Hey bookworm friends. It’s September again; back to school time! I really need to stop being astonished at the passage of time but I can’t help it. This month my list is a little bit shorter even though I know a TON of books are coming out this month! These are the ones that caught my eye the most and, as expected, the bulk of them are Fantasy, with a mix of other genres sprinkled in. Here are 17 Scintillating September Releases; May your TBR be nourished! As always, they’re organized loosely by genre categories and then by publishing date. There are three titles coming out today, Sept 1st, and those are marked with 🎉.
Book Titles lead to TheStoryGraph links. Except for when it’s not on SG in which case it goes to bookshop.org.
Scintillating September Releases
Fantasy
Twig’s Traveling Tomes by Gryffin Murphy
⟡ Pub Date: September 8, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Cozy Fantasy
⟡ Publisher: Bindery Books
When visiting Twig’s Traveling Tomes, customers will get the exact book they need, even if it isn’t the one they want. As for the proprietor and renowned Book Witch, Louella Twig lives her life sequestered with her stories, just as she likes it.
A Snake Among Swans by Hannah Kaner
⟡ Pub Date: September 8, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Epic Fantasy
⟡ Publisher: Harper Voyager
Tilde is the only surviving heir of a conquered land. To unite the people and finally stop the bloodshed, she marries the aging warlord, King Liran. Her duty is to bind their nations and bear him a son.
Yet no-one knows that Tilde is a snake in their midst, with allies on her side and dark, forbidden power of her own.
Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske
⟡ Pub Date: September 15, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Fantasy / Dark Academia
⟡ Publisher: Tor Books
Five scholars. Five secrets. Five days in which to solve a murder, pass the most important exam of their lives, and uncover a secret larger than all of their own combined. One with the potential to change the world.
Are you ready?
Let’s begin.
Bright and Broken Things by Ryan Graudin
⟡ Pub Date: September 22, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Historical Fantasy
⟡ Publisher: Redhook
Set among the glittering parties and Egyptology craze of 1920s London, a young scholar learns he may be the key to uncovering an ancient Egyptian artifact coveted by a powerful cabal of magicians.
Baldur’s Gate 3: Astarion by T. Kingfisher
⟡ Pub Date: September 29, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Fantasy
⟡ Publisher: Random House Worlds
Astarion Ancunin was supposed to be a magistrate, not a vampire spawn. He was supposed to serve the law, not the vicious vampire lord Cazador Szarr. And he was supposed to drink fine wine, not rat blood. Alas—the city of Baldur’s Gate cares little for what’s supposed to happen.
Beyond the Graves Waits Mist and Sea by Kathleen Kaufman
⟡ Pub Date: September 29, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Gothic Fantasy / Mystery
⟡ Publisher: Kensington
A marine biologist’s search for an undiscovered species of octopus leads her to an isolated island where long-buried memories rise like specters from the deep, intent on dragging her darkest truths to the surface…
The Sorceress of Sky Serpents by Eden Robinson
⟡ Pub Date: September 29, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Fantasy
⟡ Publisher: Random House Canada
As the daughter of the Guardian of the Eagle Clan and the granddaughter of its shaman, Yuala longs to become a warrior or a healer or, if all else fails, to make a strategic marriage to cement an alliance that will help protect her village of Winter Haven.
Inspired by the Indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest, set on a dangerous planet where monsters haunt the survivors of an apocalyptic sorcerers’ war.
Science Fiction
An Empire in the Clouds by Ai Jiang
⟡ Pub Date: September 8, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Science Fantasy
⟡ Publisher: Titan Books
On Piāo, the floating empire of lotuses, Xīlián discovers the royal advisors’ ploy to overthrow her brother, Yún, the emperor, in the same way they had murdered their parents. She flees to the drowning continent of Opera, a place of high tech and near environmental collapse where companies vie to sell a chance at immortality. There Xīlián seeks out her exiled brother to help in her efforts to disrupt the advisors’ plans.
