Which Best New Books Out Now Are Starting Major Fantasy Series?

2026-07-18 13:53:08
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6 Answers

EllaChat
EllaChat
Plot Explainer UX Designer
Let’s talk about accessibility and fun. 'Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries' by Heather Fawcett is the first in a series, but it feels like a cozy fantasy with serious teeth. It’s about a curmudgeonly scholar researching faeries in a remote village, and her rivalry with her charming academic colleague. The faerie lore is dark and authentic to folklore, not whimsical, which creates a perfect tension with the warm, journal-style narration. It’s a lower-stakes series starter compared to world-ending epics, but the character dynamics and intricate world of the fae are deeply engaging. A perfect series to get lost in without the narrative anxiety.
2026-07-19 01:21:04
7
EllaBay
EllaBay
Favorite read: Born of Ash and Night
Detail Spotter Data Analyst
Can we talk about the emotional hangover a great series starter leaves? I just finished 'The First Bright Thing' by J. R. Dawson, which is a historical fantasy about a circus ringmaster with time-travel powers trying to prevent a future war. It’s set post-WWI, and the found family of the circus is so beautifully drawn. The fantasy element is personal and painful. It’s the first in a duology, I believe, and it sets up a conflict between protecting your little world and saving the bigger one. It wrecked me in the best way. Not the most bombastic start, but a deeply human one that promises more heartache and hope.
2026-07-20 01:59:08
13
EllaRose
EllaRose
Bookworm Mechanic
I’m going to go slightly off-piste and recommend 'The Spirit Bares Its Teeth' by Andrew Joseph White. It’s a historical Gothic horror fantasy set in a Victorian-era England where some children can speak to spirits, and they are brutally institutionalized. It’s a fiercely trans protagonist’s story of rebellion and survival. The horror elements are visceral, the rage is palpable, and the fantasy system is unique and tied directly to systemic oppression. It’s a standalone, but its impact and the world it builds feel like they could fuel an entire series of stories. It’s a new kind of major.
2026-07-20 02:02:49
3
Reviewer Office Worker
Looking for something aggressively clever and meta? 'The Terraformers' by Annalee Newitz is technically sci-fi, but it reads like far-future planetary fantasy. It follows generations of environmental engineers shaping a planet over millennia. Each section jumps forward in time, showing the consequences of earlier actions. It’s a standalone, but the concept is so grand and the world so detailed that it functions as a series-in-a-book. It’s a major new work that challenges how we think about series storytelling altogether, focusing on systems and epochs rather than a single hero’s journey.
2026-07-22 00:41:22
8
EllaReads
EllaReads
Favorite read: Shadow Heir
Helpful Reader Receptionist
My two cents? Watch what’s happening in self-pub and web serials. A ton of major series are starting there before hitting traditional print. For instance, 'The Wandering Inn' by pirateaba is arguably the most massive fantasy series being written today, and new readers are jumping in constantly. It’s an isekai about a girl who becomes an innkeeper in a world with levels and classes, but it grows into an epic tapestry of civilizations and wars. Saying it’s 'starting' isn’t right, but for any new reader, it’s a new, major series to dive into. The scale is unmatched.
2026-07-24 07:16:52
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Related Questions

Which new fantasy series start with strong first books?

2 Answers2026-07-18 08:20:02
Can I mention a graphic novel series? 'Monstress' by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda. The first volume is a stunning, brutal entry into a matriarchal, 1900s Asia-inspired world torn apart by war between arcane humans and animal-like Arcanics. The art is breathtakingly detailed, and the story, following a traumatized girl sharing a psychic link with a monstrous entity, is immediately complex and haunting. It dumps you into a rich, dark world of ancient conspiracies, witch-nuns, and cosmic horrors. The first volume establishes a tone of beautiful darkness and a plot of immense scope, making it one of the most compelling fantasy series starts in any medium.

Which new fantasy novels launch the most promising series debuts?

5 Answers2026-07-18 02:54:17
Don't overlook self-pub and indie debuts! 'The Sword of Kaigen' by M.L. Wang started as a standalone but has such rich world-building it spawned a whole universe (Theonite). It's a heart-wrenching story of a mother rediscovering her magical power and a son facing the horrors of war. The elemental magic system is one of the best and most brutal in modern fantasy. As a series starter in the broader sense, it proves you don't need 800 pages to establish an emotionally devastating conflict and a magic system with clear rules and costs. The promise is for more stories in a world where personal drama and epic battles are given equal, devastating weight. It's a debut that makes you trust the author to deliver quality, no matter the scope.

What are the best new fantasy books to read right now?

3 Answers2026-07-18 10:18:52
For a military fantasy that focuses on logistics and the brutal reality of war rather than glorious heroics, 'The Seven Blades in Black' is phenomenal. The protagonist, Sal the Cacophony, is a gunslinging mage-hunter out for revenge, and her voice is dripping with cynical, tragic wit. The magic system is complex and deadly, the world is a weird, industrial wasteland, and the body count is high. It's not a happy book, but it's incredibly compelling if you like morally grey protagonists who leave a trail of carnage in their wake. The pacing is breakneck, and the audiobook performance by Daisy May is an absolute masterclass in voice acting.

Which new fantasy and sci fi books start fresh series for beginners?

3 Answers2026-07-18 04:36:02
Steampunk or historical fantasy blends the familiar with the fantastic. 'The Watchmaker of Filigree Street' by Natasha Pulley involves a Victorian telegraphist, a mysterious watch, and a clockwork octopus. The historical London setting grounds the magical elements. 'Sorcerer to the Crown' by Zen Cho is a Regency-era fantasy of manners dealing with magic, politics, and race. If you enjoy historical fiction, these series let you keep one foot in a known world while the other steps into magic, making the transition into a full series less abrupt and just as delightful.
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