If we had to describe the best fantasy books of November 2024 in a few words, they’d be “adventure” and “variety.” This month’s fantasy books include every corner of the genre, so there’s something thrilling for everyone.
We’ve got history-tinged novels by Carrie Vaughn, Isabel Ibañez, and Nicole Glover. If you prefer totally fantastical worlds, pick up new titles from Sarah Hawley, Tasha Sur, or Rebecca Robinson. From cozy tales to dark and dangerous adventures, keep reading to see all our picks for the best fantasy books of November 2024!
The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn
Release date: November 1
Read it if: You’re a fan of light academia and historical fantasy. A widow joins forces with two expeditionists to harness her rare and forbidden magical talents.
Publisher’s synopsis: In the summer of 1880, the death of Beth Stanley’s husband puts her life’s work in jeopardy. The magic of Arcane Taxonomy dictates that every natural thing in the world, from weather to animals, can be labeled. Doing so grants the practitioner some of that subject’s unique power. But only men are permitted to train in this philosophy. Losing her husband means that Beth loses the name they put on her work―and any influence she might have wielded.
Brandon West and Anton Torrance are campaigning for their expedition to the South Pole, a mission that some believe could make a taxonomist all-powerful by tapping into the earth’s magnetic forces. Their late friend Harry Stanley’s knowledge and connections would have been instrumental. But when they attempt to take custody of his work, they find that it was never his at all.
Tied together by this secret and its implications, Beth, Bran, and Anton must find a way for Beth to use her talent for the good of the world, before she’s discovered by those who would lay claim to her rare potential―and her very freedom.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
A Tribute of Fire by Sariah Wilson
Release date: November 1
Read it if: You want the best fantasy books of November 2024 to touch on all your favorite tropes. The princess of a cursed nation attempts to outwit deadly challenges and a goddess to save her cursed nation.
Publisher’s synopsis: Lia is the princess of Locris, a dying desert nation cursed centuries ago by an earth goddess―one still worshipped by the thriving and adversarial nation of Ilion. Every year, Ilion offers the goddess a sacrifice: two Locrian maidens forced to compete in a life-and-death race to reach her temple. In a millennium, no maiden has made it out of Ilion alive. This year, Lia is one of the hunted.
An education in battle gives her a fighting chance, but the challenges are greater than she feared. Lia’s beloved but untrained sister Quynh has been put in the path of danger. The winding streets of Ilion itself have been transformed into a labyrinthine maze of countless choices and dead ends. And if the risks weren’t significant enough, Lia is reluctantly drawn to the commandingly attractive Jason, an Ilionian sailor she loathes to trust and desires like no man before.
The tribute game is on. It’s up to Lia to lift the goddess’s curse, restore Locris to its former glory, and change the fate of every young woman destined to follow in her path.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
Release date: November 5
Read it if: You love cozy fantasy and found family vibes. A small-fortune teller finds unexpected companionship when she joins a quest to find a lost child.
Publisher’s synopsis: Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells “small” fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences…
Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a “knead” for adventure, and—of course—a slightly magical cat.
Tao starts down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as she lowers her walls, the shadows of her past close in. And she’ll have to decide whether to risk everything to preserve the family she never thought she could have.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez
Release date: November 5
Read it if: You want a mash-up of historical romance, fantasy, and adventure (or you love The Mummy). A young woman faces deadly dangers and her own feelings as she digs deeper into the magic behind her parents’ deaths.
Publisher’s synopsis: Inez Olivera traveled across the world to Egypt, seeking answers into her parents’ recent and mysterious deaths. But all her searching led her down a perilous road, filled with heartache, betrayal, and a dangerous magic that pulled her deep into the past.
When Tío Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she’s left with only one option to consider.
Marriage to Whitford Hayes.
Former British soldier, her uncle’s aide de camp, and one time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt. With her heart on the line, Inez might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secret plans could ruin her.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Improvisers by Nicole Glover
Release date: November 5
Read it if: You’re looking for urban fantasy and historical settings among the best fantasy books of November 2024. A magical bootlegger investigates dangerous artifacts, with the help (or sabotage) of an intrepid journalist.
Publisher’s synopsis: Velma Frye is many things. A pilot, a former bootlegger, a well-seasoned traveler, a jazz pianist…and a wielder of celestial magic. She’s also a member of the mystical Rhodes family as well as an investigator for arcane oddities for a magic rights organization, dealing with both simple and complicated cases. And when a pocket watch instigates a magical brawl after one of her flight shows, things become very complicated.