Massif by Garth Nix
⟡ Pub Date: September 8, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Space Opera
⟡ Publisher: Harper Voyager
It’s business as usual for Ship Leader Parnell Shi-Sawahla and the crew of the corvette Sassafras. Ride a Massif (a sentient, starfaring mountain range) to a new system, fight the enemy, repeat.
But the big questions are always there:
Why do the Massifs carry humans to the stars?
Why do they help us export our wars?
What’s in it for the Massifs?
Romance
White Raven by Stacey Marie Brown
⟡ Pub Date: September 1 , 2026 🎉
⟡ Sub-genre: Romantasy / Dark Romance
⟡ Publisher: Blackstone Publishing, Inc.
In Silvervale, Wren—the White Raven, foretold to be born with the power to bring unity to divided kingdoms—has been kept sheltered by her paranoid father, the king.
Until the night of her betrothal when she’s kidnapped by Onyx of the Night Realm. He has waited months to seize her, purposely getting captured to work as a thrall for the Day King.
Because everyone knows…who has the White Raven holds the power.
Big Bad Wolf by Laurie Gilmore
⟡ Pub Date: September 8, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Paranormal Romance/ Romantasy
⟡ Publisher: HarperCollins
Ruby Bellerose lives on the edge of the woods, in a cottage more akin to a fairy tale than modern day life. Her love life is basically non-existent, and she keeps away from the whispered gossip that travels through Maple Hollow. Until a chance encounter with Rafe.
As mysterious as he is brooding, Ruby is drawn to the woodsman, curious to find out more about the stranger who lives deep within the woods.
Horror
Blacktail by Scott Hawkins
⟡ Pub Date: September 1, 2026 🎉
⟡ Sub-genre: Horror / Dark Fantasy
⟡ Publisher: Crown
The wolf Blacktail is faithful to his Forest God, but in these times, faith is not enough. His world is besieged by men. Soon his territory will be overrun, and then there will be nowhere left to go. When his mate, a house dog, is killed, Blacktail rebels. He invades the house of her owners, seeking vengeance.
The Book of Were-Wolves by Sabine Baring-Gould
⟡ Pub Date: September 1, 2026 🎉
⟡ Sub-genre: Nonfiction / Horror
⟡ Publisher: S&S/Saga Press
In 1865 The Book of Were-Wolves was the first serious study of a superstition as old as Arcadia and as vast as human fear itself.
Now, with a new introduction by Stephen Graham Jones, Baring-Gould’s dark and curious classic steps once more into the light—summoning ancient lore with it.
Rooted by Leopoldo Goût
⟡ Pub Date: September 15, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Horror/ Mythology / Thriller
⟡ Publisher: Tor Nightfire
A successful art lawyer, she has returned to Mexico to celebrate a recent campaign for the repatriation of stolen artifacts—in particular a mysterious statue of an Aztec god, The Flayed One.
But Mexico City isn’t as she remembered. Nothing is.
Historical Fiction & Mythology
The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon
⟡ Pub Date: September 8, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Historical Fiction
⟡ Publisher: Doubleday
An adventure set in sixteenth-century Ireland and inspired by the life of Grace O’Malley, an infamous Irish sea captain and folk heroine who risked everything to protect her people against the powerful Elizabethan regime.
In The Shadow of the Solstice by Meg Clothier
⟡ Pub Date: September 10, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Mythology /Arthurian Reimagining
⟡ Publisher: Wildfire
Nin is joining the gilded world of her sister’s husband – a powerful man known only as the Bear. It’s midwinter and there’s victory to feast.
The bonds of love and ambition once united the Family. But as night falls and the shadows lengthen dark secrets and unruly passions threaten to rip it apart.
Mestra by Madeline Miller
⟡ Pub Date: September 29, 2026
⟡ Sub-genre: Greek Mythology / Short Story
⟡ Publisher: Ecco
A cursed father, a gifted daughter
Devoted Mestra suggests using her new gift to help her father. But if his hunger is bottomless, how much will he take from her? Soon she must decide: Will she keep helping her father survive, or finally break free?
