Readers, prepare your shelves. We’ve found you so many amazing sci-fi and fantasy novels releasing in May 2024. Several give unique takes on the apocalypse, from magic motorcycles racing across a Mad Max-like wasteland to an African skyscraper fending off threats from Yoruban mythology. While several debut novelists explore gritty fantasy cities, time travel’s potential, and how evil wizards can turn good. Several also include myths and folklore from around the world, ready for you to dive into.
We’ve tried to find something for every reader in this month’s sci-fi and fantasy roundup. Which ones are you looking forward to reading? Here are the best sci-fi fantasy books to consider in May 2024, or check out our top sci-fi fantasy picks for April if you’re interested in even more great reads.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Kaliane Bradley
The Ministry of Time: A Novel
Release Date: May 7 – Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
This fascinating time travel novel takes place in a near-future London. A government ministry has discovered the ability to open a door into time. To test how time travel affects people, the ministry extracts historical figures—called expats—from random periods, carefully choosing people whose disappearance shouldn’t change the past.
The ministry has hired the unnamed biracial narrator as a bridge for one such expat. Her job is to help her expat adjust to modern London while monitoring any physical or psychological damage time traveling may have caused. The ministry believes she’s capable of this work because of her linguistic skills and because her mother was a Cambodian refugee.
She’s paired with Arctic explorer Commander Graham Gore, who died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic. He’s charming, witty, intelligent, and polite, and she immediately begins falling for him. Meanwhile, something odd is happening in the ministry, and she finds herself caught up in secrets and spies. It’s an intriguing blend of science fiction, romance, and thriller.
See Here for UK – £11.99 – Published by Sceptre
When Among Crows by Veronica Roth
Veronica Roth
When Among Crows
Release Date: May 14 – Tor Books.
While Veronica Roth is most famous for her YA dystopian series Divergent, she has written several excellent books for adults in the last several years. Her latest is this quest-driven urban fantasy novella set in Chicago full of creatures from Slavic folklore. It’s a magical, action-packed read with vivid scenes and characters.
It rotates between three perspectives; Dymitr is on a bloody quest to rid himself of his past sins. He seeks the witch Baba Jaga, the only one powerful enough to help him. Ala is cursed to relive all of the Holy Order’s murders; a curse passed down matrilineally. She has lost many of loved ones from the curse and knows one day it will take her as well. Nico is a male strzyga caught in the crossfires between Dymitr and Ala, intrigued by both of their quests and struggles, especially Dymitr’s. If you listen to audiobooks, the full cast narration of this is excellent.
See Here for UK – £11.95 – Published by Titan Books
Road to Ruin by Hana Lee
Hana Lee
Road to Ruin
Release Date: May 14 – S&S/Saga
This inventive fantasy homage to Mad Max: Fury Road is an absolute blast, full of high-stakes scenes, an original magic system, and messy romances. It takes place in a climate-ravaged world where shieldcasters protect cities from deadly storms. Jin-Lu rides the wastelands on a magebike as a courier, shuttling contraband goods from city to city. Though faced with constant danger from raiders, storms, and dinosaur-like creatures, she’d rather have the freedom of the road than a city’s constraints.
Illicit love letters between Princess Yi-Nereen, a powerful shieldcaster, and the magic-less Prince Kadrin of a different city are her most valuable cargo. When Y-Nereen’s family forces her into an engagement with a mindreader, she enlists Jin-Lu’s help. The two escape into the wastelands, but enemies from both their pasts hunt them. Road to Ruin is full of twists and turns, so much fun to read, and is perfect for anyone excited for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga–or any other Mad Max entries we might get in the future.
See Here for UK – £10.99 – Published by S&S/Saga Press
Archangels of Funk by Andrea Hairston
Andrea Hairston
Archangels of Funk
Release Date: May 7 – Tordotcom
Andrea Hairston’s latest is a playful, community-driven take on the apocalypse centering a woman pushing sixty. Cinnamon Jones lives on her ancestor’s farm with three quirky and beloved circus bots and two dogs, somewhat shielded by the violence caused by people and climate change. She hosts the Next World Festival every year, where people gather to share and perform stories, songs, dances, plays, and more. This year she’s feeling less than enthusiastic about the festival. Memories of loved ones who have died and news from outside her community weigh heavily on her. She’s also worried about a string of violence targeting flood refugees and their children. However, her friends and her deceased ancestors refuse to let Cinnamon falter.
Blending science fiction and magic, this unique and voice-driven novel is my favorite of Hairston’s books so far. While Hairston is a masterful writer, her previous novels haven’t received a wide readership. I hope more readers find this one.
See Here for UK – £22.99 – Published by St Martin’s Press
The Silverblood Promise by James Logan
James Logan
The Silverblood Promise
Release Date: May 7 – Tor Books
Readers of Scott Lynch, Robert Jackson Bennett, and Joe Abercrombie should pick up this gritty debut high fantasy and the first book in a planned trilogy. It follows down-on-his-luck Lukan Gardova, a disgraced heir to a poor but noble house. The novel opens with Lukan gambling at cards in a tavern known for violence. That violence follows Lukan to the city’s streets, where his former teacher rescues him. She tells him disturbing news—his father has been murdered. Though Lukan and his father were estranged, he promises to find his murderer. His search leads him to Saphrona, a city where monsters decide the fates of criminals, gambling involves torture, and his best hope for answers comes from a clever street urchin named Flea.
