Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books of Summer 2025

As the summer of 2025 heats up, the world of science fiction and fantasy continues to offer a broad spectrum of stories—from introspective character journeys to dystopian reimaginings and mythic undertakings. Whether you're looking for something rich in emotion, politically sharp, or steeped in lore, the upcoming season brings several notable releases worth your attention. Here’s a closer look at five highly anticipated books scheduled for this summer.

1. The Society of Unknown Objects by Gareth Brown

Gareth Brown, who garnered attention with his previous works combining speculative fiction and emotional realism, returns with The Society of Unknown Objects. This novel centers on a secretive group dedicated to cataloging strange phenomena—mysteries that defy conventional explanation. With a tone that leans into quiet wonder rather than spectacle, Brown seems more interested in how characters react to the inexplicable than in solving it.

Readers familiar with Brown’s style will find that he continues to blend literary prose with speculative themes. The pacing is patient, occasionally meandering, but the atmosphere he builds—layered with curiosity and unease—keeps the pages turning.

For those who want to sample Brown's work can check out The Book of Doors. The premise is similar, with a unique book that bestows special powers on whoever possesses it. The exciting part? There are other books of power and someone dangerous has a whole library of them.

2. Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler

Django Wexler’s latest, with its eye-catching title, sets the tone for a story that's both self-aware and sharply humorous. Dark Lord Davi has done the "join e'm if you can't beat e'm" in the previous book of the duology. Now she tries to step away from the road that brought her the Dark Lordship. Why? Because of the damned time loop that resets whenever she dies is a real headache and she wants to be free of it.

Wexler’s writing is nimble, with dialogue that crackles and a setting that walks the line between satire and sincere worldbuilding. Fans of Terry Pratchett or Tamsyn Muir may find a similar flavor here—dry humor masking philosophical undercurrents.

First-time readers can start the first book in the duology, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, and get to know the Dark Lord Davi before she turned away from the path of the good hero. Becoming the Dark Lord is not easy, with a different set of challenges. Complicating (or simplifying) the task is the fact that Davi is stuck in a time loop that resets upon her dying. There is no saving her progress upon this path. Betrayal, trickery, & treachery dot this road to the Dark Lordship and readers will wholly enjoy Davi's path through it.

3. The Book That Held Her Heart by Mark Lawrence

Mark Lawrence is no stranger to emotionally complex fantasy, and The Book That Held Her Heart appears to be a continuation of that trend. The Library, a vast and timeless place where Evar and Livira have met and lost each other. A battle that rages in the Library has sent Evar into the world outside and Livira is stuck in ghost world. Can they reunite before the peace is unrevocably lost?

Mark Lawrence's books consist of grimdark series such as The Broken Empire, The Red Queen's War and Book of the Ancestor. There are also assorted short stories set in these worlds. In the unlikely possibility that you had not yet discovered Mark Lawrence, you can rejoice with having multiple excellent novels to read through the summer.

4. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Although technically a fall release, Suzanne Collins' upcoming Hunger Games prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping, has already become a major talking point this summer. Set twenty-four years before the original trilogy, this installment centers on Haymitch Abernathy and his second Quarter Quell. It explores the growing rot within the Capitol and the early days of rebellion.

Collins maintains her terse, journalistic style, but early reports suggest this book leans more into the political evolution of Panem than into arena survival. Long-time fans can expect a deeper look at a character who was often at the fringes of Katniss’s story, now brought into sharper focus.

5. Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Fresh off the success of Babel and The Poppy War trilogy, R.F. Kuang returns with Katabasis, a novel that fuses myth, academia, and professor recommendation letters. You read that right. Drawing from the Greek term for a journey into the underworld, the story follows a protagonist who descends literally into hell to get a recommendation from a dead Harvard Professor of Magick. As always in the fields of academia, she has a rival who has the same notion. When August arrives, readers can discover the type of world where two graduate students can and will venture into literal Hell for a professor's recommendation. The same professor who they may have killed accidentally. Go figure.

Kuang has made a name for herself by tackling weighty themes without over-simplification. If early buzz holds true, Katabasis follows that path, mixing dense political commentary with a narrative steeped in classical mythology and postcolonial critique. Readers can check out Kuang's previous works such as The Poppy War and Babel series.

For readers seeking something thought-provoking to pair with their summer downtime, these books offer a varied lineup. Whether you're new to speculative fiction or returning to familiar favorites, there's something here that invites both imagination and reflection.

In a year already packed with heavy political discourse and rapid cultural shifts, these summer reads may provide exactly what speculative fiction does best: a space to think differently, to feel deeply, and to glimpse alternate ways of being.