Magic is everywhere — at least it is when you’re reading the best fantasy books of March 2025! This month’s titles range from soft and cozy to dark and epic. In other words, you’re sure to find something you love!
If a sweeter tale is what you’re after, grab something new by Breanne Randall or E.M. Anderson. Or, travel to alternate worlds thanks to Eliza Chan, Cassandra Clare, or Amélie Wen Zhao. Here’s what we’re recommending this month for the best fantasy books of March 2025!
Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things by Breanne Randall
Release date: March 4
Read it if: You love Charmed-esque stories of sisterhood and magic. A trio of sisters maintain fragile magic by sacrificing their own memories.
Publisher’s synopsis: In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice it: memories. Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget. The mother who left without a trace, the sisters from whom she feels increasingly distant, and most of all, the way the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago.
But when an ancient evil awakens, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks. As their magic slowly begins to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to the handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power. Battling the sizzling chemistry with a man she can’t trust, Calliope must confront painful memories of her past, dark family secrets, and ancient magic in order to protect the town and all she loves. But will she have anything left of herself?
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Ragpicker King by Cassandra Clare
Release date: March 4
Read it if: Clare’s latest is already on your radar for the best fantasy books of March 2025. A ragtag cast bounce between a dark underworld and a decadent court in search of answers after a tragedy.
Publisher’s synopsis: Kel Saren, body double to Conor, crown prince of the dazzling city of Castellane, is caught between two worlds. In order to protect his beloved prince, Kel must find the culprits responsible for a massacre at the royal palace. And the only clues are held by the Ragpicker King, the notorious criminal who rules Castellane’s underworld. The trail Kel follows leads back to the Hill, where among decadent nobles and glittering parties a dark conspiracy to destroy the royal family has taken hold—a conspiracy headed up by the monstrous Artal Gremont, the man engaged to marry the woman Kel adores.
Meanwhile, Lin Caster faces the aftermath of the greatest risk she’s ever taken. To save the life of a dying friend, Lin has falsely claimed to be the Goddess Reborn, the legendary heroine destined to save her people. Now the terrifying—but strangely magnetic—leader of her people has arrived to test her powers. The price of failure is exile. Only through her alliance with the Ragpicker King can she continue to access the magic that may save her.
Then Prince Conor reappears in her life, demanding that she use her healing powers to cure the madness of his father, the King. Lin soon realizes the King is gripped by an ancient and terrible magic, one whose lure she cannot deny any more than she can deny her growing passion for Conor.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao
Release date: March 4
Read it if: You love stories of magical trials and rivalry-turned-romance. A woman enters a deadly competition to save her mother, only to find an unexpected and mysterious ally.
Publisher’s synopsis: Nine years ago, the war between the Kingdom of Night and the Kingdom of Rivers tore Àn’yīng’s family apart, leaving her mother barely alive and a baby sister to fend for. Now the mortal realm is falling into eternal night. And mó—beautiful, ravenous demons—roam the land, feasting on the flesh of humans and drinking their souls.
Àn’yīng is no longer a helpless child, though. Armed with her crescent blades and trained in the ancient art of practitioning, she has decided to enter the Immortality Trials, which are open to any mortal who can survive the journey to the immortal realm. Those who complete the Trials are granted a pill of eternal life—the one thing Àn’yīng knows can heal her dying mother. But to attain the prize, she must survive the competition.
Death is common in the Trials. Yet oddly, Àn’yīng finds that someone is helping her stay alive. A rival contestant. Powerful and handsome, Yù’chén is as secretive about his past as he is about his motives for protecting Àn’yīng.
The longer she survives the Trials, the clearer it becomes that all is not right in the immortal realm. To save her mother and herself, Àn’yīng will need to figure out whether she can truly trust the stranger she’s falling for or if he’s the most dangerous player of all . . . for herself and for all the realms.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Once Was Willem by M. R. Carey
Release date: March 4
Read it if: You prefer a dark, medieval vibe for the best fantasy books of March 2025. In England’s early days, a mysterious force rises to defeat a powerful evil.
