Woodsy Necromancers and Space Moby-Dick: March’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

This month’s SFF list was written after yet another historic Nor’easter; if only our TBR stacks could rise as high as these snowbanks. Working toward that goal are March’s new releases, which feature all manner of compelling subjects: a playmate crafted entirely from flowers and roots; a space leviathan complete with an obsessed “A”hab; necromancers and knights fighting off a sentient forest; fossil hunters, fake librarians, tech-Gothic ghosts, and glittery (in an ominous, non-Forks fashion) vampires. Plus don’t forget Casey Scieszka’s The Fountain, which we included in our 2026 SFF preview. Happy book hunting!

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Kalyn Josephson, The Library of Amorlin
(Erewhon Books, March 3)

Former con artist Kasira is working through a prison sentence by monster-hunting for the kingdom of Kalthos, until the Kalish ambassador plucks her out of her punishment for an intriguing new caper: infiltrate the politically neutral Library of Amorlin in order to help Kalthos dethrone its Librarian and stage a coup. Kasira so happens to resemble Lady Eirlana Corynth, the incoming Assistant Librarian; she’ll tap into her mastery, and earn her freedom. But Kasira doesn’t know the whole story of how the Library’s magic works—and she doesn’t expect to be drawn to its grumpy Librarian Allaster, who is bracing for his own secrets to come to light.

Jenn Lyons, Green & Deadly Things
(Tor Books, March 3)

Necromancy and woodland magic intertwine in Jenn Lyons’ (The Ruin of Kings) new standalone fantasy. When idealistic new recruit Mathaiik joins the Idallik Knights, he swears to fight off the last vestiges of world-destroying necromancy, despite the fact that the Grim Lords were supposedly eradicated centuries ago. But then the forests themselves start coming to life when they’re not supposed to, consuming the humans unwittingly trespassing on their land. Who to face this strange, ancient magic but the last of the Grim Lords, the sleeping necromancer Kaiataris? Who but Math to do the unthinkable and wake her up? But Kaia’s warning is far bleaker than the Knights could have imagined: This cycle of decay and rebirth has happened before, but this time humanity might not be able to rebalance the scales.

Alexis Hall, Hell’s Heart
(Tor Books, March 10)

You might know Alexis Hall for her contemporary romances like Boyfriend Material, or their paranormal investigator series starring Kate Kane (Iron & Velvet and its sequels), but suffice to say Hall clearly delights in dancing across genres. Her SF debut is a Moby-Dick retelling starring lesbian Leviathan hunters stalking space whales in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Ishmael is a trans woman known only as “I,” who takes a spermaceti-scavenging job aboard the Pequod mostly for the pay. But captain “A” is obsessed with catching the mythical Möbius Beast, and the narrator can’t help but get pulled into her orbit, even as she also bonds with Latin-speaking harpooner “Q,” whose skin is inked with reminders of long-lost Earth. This sounds so ridiculously fun.

Hache Pueyo, Cabaret in Flames
(Tordotcom Publishing, March 10)

Having just binged the Interview with the Vampire TV series, I am salivating for more twisty stories of bloodsuckers manipulating humans to their own desires. Hache Pueyo’s novella is set in an alternate-Brazil stalked by ravenous, glittering guls. Ariadne has tangled with guls and lived to tell the tale, albeit aided by medical training and prostheses provided by her mentor Erik Yurkov—who has since gone missing. Then who should turn up on her doorstep but Quaint, a tattooed gul claiming to be dear friends with Erik. The two trace his path to Cabaré, an elite gul club in Rio de Janeiro, as they investigate Erik’s disappearance and confront their growing attraction.

Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Strife
(Orbit Books, March 17)

You don’t have to have read Adrian Tchaikovsky’s other Children of… books in order to catch up with the fourth installment, but it will certainly help with context. The previous epic adventures entail the unexpected evolutions and missteps of humans terraforming beyond Earth, from massive sentient spiders named after Shakespearean characters to a body-snatching Nodal entity. Children of Strife is a triple-timeline narrative taking place over the distinctive eras previously explored in the series: the Age of Terraformers, Age of Ark Ships, and Age of Exploration.

The latter demonstrates how humans have come to coexist alongside these other entities, as a ship crewed by spiders, a mantis shrimp pilot, and humans including reality-avoidant Alis discover the wreckage of an ark ship and the planet it was exploring. When Alis wakes from a deep sleep to discover that the majority of her crew have left to investigate the abandoned ark, she must figure out what happened to both her crewmates and the original crew. But like her namesake, Alis struggles to differentiate between the comfort of virtual reality and the cold reality of her waking life.

Eric LaRocca, Wretch, or The Unbecoming of Porcelain Khaw
(Saga Press, March 24)

This “tech-Gothic” ghost story taps into unsettling horror and poignant science fiction to probe how advanced technology keeps us from fully grieving the lost. Widower Simeon Link cannot let go of his late husband Johnathan—especially when he discovers the online support group of the Wretches, who whisper furtively about the ability to see your lost loved ones one more time. The key is the enigmatic Porcelain Khaw, who purports to communicate across the barrier for a terrible price. Told through forum conversations, blog posts, and diary entries, the novel is not for the fainthearted, but it also sounds as if anyone caught in the claws of grief will recognize Simeon’s journey.

Bar Fridman-Tell, Honeysuckle
(Bloomsbury, March 24)

Bar Fridman-Tell’s lush debut reconstructs the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd, a woman made of flowers, into a modern dark fairytale with touches of Frankenstein. Rory is delighted when his older sister weaves a playmate for him out of flowers and words, naming her Daye. But Daye naturally decays at the end of each season, unless she is rebuilt using the branches, berries, and blooms of the next. At first Rory is able to sustain Daye through seasons and years; but as Daye experiences constant rebuilding at the hands of her playmate-turned-recreator, she begins to question how much control she has over her own form and existence. Eerie and oh-so-relevant.

Jo Walton and Ada Palmer, Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy
(Tor Books, March 24)

I don’t often recommend nonfiction in these monthly lists, but this essay collection is ideally situated within the current SFF conversation: Authors Jo Walton (My Real Children) and Ada Palmer (Too Like the Lightning) duet on a number of co-written essays and solo pieces—some new, some revised and updated—with their insights into genre conventions, writing, disability, publishing, and more. Citing influences such as “Delany, Le Guin, Yu-gi-oh, Diderot,” they advocate for the hard but necessary work of empathy and optimism when it comes to reading and sharing SFF.

 Jennifer Mandula, The Geomagician
(Del Rey, March 31)

Jennifer Mandula’s debut historical fantasy reimagines unsung paleontologist Mary Anning, who in our world discovered the first ichthyosaur, plesiosaur, and pterosaur fossils in England but was not credited for her work until long after her death. In The Geomagician, fossil hunter Mary instead accidentally resurrects a baby pterosaur—and refuses to hand it over to the Geomagical Society of London, despite her desperation to join the all-male organization. Knowing that the Society will take credit for her work and potentially endanger the life of the pterodactyl she has named Ajax, Mary wrestles with the right decision, especially when her ex-fiancé Henry Stanton pleads on behalf of the Society. Can Mary get a second chance with Henry and a first chance at being named a geomagician?