illustrations by Gabriel Rodríguez. The audiobook is narrated by Patton Oswalt, with King reading the afterword.
The Sixth Faction by Veronica Roth
Beatrice Prior plans to leave Abnegation for Dauntless, even though it means leaving her family. A tragedy at the Choosing Ceremony changes that decision and sends her toward an underground rebellion. It also puts her in the path of a boy whose name is a number and whose secrets could be as dangerous as hers.
Roth returns to Divergent through an alternate version of its story, asking what would happen if Tris chose a different faction. The Sixth Faction begins a new duology, giving familiar characters a different course through the world readers first encountered in Divergent.
Out of the Ashes by Lorian Ellis and Michael J. Sullivan
Release Date: October 6, 2026 (Audiobook)
The imperial capital of Percepliquis has been destroyed, and the people left behind have to decide what comes next. Three lives lead the story forward: a survivor seeking the reason she was spared, a would-be ruler trying to become worthy of that role, and someone determined to learn what happened to Esrahaddon.
Out of the Ashes opens After the Fall, a new trilogy in the world of Elan from debut author Lorian Ellis and Michael J. Sullivan. This week brings the audiobook, narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds. Its authors describe the novel as an independent story within the larger Elan saga, so readers can begin here without completing every earlier series.
This Shattered Tempest by Thea Guanzon
Talasyn and Alaric’s political marriage has become much more complicated than either intended. Their growing attachment has to survive the demands of rival nations and a devastating attack that separates them again. With their countries approaching a decisive battle, finding each other may mean questioning the loyalties that brought them here.
This Shattered Tempest concludes the Hurricane Wars trilogy, following The Hurricane Wars and A Monsoon Rising. Guanzon brings the struggle between light and shadow magic, the war, and the central romance to their final installment. The US edition releases October 6.
Dark Reading Matter by Jasper Fforde
Thursday Next knows she is approaching the end of her series. Unfortunately, her enemies know it too, and they intend to make the final book impossible to publish. Escaped Martians, trouble at a Shakespeare theme park, and outsiders seeking access to the realm of abandoned literary ideas give her plenty to investigate.
Dark Reading Matter is the eighth and final Thursday Next novel, bringing Fforde’s literary detective back for one more attempt to keep fiction and reality from falling apart. Soho Press publishes the US edition this week. Thursday has her husband, her friends, and her readers to help her reach an ending she can live with.
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