Happy reading!🖤
I did my best to list the expected pub dates but you never know, dates can change. If you’re interested in any of these releases please make sure you keep an eye on the latest updates in your part of the world.
Let’s chat in the comments!
Are you looking forward to any of these? Or, did I miss any that you would add to the list?
So many good looking books are coming up!
Indeed!! Looking forward to a ton of these!
September is a crazy packed month! I hope to read Blacktail and Bodies of Magic😁
It really is! I loved The Library at Mount Char so I’m also interested in Blacktail! 🙂 I hope you enjoy them!
September is looking to be a great month for books! I’m looking forward to Mestra.
I agree 🙂 & I haven’t read her other short story yet but perhaps when Mestra comes out I’ll read ’em both! 🙂
Bodies of Magic is (as with many) high on my TBR. I’m also really looking forward to The Sorceress of Sky Serpents!
I’m glad to hear that and both of them sound good to me too but I think I’m most curious about The Sorceress of Sky Serpents out of those two :)!
I always love reading these posts and adding to my TBR. This time I’ve ended up adding four titles to my list: Rooted, Bright & Broken Things, Sorceress Of Sky Serpents and Beyond The Grave Waits Mist And See (I’m particularly intrigued by that one).
A Snake Among Swans is one of my most anticipated books and it came in my book box last month so I’m ober the moon about that 😍😍 Bodies Of Magic is coming in this months too. And I managed to get a finished copy of In The Shadow Of The Soltice from the publisher – starting that one today and I cant wait!!
Big Bad Wolf and Mestra are others I’m especially intrigued by. Blacktail I’m waiting for reviews to decide about as it sounds really good but with some hard to read scenes. And I’ve wanted to try something by Ai Jiang for a while now.
What a lovely selection of titles. I hope you enjoy them whenever you get to them and hope that you have a fantastic month 🥰🥰
Thank you and I’m so glad I could help add more to the TBR haha! I really want to read Bright and Broken Things! 🙂
Ohhh yay that’s exciting I’m glad you got a cool copy of A Snake Among Swans and I can’t wait to see what you think of it!
Cool okay that’s so exciting, I hope you love The Shadow of The Solstice too! Will keep an eye out for your thoughts as well. Have you read anything else by Meg Clothier? I haven’t yet.
Yes I think it’s fair waiting to see what other people say helps a lot sometimes. I did read his debut and it was weird in a way that worked for me and even though it had a lot of violence, I could manage it fine so I hope it’ll be the same for Blacktail.
Me too, I’ve had an Ai Jiang novella on my radar for a while too!
Thanks so much Charlotte, I hope you love any that you try and happy September to you, my friend 🥰🖤!
So many books! 🙂
Twig’s Traveling Tomes and the Pirate Queen are on my TBR radar – I’ve never read Lawhon before, but this one sounds so so good.
My favourite time of the month really, new-book-o’clock! Glad those two sound good to you as well. Me neither, but the Frozen River by her has been on my tbr too and now this one! She’s starting to really convince me I NEED try her books haha.
September is always a good time for new books! I don’t like fantasy books, so this selection isn’t really for me, but I do know that some of my favourite authors will have new books out soon and I’m looking forward to reading them.
Yes, September has so many new books for everyone! Glad your favs also have something exciting in store for you 🙂 Wishing you many interesting books, this month :)!
Very interesting selection of books, I read a lot of thrillers but I often delve into fantasy and historical novels, and sometimes a bit of horror. I think I would start with Bodies of Magic.
Thank you, Anne 😊! We do read some similar things but also some different things, glad you liked something to intrigue you and I hope you like Bodies of Magic if you do try it!
I just read Twig’s Traveling Tomes and it was so cute! I loved it!
Oh yay I’m so happy to hear that, glad you loved it!! 🙂
I like the sound of Garth Nix sci-fic book. Also each of the horror books interested me as well.