Despite the dark world-building, Logan infuses his debut with hope and humor. It’s a fast-paced, action-packed read, and the audiobook narrator, Brenock O’Connor, perfectly captures Lukan’s voice.
See Here for UK – £16.95 – Published by Arcadia
Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
Suyi Davies Okungbowa
Lost Ark Dreaming
Release Date: May 21 – Tordotcom
Despite a familiar premise for dystopian readers, Okungbowa’s deftness with character development and plot and his use of Yoruban mythology make this novella an altogether excellent and thought-provoking read. In the future, a mega-wealthy capitalist builds five towers called The Fingers off the coast of West Africa. The tallest of these fingers is called the Pinnacle. As climate change and flooding ravages the land, the Pinnacle becomes the last toehold for humans as we know them. The Pinnacle is socially stratified by location: The Lowers, who live at levels below sea level, the Midders, and the Uppers.
This story rotates between three perspectives. Yekini is a Midder who works as an analyst while caring for her grandmother. She’s keen to do what’s right for all, regardless of station. When there’s a breach in the Lowers, she’s sent to investigate with Ngozi, a bureaucratic Midder with an eye to climb higher. Tuoyo is an engineer and mechanic from the Lowers. She’s devastated by the loss of her wife years earlier to creatures called the Children of Yemoja. Now it appears one of these children has infiltrated the Pinnacle.
See Here for UK – £16.99 – Published by St Martin’s Press
Escape Velocity by Victor Manibo
Victor Manibo
Escape Velocity
Release Date: May 21 – Erewhon Books
The ultra-rich and privileged volley for merit points to live on Mars in this entertaining queer sci-fi thriller set on a luxury space resort. Earth is dying, but a settlement on Mars offers hope for humanity. Only the best of the best will be allowed on Mars, and people can earn points toward their Mars’s applications through work experience, learning languages, taking space walks, and attending events on the Space Habitat Altaire. Currently, the Altaire is hosting the 25th reunion of a ritzy private school.
The novel switches between multiple perspectives. Henry and Nick are a gay couple who lose points for being unable to bear children. Ava is intent on solving her brother’s murder from when they were students, while Laz hopes to reconnect with Ava and possibly rekindle a romance. Sloane aims to secure valuable clients to stave off financial ruin. Their messy squabbling and maneuvering make them oblivious to a threat right beneath their noses. It’s a fun, soap opera-esque space mystery that still tackles larger social issues and inequities.
See Here for UK – £23 – Published by Erewhon Books
Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel
Vaishnavi Patel
Goddess of the River
Release Date: May 21 – Redhook
Patel’s brilliant debut, Kaikeyi, reimagined the Ramayana through women’s eyes. Patel returns to Hindu mythology in this stunning feminist retelling of the Mahabharata, which I can happily say is just as excellent as Kaikeyi.
Ganga, the goddess of the river, spends her days wild and free as she gushes around mountains and through valleys, protecting and playing with godlings and casting a disdainful eye on humans and their messy progress. When her beloved godlings play a trick on a man blessed by Shiva and Ganga steps in to protect them, the man curses her, and she becomes a human woman. A powerful raja immediately finds her and claims her as his own. As a mortal woman, her destiny is to become the mother of the godlings she sacrificed her immortality for. This is a gorgeous retelling of the Mahabharata. If you loved Madeline Miller’s and Jennifer Saint’s Greek mythology retellings, you should definitely check out Patel’s novels.
See Here for UK – £9.99 – Published by Orbit
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
Caitlin Rozakis
Dreadful
Release Date: May 28 – Titan Books
Readers seeking funny yet philosophical fantasy novels in the vein of Terry Pratchett and T. Kingfisher will adore this delightful new fantasy novel about a wizard, Gav, who wakes up without his memories. He quickly learns a few disturbing facts about himself:
He’s a dark wizard.He kills a lot of his goblin servants.He’s kidnapped a princess.The princess is an ingredient in some evil spell he’s conspiring to cast with other even darker and more powerful wizards.He doesn’t like his old self very much at all.
As Gav navigates life as a dark wizard on the eve of calling up an evil spell that will probably imperil everyone, he wonders if a dark wizard can become good. In his attempts to practice kindness, he allows his goblin chef to serve dubiously edible yet inventive feasts, agrees to host a garlic festival, and begins training the kidnapped princess in magic. However, none of this will be enough to stave off the evil soon to arrive at his castle. This feel-good fantasy is charming and so entertaining.
See Here for UK – £9.99 – Published by Titan Books
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If you own a Kindle, it’s absolutely worth investing in Kindle Unlimited. Usually this membership runs for $11.99/month, but right now they’re offering an excellent deal where you can take advantage of a 30-day free trial or get 2 months for $4.99 (then back to $11.99/month after that 2 months is up).
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Margaret Kingsbury is a freelance writer, editor, and all-around book nerd based in Nashville, TN. Her pieces on books and reading have appeared in Book Riot, BuzzFeed News, School Library Journal, StarTrek.com, Parents, and more. Follow her on Instagram @BabyLibrarians and Twitter and Bluesky @AReaderlyMom
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