Happy New Year! Ready to start things off discovering the magic and intrigue of new worlds? Well, these YA sci-fi and fantasy reads releasing this month will help you out.
Check them out below (organized by release date), and may you find your first favorite read of the new year!
January 4th
By Sharlene Healy
Forests are full of secrets. I thought our road would be easy. All we had to do was go straight to the mera base our parents would be at. I couldn’t have been more wrong. When I’m recognized as a missing person, our group runs to the forest to hide. We travel to an abandoned mera base so that June can build more of her machines. After all, we want to be able to save our parents from the meras. I wish I could have rested there, but these terrifying nightmares wouldn’t stop. Enemies in the forest and my dreams wouldn’t leave me alone, and so I tried to stop a mera on my own. Now I’ve uncovered secrets that destroyed my world. If I can’t recover, I’ll become like the prisoners in Bunker 3, losing myself and my family forever. Secret Skies is the second book in the Chimera Skies series. It's an action/adventure with scifi elements. It is YA with no mature content besides violence.
January 10th
By Kristen S. Walker
A teen girl chosen to wield the power of a goddess. Flying cities falling from the sky. Can she find out why the machines are failing and fix them in time to save everyone? The teenage prophet Riwenne performed a miracle when she saved her flying city from crashing into the ocean. But no one alive knows how the cities became airborne hundreds of years ago. The high priestess tried to create her own flying city and put a barren rock in the sky, too high for anyone to live on… and now it’s falling. All the imperial sky cities are falling. The Synthetic Ethereal Apparatus that holds up each capital is failing. If they crash, thousands of homes and businesses will be destroyed. Massive devastation could ruin her enemy’s territory but at the cost of innocent lives. To save the floating cities, Riwenne will need more power than she’s ever used before. She must find the secret of the Ethereal Apparatus and how to repair it. She’ll need new allies: the planetary warriors who refused to join her once already. But it also means working with her enemies in the Empire who tried to kill her. She can’t stand by and let their people die. If they don’t work together, their world will never be the same. Riwenne & the Ethereal Apparatus is the fifth book in a steampunk fantasy series for teens. If you like magical girls, lesbian romance, and high-flying adventures, then you’ll love Kristen S. Walker’s series of guns and gears.
January 22nd
By Day Leitao
A forbidden fae kiss could be deadly.
Naia was raised in the shadow of her twin brother, the crown prince, who has iron magic much more powerful than hers. But Naia has wishes of her own. They awaken when she finds a white fae almost dying in the woods. She only heard of them in stories; the dreaded race that razed cities to the ground, killed her grandparents, almost rid Aluria of humans—until they disappeared. Now, twenty years later, are they back? Is there another war coming?
But the fae is evasive and secretive—and also alluring and fascinating, more beautiful than anyone she’s ever seen. And then it happens: Naia kisses him—and nothing will be the same again.
In another kingdom, Leah, a necromancer princess, has to find a husband in less than four days, during the gathering, when royals from all over Aluria meet. Her family makes it very clear that she can pick any prince she wants—except one: Naia’s brother. And it turns out that he’s the one; the one who makes her heart beat faster.
Meanwhile, war looms over the land. One of the kingdoms is amassing immense power. The White Fae might be returning. Amidst it all, Naia and her brother struggle with newfound magical powers, family secrets, and most of all, their own treacherous hearts.
Frozen Hearts and Death Magic is a telenovela-inspired upper YA romantic fantasy for fans of multi-POV stories, forbidden love, enemies to lovers, family drama, royal intrigue, and mysterious magic. It’s book 1 of the Duology Of Fire and Fae, recommended for readers 16 and up.
January 23rd
Capture the Sky (Light of Faerie 2)
By Allison Rose
In the wake of a power shift, those of Faerie look for a ruler they can trust.
Sevelle must now prove herself to the rebels, the halkyr that live in the mountains, and the other faerie rulers—among them, her “mother,” The Glorious—in order to create the Court of the Sky. All while attempting to strengthen her budding co-ruler relationship with Lex. If their court fails, she will belong nowhere, and be at the mercy of the rebels and the other courts.
After Jae’s defeat, she resigns herself to merely existing in the Day Court. But when Morlan tricks her into traveling to Farryn to speak to the commoners, and a former ally returns, a stir of rebellion awakens within her again. Though with it comes the conflicting guilt of failing the Day as its true heir—and a nagging feeling that she has a part to play in the Day Court yet—forcing her to once again decide between deserting or ruling.
Liza, a storyteller from the Day Court, is tasked with telling Jae’s story and guiding the commoners to forget the traitorous Sevelle. Though she is used to such tasks, the unrest among the commoners makes her uneasy. And as she meets the real-life subject of her stories and uncovers more of the truth, she lands in the heart of the conflict, where she must decide to keep her job and spin pretty lies, or rebel and spread the truth.
Three powerful stories weave together, among twists and turns, and lead to a stunning conclusion in the second installment of the Light of Faerie series.
January 28th
By S. R. Breaker
She was solely created to guard a legendary relic. But when a rogue thief from Earth disrupts her dreary world, her job won't be the only thing she loses. An ancient forest fairy guards a legendary
treasure that holds the power of the gods. A rogue stranger from Earth needs only one thing to return home. A mysterious curse entwined in their fates... For lovers of epic fantasy, adventure, and easy to read feel-good stories. If you like Neil Gaiman's Stardust and The Chronicles of Narnia with a quirky twist, you’ll enjoy this offbeat, fast-paced YA portal fantasy adventure. This boxed set contains Volumes 1-3 of S. R. Breaker's YA epic/portal fantasy series "The Curse of the Arcadian Stone: Nameless Fay." PLUS an exclusive BONUS downloadable high-resolution version of the fantasy world map "Land of Arcadia."
January 31st
By Lyndsey Hall
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...
When Aria returns to the Fair Realm to attend a ball at the Salamander castle, it isn’t long before things take a turn for the deadly.
With her father’s home in ashes and her newfound family reduced to dust, Aria finds herself King Auberon’s captive once more. Deep within the mountains that border the Celeste Kingdom, Aria is powerless to fight back, her newly-discovered abilities suppressed by the weight of the rock that surrounds her. But when a Celeste guard whispers about rebellion and promises to help her escape, Aria is desperate to trust him.
Crown Prince Xander returns home to the Gnome castle, laden with grief for his brother and father, and dreading the day he will be crowned king. Preparations are underway for his marriage and coronation, but thoughts of the girl he betrayed trouble him day and night.
Until the morning of his wedding, when a note arrives that Aria has been taken by Auberon once more, and Xander is forced to choose between his life of duty and obedience, and what he believes is right.
Return to the Fair Realm and lose yourself in book two of The Fair Chronicles. Perfect for fans of Holly Black’s Folk of the Air series.
This article was written by Allison Rose.
Allison Rose writes YA fantasy featuring magic and otherworldly beings. Her current series feature a truly unique world of Faerie. Click the covers below to check them out.