Publisher’s synopsis: Eleven hundred and some years after the death of Christ, in the kingdom that had but recently begun to call itself England, I, Once Was Willem, rose from the dead to defeat a great evil facing the humble village of Cosham. The words enclosed herein are true.
I speak of monsters and magic, battle and bloodletting, and the crimes of desperate men. I speak also of secret things, of that which lies beneath us and that which impends above. By the time you come to the end of this account you will know the truth of your own life and death, the path laid out for your immortal soul, your origin and your inevitable end.
You will not thank me.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
A Touch of Shadows by Jessica Thorne
Read it if: You’d like a riff on the Rapunzel fairy tale among the best fantasy books of March 2025. An apprentice witch goes on the run with a stranger and learns secrets about her own past.
Publisher’s synopsis: Hedgewitch apprentice Wren has followed one rule her entire life: her hair can not be allowed to grow. Cutting it short keeps her safe, though her guardian has never explained who or what Wren must be kept safe from. But when Wren saves an outsider from the dark woods she calls home, her hair—and its strange, seductive magic—are released.
Before Wren can face the consequences of breaking her most important rule, she and her new companion Finn discover soldiers from Ilanthus attacking her village. To her horror, he confesses they are searching for him—and will destroy any witches they find along the way. With no one else to turn to, they agree to help each other escape. However, a dangerous desire fueled by magic burns between them, strengthening each time Wren uses her powers.
But when Wren discovers Finn has been hiding a dark truth about her past, she questions everything she thought she knew. Her guardian. Her magic. And the man she dreamed of sharing a future with.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Blood Beneath the Snow by Alexandra Kennington
Release date: March 11
Read it if: Your wish list for the best fantasy books of March 2025 veers towards romantasy. A rebel princess fights for justice while learning more about a mysterious enemy who kidnaps her.
Publisher’s synopsis: Revna is no stranger to struggle. As the only member of the royal family without a magical ability, she is seen as an embarrassing mistake by her kingdom and a blight on her bloodline. Luckily, Revna has found family in other outcasts in her kingdom. But when her two closest friends’ lives are put in danger, she is determined to save them by any means necessary, no matter the cost. The Bloodshed Trials—a competition where the last sibling in the royal family standing takes the throne—might just be the ultimate price.
Revna turns down her arranged marriage and commits to competing for the throne only to be kidnapped by the mysterious and terrifyingly powerful Hellbringer, the general of her country’s greatest enemy. He has the ability to rend souls with the flick of his wrist and is every inch as intimidating as the war stories say he is. But Revna wonders if there may be some humanity left in him. Especially when he reveals there are other parties who want her on the throne for their own secret reasons.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Witch Who Trades with Death by C. M. Alongi
Release date: March 11
Read it if: You like stories of healing as much as stories of rebellion. A witch makes a deal with death to flee a brutal emperor, then finds new challenges in her new home.
Publisher’s synopsis: All witches must serve the cruel and immortal Emperor Yamueto. But after four years of terror and abuse, Khana not only kills one of his favorite courtiers with her magic, but also discovers the secret of his power and immortality. He’s been making deals with Death. And now, so is she.
Armed with magic that she doesn’t fully understand, Khana flees the empire. She stumbles into a small mountain town filled with fierce warriors that ostracize her for being a witch, despite using her abilities to heal their sick and injured. There, her magic and courage are put to the test as she is forced to stop running and fight back against the emperor that wants her dead.
But every deal she makes with Death takes another piece of her soul. And there’s only so much Khana can give before she turns into the very monster she’s trying to destroy.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara
Release date: March 18
Read it if: You’d like an ancient-India-inspired epic among the best fantasy books of March 2025. A pacifist prince and a vengeful witch cross paths in a wild region of an empire.
Publisher’s synopsis: A prince born into violence, seeking peace.
