Whether you love stories that are thrilling, romantic, epic, or cozy, you’ll find something you love among the best fantasy books of August 2026 — we certainly have! This month’s fantasy releases tell stories of family secrets, dangerous curses, coming of age, and more. All set, of course, against a backdrop of magical beings and fantastical worlds!
If you’re a fantasy fan, be sure to check out this great titles coming soon!
Steelborn by Taylor J. LaRue
Release date: August 4
Read it if: You want tons of romantasy tropes in the best fantasy books of August 2026. A ruthless thief takes a job from an immortal warrior to find the cure for his curse.
Publisher’s synopsis: Reya Connery became the Crimson Dagger, the most notorious thief in Rhiterra, by following a strict set of rules. One: There is no honor among thieves. Two: A good blade is key to any negotiation. Three: Only the dead keep secrets. And Reya has a secret that must be kept at all costs. But when a heist goes wrong on the eve of paying off her debt to a ruthless crime lord, Reya may need a new set of rules. And lots of coin. Fast.
Enter Caelan Halcyon, an immortal warrior whose magic makes him a valuable target—if the curse inching closer to his heart doesn’t kill him first. There’s just one person who might be desperate enough to try and get their hands on the fabled cure in time to save his life, someone whose legend claims they can steal anything: the Crimson Dagger. A male of honor, Caelan loathes everything the beautiful, cocky thief represents, yet knows that Reya is his last hope for survival.
Their search takes them to the edge of the known world, where Reya discovers that there is far more at stake than her and Caelan’s own lives. Now, Reya must confront deadly foes, her growing attraction to the immortal who is as lethal as his jawline is perfect, and the rage she’s spent a lifetime trying to bury. This time, her daggers aren’t going to cut it, and the fate of all magic-born hangs in the balance.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Iron Hex by Victoria S. Walsh
Release date: August 4
Read it if: You like the perfect blend between cozy fantasy and high stakes. An amnesiac joins a quest for a missing princess, learning about her own magic along the way.
Publisher’s synopsis: Eira Eckhart has spent years building a quiet life in a small town at the edge of a recently overthrown kingdom. Her memory is fractured, her past a blur. But with her shop, her loyal rabbit familiar, and practicing only the potions magic still legal under the watchful eye of the Iron Empire, she’s managed to remain unnoticed by the empire’s witch hunters.
Until Hugo Venton walks through her door.
Brash, clever, and infuriatingly handsome, Hugo is searching for something…and seems to know more about Eira than she knows about herself. But when a terrifying encounter with an unnatural, deadly new breed of soldier puts a price on her head, she has no choice but to join Hugo on his quest.
Their hunt for a missing princess pulls Eira across the continent—and deeper into a past she can’t recall. As buried memories, mysteries in the Iron Empire’s capital, forgotten feelings, and the truth behind her identity begin to surface, Eira realizes the forbidden magic simmering in her veins might be the very thing that could save them from the Iron Empire’s forces as they draw ever closer. If she can remember how to control it in time.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Dungeon Book by Gareth Hanrahan
Release date: August 11
Read it if: You want a hybrid of gothic and cozy in the best fantasy books of August 2026. An orphan grows up with the dungeon monsters, then must face the intrusions of the outside world.
Publisher’s synopsis: Bait doesn’t remember a time before the dungeon. Before the dragon stole her from her cot. She doesn’t know what her name was before she was handed over to the monstrous denizens of the dungeon beneath the sorcerer’s tower. Luckily for Bait, they decided not to eat her. And so she grew up in the dark—the goblins her adopted family, a vengeful minotaur her protector, a sentient skull her tutor, and a blob of corridor slime her main source of nutrition.
But the labyrinthine dungeon, with its haunted halls, buried temples and forgotten magics, draws treasure hunters like moths to flame. And as the outside world starts to intrude, Bait will learn what it means to be monstrous.She will have to decide where she truly belongs.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Immortal Rose by Alexandra Bracken
Release date: August 18
Read it if: You love epic fantasy, court politics, and elegant backstabbing. The last heir of a magical perfuming family agrees to distill a legendary potion — for a cost.
Publisher’s synopsis: Members of the ancient Rosebourne family have a strange gift born of a fairy ancestor: the ability to infuse fragrance with magic capable of manipulating mind, body, and emotion.
When a shocking murder leaves the kingdom of Albion vulnerable to a coup, royal spymaster Hugh Thornton seeks the one person who can help: Viola Lockwood, the last living Rosebourne and secret heir to a fraught legacy.
Livid at the silver-eyed aristocrat who had her thrown in jail to force her compliance, Viola nevertheless comes to an agreement with him. In exchange for crafting Immortal Rose, the singular perfume capable of saving Albion, illegitimate Viola can seize the life—and fortune—that should have been hers.
As Hugh and Viola race to find the perfume’s lost fairy ingredient, hidden deep in Albion’s dark underbelly, neither can deny the scorching attraction building between them—especially as the attempts on Viola’s life grow increasingly brazen.
