Best New Fantasy Books in May 2022

Alchemy, Jinn and dark magic abound in this month’s new fantasy books. Take a look at our picks for best fantasy books in May 2022.

Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire

Type: Novel
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release date: May 3

Den of Geek says: McGuire’s Middlegame was a twisty, experimental-leaning fantasy novel guaranteed to make you think. The follow-up promises more alchemical experimentation and how it connects to very human relationships.

Publisher’s summary: The king of winter and the queen of summer are dead. The fight for their crowns begins!

“Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul. Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.”

“So, when a new road is laid out in front of them―a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together―walking down it seems to be the only option. But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts. It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all…”

Book of Night by Holly Black

Type: Novel
Publisher: Tor Books
Release date: May 3

Den of Geek says: YA sensation Holly Black, known for her soft-dark fairy series, turns to adult fiction with a highly-praised debut.

Publisher’s summary: Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make.

“She’s spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie Hall.”

“Now, she’s trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but getting out isn’t easy. Bartending at a dive, she’s still entirely too close to the corrupt underbelly of the Berkshires. Not to mention that her sister Posey is desperate for magic, and that Charlie’s shadowless, and possibly soulless, boyfriend has been hiding things from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends into a maelstrom of murder and lies.”

“Determined to survive, she’s up against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world―all trying to steal a secret that will give them vast and terrible power.”

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

Type: Novel
Publisher: Orbit
Release date: May 17

Den of Geek says: A world of criminals and Jinn sparkles with potential in this quest fantasy inspired by One Thousand and One Nights.

Publisher’s summary: Neither here nor there, but long ago . . . 

“Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land—at the cost of sacrificing all jinn.”

“With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie’s past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything—her enemy, her magic, even her own past—is not what it seems, and she must decide who she will become in this new reality.”