Prince Ashoka is the youngest son of the tyrannical Emperor Adil Maurya. Considered an outcast by his father for his rejection of the emperor’s brutal onslaught against the witches of the empire, Ashoka longs for change. When the sudden and unexpected death of his father leaves the monarchy in disarray, Ashoka is sent to govern a tumultuous region annexed by Emperor Adil that is terrorized by nature spirits—a task many see as doomed to fail. Suspected by a disdainful governor and evaded by distrustful witches, Ashoka must question his rigid ideals and fight against becoming the one person he despises the most—his father.
A witch shackled by pacifism, seeking revenge.
Shakti is a mayakari: a witch bound by a pacifist code. After witnessing the murder of her aunt and village at the hands of the emperor, Shakti hurtles down a path of revenge, casting a curse with unexpected consequences. Posing as a maidservant in the famed palace of the Mauryas and armed with newfound powers beyond her imagination, Shakti attempts to dismantle the monarchy from within by having the royal progeny ruin themselves and turn their father’s legacy into nothing but ash.
In a world where nature spirits roam the land, and witches are hunted to extinction, Ashoka and Shakti will be forced to grapple with the consequences of power: to take it for themselves or risk losing it completely.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
To Steal from Thieves by M. K. Lobb
Release date: March 25
Read it if: You like steampunk fantasy and thrilling heists. An alchemist and a con man team up to steal a necklace from a public exhibit.
Publisher’s synopsis: Within the dazzling halls of London’s Crystal Palace, the event of the season has arrived: The Great Exhibition. An opportunity for the greatest minds of the century to come together under one roof in an unprecedented display of art and invention. And for two unlikely partners in crime, it’s about to become the score of a lifetime.
Charming con man Kane Durante works alone—or on occasion with his best friend, Fletcher. But when his boss, the infamous Kingpin of London’s magical dark market, gives him the impossible task of stealing a priceless artifact from the Great Exhibition, he knows it’s a job he can’t pull off alone. Enter Zaria Mendoza, daughter of one of London’s greatest alchemologists. Ever since her father’s death, Zaria’s been struggling to keep her underground business afloat, and impatient clients are becoming violent. When the infuriatingly handsome Kane offers her the promise of enough money to get out of debt and leave London entirely, she knows she can’t walk away from this dangerous partnership.
But robbing one of the most public, heavily-guarded buildings in London isn’t going to be easy. Especially when love and betrayal threaten to ruin everything they’ve worked so hard for.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Tideborn by Eliza Chan
Release date: March 25
Read it if: You’re hoping for complicated characters and sea-folk mythology in the best fantasy books of March 2025. A formerly-divided society is now connected, but it’s up to a few heroes to truly unite their people.
Publisher’s synopsis: The people of Tiankawi have been irrevocably changed. Once divided into two factions – humans and the underwater ‘fathomfolk’ – now every citizen is able to breathe underwater. But this new commonality is not enough to heal the scars of years of oppression. Mira, a siren and activist, must uncover a deadly conspiracy while persuading her divided people to band together to rebuild their city after a tsunami. And dragon princess Nami must undertake a daring sea voyage to do the to find a way to convince a Titan not to destroy their city for its crimes.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by E. M. Anderson
Release date: March 25
Read it if: You love cozy fantasy, found family, and grumpy characters with good hearts. An immortal ghost hunter finds an unexpected community, if he can just let himself have happiness.
Publisher’s synopsis: After over two hundred years, Peter Shaughnessy is ready to die and end this cycle. But thanks to a youthful encounter with one o’ them folk in his native Ireland, he can’t. Instead, he’s cursed to wander eternally far from home, with the ability to see ghosts and talk to plants.
Immortality means Peter has lost everyone he’s ever loved. And so he centers his life on the dead—until his wandering brings him to Harrington, Ohio. As he searches for a vengeful spirit, Peter’s drawn into the townsfolk’s lives, homes and troubles. For the first time in over a century, he wants something other than death.
But the people of Harrington will die someday. And he won’t.
As Harrington buckles under the weight of the supernatural, the ghost hunt pits Peter’s well-being against that of his new friends and the man he’s falling for. If he stays, he risks heartbreak. If he leaves, he risks their lives.
Get it on Amazon or support your local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
