My most anticipated SFF books of 2025

Let's also make them as queer as possible.

Building lists like this always makes me a little anxious: what if I miss something? What if my picks turn out to be not the best books after all? What if I end up disliking any of them? But of course, that is the nature of books and reading. We get excited, then some live up to our expectations, others disappoint, and sometimes the things we didn’t even expect to pick up end up as all-time favourites.

As a queer SFF reader and writer, I narrowed down my list to books that fall somewhere under the SFF umbrella, and not surprisingly, a lot of them (not all) are going to be LGBTQIA+.

Let’s jump in!

1. Bury Our Bones In The Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

LGBTQIA+ paranormal, lesbian

If there’s a Schwab book coming out, you can bet anything it will be on my most anticipated list. Schwab has been talking about her “toxic lesbian vampires” for quite some time now, and I feel like I’ve been waiting for this forever. It’s rare for me to pick up a book immediately after release, but I really can’t wait to get my hands on this one. I will drop everything else.

2. Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos

Cozy fantasy, LGBTQIA+ with bi MC, bi non-binary MC

Okay, I’m a little hesitant on this one, but I will definitely read it. Hesitant, mainly because it’s a cozy fantasy, and while I’ve enjoyed some cozy fantasy recently, I also got bored to death by some others. And I’ve never really been a big cozy reader, so I’m slightly worried that by the time Homegrown Magic hits the shelves, I’ll reach my cozy saturation level. Or maybe it’s going to be exactly the escape I’ll need. I’m hoping for the latter.

3. Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon

Sci-fi, LGBTQIA+ with trans, sapphic MC

Seth Haddon’s books have been on my TBR for years. (Yes, probably ever since his debut.) I’m not proud of it. I should have read everything Seth has ever written by now. His books are exactly the books I’m basically guaranteed to enjoy. Maybe that’s what scares me. But this is going to be the year when I really pick up my first Seth Haddon book. Have you seen how great that cover looks, by the way?

4. Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Dark academia

I am really not sure what to expect here. R.F. Kuang coming out with (another?) dark academia book. Kuang is a fantastic writer. I loved Babel. That book blew my mind. I hated Yellowface. (Sorry, not sorry.) It was torture for me, but more because of it wasn’t my kind of book, and definitely not because there was anything wrong with the execution. But considering that this new release is a dark academia book with magic, and with a storyline about the characters going to hell, literally, I have really high expectations.

5. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

Fantasy, romantasy

Okay, yes, this book is simply on my TBR, because it’s Rachel Gillig. I kept postponing One Dark Window for approximately a year when it first came out, before I finally picked it up. It was a mistake. I want to make sure I don’t wait too long when her next book comes out. Well, the truth is, I still haven’t read Two Dark Crowns, but I really, really want to. I have a lot to catch up on. It doesn’t negate the fact that a new Rachel Gillig book will still jump to the top of my TBR.

6. A Treachery of Swans by A.B. Poranek

Sapphic retelling of Swan Lake

I’m not going to lie; this book is on the list because I’m a sucker for a pretty cover and not at all ashamed. But then, it’s also a queer SFF with a pretty cover, so it’s totally worth it. No, I don’t know anything about the book. I should probably research for the sake of this article. But it’s a lot more fun to put the picture of said pretty cover here and let you all decide whether you agree.

7. Faithbreaker by Hannah Kaner

Fantasy adventure, LGBTQIA+ with bi MC

I admit, I thought Godkiller was a duology. I adored the first two books. Apparently, I was wrong, and a third book is coming. I’m excited. If there’s anyone who hasn’t read Hannah Kaner’s Godkiller yet, there’s still time to catch up on the first two books before Faithbreaker hits the shelves.

8. Exquisite Ruin by AdriAnne May

Paranormal, LGBTQIA+, bi and non-binary characters

Another book where the author’s name guarantees that I put it on my TBR. In The Ravenous Dark by A.M. Strickland is probably one of the most underrated queer fantasy books. It deserves so much more attention. Now AdriAnne dips her toes into adult fiction under a different pen name, and I’m ready for it. Also seeing a pattern of toxic queer women in supernatural fiction, and I’m here for that even more.

9. The Sun Blessed Prince by Lindsey Byrd

Fantasy, LGBTQIA+

If there’s a perfect combination of a stunning cover that would be enough to make me buy a book and a captivating blurb written for me, then this book is it. A rich, lyrical fantasy with queer romance, with an enemies-to-lovers plot? Sign me up.

10. The Gryphon King by Sara Omer

Epic fantasy, LGBTQIA+, sapphic

Another rich epic fantasy on the list, and honestly, fresh epic fantasy has been long overdue in publishing. This Southwest-Asian inspired book promises to combine terrifying monsters, cut-throat politics, slow-burn romance with expansive worldbuilding, and the blurb hints at sapphic romance.

Conclusion

Obviously, we are only just heading into 2025, and there are a lot more books coming that either I haven’t heard of, or they haven’t even been announced yet. In my monthly updates, I’m planning to add a quick reading update, and more books to expand my already impossible TBR that’s turning into some kind of otherworldly monstrosity.

Tell me about your most anticipated books!

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Thank you for reading!

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