Wow, this was a hard list to make! While making it, I kept getting more and more excited about the books that I added. I hope you are as well!
⭐️ As much as I wanted to add these, I decided not to add any books that do not have confirmed release dates. So Pierce Brown’s Red God, P.L. Stuart’s A Black Dragon on Red, Nicholas Eames’ Outlaw Empire, and Evan Winter’s Lord of Demons are not on this list. ⭐️
Before moving to the list, I want to express that there are several new big releases missing, since I haven’t read anything in the series yet, I decided not to put them on this list and only account for book 1’s or continuations of series I’m caught up on.
NOW, TO THE 5!
5.) Artifact Space (Arcana Imperii #1) by Miles Cameron
Now this one is cheating just a tad since it’s technically been published already, but is now being republished. I’ve been wanting to read this for some time and haven’t been able to once it was removed, so I’m excited to finally get the opportunity!
4.) The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee
After devouring The Green Bone Saga and Breath of the Dragon this year, Fonda has become a must read for me. Her stories are incredible, unique and unforgettable. So I have lofty expectations of this, and I know it’s going to live up to those and more.
3.) The Book of Fallen Leaves (The Autumn Empire #1) by A.S. Tamaki
Shogun meets Game of Thrones, I mean SIGN ME UP! With high praise from David Walters aka LordTBR of FanFiAddict and Ed Gwynne of the Gwynne brothers, it’s surely going to be one of the best releases of 2026.
2.) Our Lady of Blades (Court of Shadows #2) by Sebastien de Castell
I absolutely love reading de Castell, he’s one of the few auto-read authors I have. I loved The Greatcoats series and book one of this series, Play of Shadows, going back to that swashbuckling world of Tristia with got very excited! With an all new cast and some cameos from characters we already know and love, this series is already high on my list… I’m still hoping that The Broken Binding gets a chance to make a special edition of The Greatcoats and this series, because I’m going to be throwing money at it so fast! (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)
1.) The Truth (The Bound and the Broken #4.5) by Ryan Cahill
Was there any question about where this would be? The Bound and the Broken is easily my favorite on-going series and Ryan is hands down one of my favorite authors and human beings. This is the FINAL novella of the series, so to say I am excited is an understatement. I don’t know what it will be about, but my guess is Fane Mortem’s original corruption by Efialtír and possibly see Kaygan sowing the seeds.
Wolfmantula.com 