In 1930s America, enchanted items are highly valuable, especially in the waning days of the magical Prohibition. As Velma digs deeper, she discovers the watch is part of a collection of dangerous artifacts manipulating people across the country—and in some cases, leading to their deaths. Something about all this is tickling Velma’s memories, and the more she discovers, the more these seemingly isolated incidents feel as if they’re building to something apocalyptic.
Connecting the dots isn’t easy, though, and further complicating her work is journalist Dillon Harris. He hounds her steps, and while not actively sabotaging her investigation, he also clearly knows more than he lets on. Whether it’s his presence that she finds so vexing or his easygoing charm, that’s a mystery she isn’t interested in solving. Because someone is out there seeding cursed objects with the intent on wreaking havoc, and Velma will have to use every trick in her tool kit, including some well-placed magical improvisation, to win the day.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley
Release date: November 12
Read it if: You’re looking for fae fantasy and magical quests for your best fantasy books of November 2024. While helping her fae mistress with deadly trials, a human discovers a rebellion against the cruel fae king.
Publisher’s synopsis: Kenna Heron is best known in her village for being a little wild—some say half feral—but she’ll need every ounce of that ferocity to survive captivity in the cruel Fae court.
Trapped as a servant in the faeries’ underground kingdom of Mistei, Kenna must help her new mistress undertake six deadly trials, one for each branch of magic: Fire, Earth, Light, Void, Illusion, and Blood. If she succeeds, her mistress will gain immortality and become the heir to Earth House. If she doesn’t, the punishment is death—for both mistress and servant.
With no ally but a sentient dagger of mysterious origins, Kenna must face monsters, magic, and grueling physical tests. But worse dangers wait underground. Soon, Kenna gets caught up in a secret rebellion against the inventively sadistic faerie king. When her feelings for the rebellion’s leader turn passionate, Kenna must decide if she’s willing to risk her life for a better world and a chance at happiness.
Surviving the trials and overthrowing a tyrant king will take cunning, courage, and an iron will. But even that may not be enough.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri
Release date: November 12
Read it if: You’re hoping one of the best fantasy books of November 2024 will flip the script with lovers-to-enemies angst. An empress and a priestess face opposing choices, even as they must ally against a greater enemy.
Publisher’s synopsis: Malini has claimed her rightful throne as the empress of Parijatdvipa, just as the nameless gods prophesied. Now, in order to gain the support of the priesthood who remain loyal to the fallen emperor, she must consider a terrible bargain. Claim her throne and burn in order to seal her legacy—or find another willing to take her place on the pyre.
Priya has survived the deathless waters and now their magic runs in her veins. But a mysterious yaksa with flowering eyes and a mouth of thorns lies beneath the waters. The yaksa promises protection for Ahiranya. But in exchange, she needs a sacrifice. And she’s chosen Priya as the one to offer it.
Two women once entwined by fate now stand against each other. But when an ancient enemy rises to threaten their world, Priya and Malini will find themselves fighting together once more – to prevent their kingdoms, and their futures, from burning to ash.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
We Shall Be Monsters by Alyssa Wees
Release date: November 12
Read it if: You’ve secretly wondered if those strange places around us are actually a little bit magic. A cursed girl faces the dangers of a mysterious forest to rescue her mother and break the curse.
Publisher’s synopsis: Gemma Cassata lives with her mother in an isolated antiques shop in Michigan, near a seductive patch of woods concealing an enchanted gateway to fairyland. Gemma knows she’s not supposed to go into the woods. Her mother, Virginia, has warned her multiple times about the monsters that lurk there. And yet she can’t resist.
Virginia understands her daughter’s defiance. She knows the allure of the woods all too well. Her own mother warned her about the monsters, and Virginia also did not listen—until a witch cursed her true love just days before their child’s birth. So Virginia will do whatever she can to protect her daughter—even if it means stealing Gemma’s memories.
But everything changes when Gemma gets too close to the truth, and the witch takes Virginia . Now it is up to Gemma to venture deep into the mysterious woods to rescue her mother and break the curse.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Fortune’s Kiss by Amber Clement
Release date: November 12
Release date: You’re looking for a new YA fave among the best fantasy books of November 2024. Two friends enter an enchanted gambling den and find much more danger than they expected.
Publisher’s synopsis: Welcome to Fortune’s Kiss, where you can attain your wildest dreams. But the price of admission . . . may be your life.
For the first time in a decade, the legendary gambling den, Fortune’s Kiss, has returned to Ciudad Milagro. The game is Lotería.
As starry-eyed children, best friends Mayté and Lorena made a pact to enter the den together, but much has changed. Strong, proud Mayté, sole daughter of the disgraced Robles family, dreams of becoming a famous painter, while beautiful Lo suffers at the hands of her powerful—and abusive—father.