But a terrible truth lurks in the heart notes of their kingdom. And while every bargain has a cost, Immortal Rose may demand more than Hugh and Viola can ever pay.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Siren Says by Jennifer Herrera
Release date: August 18
Read it if: You want to read about eerie plant magic in the best fantasy books of August 206. A woman agrees to capture a rogue spirit in exchange for being rid of her dangerous powers.
Publisher’s synopsis: Twenty-five-year-old Raven Wynn knows that the ancient plant magic running through her veins brings nothing but destruction. It doomed her Welsh ancestors. It killed her mother. It’s the reason she’s now bound by a painful curse—one that will destroy her if she can’t find a way to break its hold.
When her estranged Aunt Delilah bursts into her life promising a cure, Raven seizes the chance. However, her freedom comes at a steep price: Once her magic is fully unleashed, she is more powerful—and more dangerous—than anyone thought possible.
Desperate to tame powers she never wanted, Raven makes a pact with Delilah. In exchange for learning to control her magic, Raven will capture one of the spirits that roam Delilah’s hometown on May’s Eve so that it may grant Delilah’s secret wish. With the help of an enigmatic new friend, Cherry, as well as an infuriatingly handsome stoneworker, Idris, Raven learns that her task is even more perilous than she imagined. One false move and the spirits could trap her soul—forever.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Season of the Serpent by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
Release date: August 18
Read it if: You want to know what happens after the kingdoms fall. A divided world teeters on the brink of war in this trilogy-ending tale.
Publisher’s synopsis: The continent is split. The islands have sunk. The empire of Bassa is no more. With the resistant Nameless Republic and the conquering Kangalaland on the brink of war, all must choose a side. Ally, or fall. Oon’s heroes and villains must rise from their ashes and meet a Third Great War.
Peace won’t come easy. Long-lost family will fight to reach Danso before war erases him forever. Lilong has survived the island catastrophe but lost her power, and will do anything to get it back. And fate will find Esheme where it left her—will the dead queen rise again?
For Oon, the first season of the five states is a season of serpents. After the storms pass and winds blow, what will remain? And who will survive?
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
The Art of Charming a Changeling by Sylvie Cathrall
Release date: August 25
Read it if: You want a quirky, lightly romantic tale in the best fantasy books of August 2026. In a Regency-inspired world, an art conservator discovers a fairy trapped in a forged painting.
Publisher’s synopsis: On her first day working in the prince’s galleries, art conservator Florrie Hyverfell discovers that the most famous portrait in the collection is not only a fake. It’s also inhabited by Vern, a fairy trapped in the forged painting.
Tracking down the stolen original is the only way for Florrie to save her job and for Vern to escape his canvas. Yet as they journey to a famed fairy museum to find the missing artwork, Florrie finds herself taking more than an art historical interest in the changeling painting’s charming inhabitant.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher
Release date: August 25
Read it if: You’re in the mood for a cozy and charming fantasy adventure in the best fantasy books of August 2026. When a scholar is set upon by bandits, his relic comes to life as an immortal warrior.
Publisher’s synopsis: Learned Edmund, a disillusioned scholar, is transporting yet another precious relic from one stuffy temple to a different stuffy temple. Another great adventure for the ages.
But when Edmund is set upon by bandits, in desperation, he breaks the cardinal rule and grabs for the relic, an ancient sword. To his surprise, instead of unsheathing a rusty, ancient weapon, an alarmingly handsome man appears, wielding daggers of blue steel and cutting the thieves down.
This man is the Dervish, an immortal warrior who’s been trapped for centuries in a sword of enchanted steel, and is angry as hell about it. He hates the curse that put him there. And he wants to hate Edmund, just as he has hated every wielder before him.
But the damned scholar is just so sweet and clever and kind. And while the Dervish may be able to protect Edmund from bandits, cultists, dragons, and strange inhuman diplomats, he may find it much harder to protect his own heart.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
Wolftamer by Maggie Rapier
Release date: August 25
Read it if: You love seafaring adventures, fantastical Macguffins, and pining romantasy. A famed pirate must outrun a wicked king to find an ancient and powerful relic.
Publisher’s synopsis: Faolan has escaped death. Twice.
After a lifetime chasing freedom and legends, he was finally on the brink of becoming one himself when it all went up in flames. Stranded on the Isle of Lost Souls, bound by an oath he did not make, Faolan is plagued by dreams of drowning and a past he swore never to revisit. The pirate in him wants nothing more than to raise hell and run away—but with no ship, and no way to untether his wife, Saoirse, from the land she’s pledged herself to, Faolan is trapped.
And everyone knows who tamed the Wolf.
When their sinister rival King Maccus unveils an ancient godly relic—one with the power to unbalance their entire world—Faolan knows the game has changed. There’s only one person who can hunt down the missing relics before Maccus can, and the Wolf of the Wild will do anything to protect his wife.
Even if that means leaving her behind.
Get it on Amazon or support local bookstores through Bookshop.org.
