12 new sci-fi and fantasy books to grab in fall 2023

02.09.2023 - 15:47 / polygon.com / Tom Cruise / New

To say fall 2023 is packing some truly stellar sci-fi and fantasy releases would be something of an understatement. The next few months include a return to the world of Red London, two truly unsettling houses, and giant cats that wear business suits (which is as adorable as it is terrifying to think about).

Below you’ll find 12 highly anticipated sci-fi and fantasy titles hitting shelves soon.

Sept. 12

Do you ever catch yourself wondering what our world would look like if Al Gore had won the 2000 election and proceeded to declare a war on climate change? In Sim Kern’s upcoming novel The Free People’s Village (the first adult title to be published by Levine Querido, previously known for its diverse, award-winning children’s literature), the answer is considerably greener and more eco-friendly, but not for everyone.

When the historically Black neighborhood in Houston where she teaches — and where the queer punk band she’s part of meets to play — is threatened by the development of a new electromagnetic hyperway, disillusioned Maddie Ryan decides it’s time to take a stand. In an effort to keep her band together — and, importantly, to spend more time with her crush — Maggie joins a local, Black-led movement on the brink of an anti-capitalist revolution that will change history forever.

A timely tale that feels like it could be ripped from the headlines, The Free People’s Village could easily fall prey to the white savior trope. Kern instead has Maddie reckon with her whiteness and the damage that she has unwittingly caused to the community she calls home in a thought-provoking and unflinching story of revolution.

Sept. 12

Don’t plan on starting Rouge if you have any chores that need to be completed sometime in the near future. Mona Awad is an expert when it comes to crafting surreal (and often horrific) gothic tales that suck you in from the very first page and stick with you long after you’ve finished reading it.

In Rouge, Awad ruthlessly tackles the beauty industry and the often unachievable standards it holds modern society to, drawing inspiration along the way from Snow White, Egyptian mythology, and of all people, Tom Cruise. Rouge’s protagonist, Belle, is lured to a reportedly transformative and undeniably cultlike spa known as La Maison de Méduse (a name that should be enough to raise a few eyebrows) after her glamorous mother’s mysterious death. Once there, Belle learns of her mother’s unhealthy obsessions and the monsters (both of the fairy-tale variety and otherwise) that seemingly lurk around every corner.

Inspired by the skinfluencers that populate TikTok, Awad has crafted a cinematic and gripping tale about the relationship between mothers and daughters, and what we’re prepared to do