With its return, the pair enter the mystical den. Once inside, they realize that beneath the enchanting glamour, the salon hides treacherous secrets—like the old, predatory magic beating in its heart. And it is ravenous.
Round after round, the girls scheme, lie, flirt, do what’s necessary to win. But when bodies begin piling up, all bets—and friendships—are off as each girl learns exactly how far she’s willing to go to ensure she leaves the table on top.
See, this Lotería is no children’s diversion. It is a deadly game of chance that may just eat them alive.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson
Release date: November 12
Read it if: You love darkly magical tales of determined heroes out to save their loved ones. An orphaned young woman journeys to the fae world in search of her vanished father.
Publisher’s synopsis: After losing both their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle to stay afloat in their small, quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol begins to receive letters from an “aunt” she’s never heard of who promises she can help, she reluctantly agrees to meet―and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her family is a lie. Even her father might still be alive, not killed but kidnapped by terrifying creatures to a whole other realm―the one he is from.
Desperate to save her father and find the truth, Bristol journeys to a land of gods and fae and monsters. Pulled into a dangerous world of magic and intrigue, she makes a deadly bargain with the fae leader, Tyghan. But what she doesn’t know is that he’s the one who drove her parents to live a life on the run. And he is just as determined as she is to find her father―dead or alive.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Serpent and the Wolf by Rebecca Robinson
Release date: November 19
Read it if: You love political intrigues, fierce heroines, and enemies-to-lovers setups. A princess weds a rival leader in a political ruse, but her unwanted husband suggests a deal to help them both survive.
Publisher’s synopsis: All her life, Vaasa Kozár has been sharpened into a blade.
After losing her mother—her only remaining parent—to a mysterious dark magic that has since awakened within her, Vaasa is certain death looms. So is her merciless brother, who aims to eliminate Vaasa as a threat to his crown. In one last political scheme, he marries her off to Reid of Mireh, a ruthless foreign ruler, in hopes that he can use her death as a rallying cry to finally invade Reid’s nation. All Vaasa has to do is die.
But she is desperate to live. Vaasa enters her new marriage with every intent to escape it, wielding the hard-won political prowess and combat abilities her late father instilled in her. But to her surprise, Reid offers her a deal: help him win the votes to rise in power, and she can walk free. In exchange, he will share his knowledge about the dark magic running through her veins—and help keep it at bay.
This proposal may be too good to refuse, yet Vaasa and Reid’s undeniable attraction threatens to break the rules of their arrangement. As her brother’s lethal machinations take form, everything is at stake: Vaasa must learn to trust her new husband, but how can she, especially when their perfect political marriage begins to feel like the real thing?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Red Sonja: Consumed by Gail Simone
Release date: November 19
Read it if: You hoped the best fantasy books of November 2024 would include iconic characters you know and love. Simone reinvents the take-no-prisoners Red Sonja as a fiercely free spirit forced to confront a new enemy and her own history.
Publisher’s synopsis: The gutsy, wild, tortured free spirit, forged in pain yet unafraid of life or death, Red Sonja, the famous, fiery She-Devil and barbarian of Hyrkania has never concerned herself with the consequences of her actions. She’s taken what she wanted, from treasure to drink to the companionship of bedfellows. She’s fought who deserved it (and sometimes those who didn’t). And she’s never looked back.
But when rumors start bubbling up from her homeland—rumors of unknown horrors emerging from the ground and pulling their unsuspecting victims to their deaths—and a strange voice begins whispering to her in her sleep, she realizes she may have to return to the country that abandoned her. And finally do the only thing that has ever scared her: confront her past.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso
Release date: November 19
Read it if: Your wish list for the best fantasy books of November 2024 includes reality-bending sapphic adventurers. An investigator and a thief team up when people begin falling through layers of reality itself.
Publisher’s synopsis: In the Deep Echoes, no one can save you.
Star investigator Kembral Thorne has a few hours away from her newborn, and she just wants to relax and enjoy the year-turning party. But when people start dropping dead, she’s got to get to work. Especially when she finds that mysterious forces are plunging the whole party down through layers of reality and into nightmare.
One layer down: It’s no big deal. Stay alert, and you’ll be fine.
Two, three layers down: Natural laws are negotiable, and things get very strange.
Four layers down: There are creatures with eyes in their teeth and walls that drip blood. Most people who fall this far never return.
Luckily, Kem isn’t most people. But as cosmic powers align and the hour grows late, she’ll have to work with her awfully compelling nemesis, notorious cat burglar Rika Nonesuch, for a chance to save her city—though not her night off.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
