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Fantasy · Science Fantasy

3 hand-picked fantasy and science fantasy books curated by NextBookAfter.

FantasyScience Fantasy
Cover of Gideon the Ninth

Gideon the Ninth

If you fell hard for the gritty ambition and moral ambiguity in 'Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil', where broken characters chase power through trauma and eternal grudges, you'll crave this rec's razor-sharp necromancers blurring hero-villain lines in visceral power plays. The unapologetic queerness fuels intense rivalries and desires, mirroring Schwab's authentic tension, while intricate world-building turns death into philosophical warfare with emotional gut-punches that linger. Dive into skeletal armies and betrayal as scripture—it's the intoxicating follow-up your dark fantasies demand.

Cover of Light from Uncommon Stars

Light from Uncommon Stars

You adored The House in the Cerulean Sea for its magical misfits forming unbreakable found families, subverting bureaucracy with kindness and affirming queer love that blooms without trauma. The whimsical tone and emotional catharsis offered a hopeful sanctuary from real-world drudgery, perfect for pandemic-era comfort seekers yearning for low-stakes wonder. Dive into Light from Uncommon Stars for more quirky ensembles, interdimensional whimsy, and quiet rebellions that deliver the same restorative glow of belonging and joy.

Cover of The Fifth Season

The Fifth Season

Butler's unflinching collapse prophecy meets its match: a world where apocalypse is cyclical, inevitable, and only endurance matters. Jemisin centers Black women wielding dangerous power through environmental catastrophe and systemic oppression, delivering the same raw truth-telling about human resilience and darkness that made Parable essential reading for anyone who knows optimism is a luxury we can't afford.