15 new SF/F books to read in June 2026

Space adventures, clones, unicorns, and a whole lot of other reads to check out this month

Here's a brief announcement: if you're in Vermont and don't have plans tonight (Monday, June 1st), I'll be interviewing Katherine Arden about her new novel The Unicorn Hunters (more details below) at Phoenix Books in Burlington at 7:00PM. I've been reading and enjoying the book, and I'll have a whole bunch of questions for her about it, her career, writing, and a bit more. I hope to see you there!

It's one of a handful of books that I'm really excited to see come out this month: 15 of them! As usual, you can see the prior installments of this list here, and I'll have another one out with some additional titles later in the month.

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The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden (June 2nd)

I loved Arden's last novel, The Warm Hands of Ghosts. Her latest is The Unicorn Hunters, a historical fantasy that follows Anne of Brittany, who finds her life upended when her realm is invaded and her father killed. She's ordered to marry the King of France, ultimately resulting in her country's annexation, something she promised her father would never happen.

Secretly, she plans to short-circuit the French plans by marrying someone else: their greatest enemy, and in a world of magic, she has to go deep into a forest, far from the eyes of French diviners in search of a unicorn for a secret wedding. One appears, along with a legendary figure that might provide her with the means to save her home.

Kirkus Reviews gave the book a starred review, saying "fans of jousts, spells, dark magic, and brave women will find plenty of each here."

Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids by Isaac Asimov (June 9th)

Blackstone is publishing one of Isaac Asimov's classic science fiction series, the Lucky Starr novels. The first installment, David Starr, Space Ranger came out in May, with the rest to follow over the course of the year.

Originally slated to be the basis of a never-produced TV series, the story is set thousands of years in the future in an inhabited solar system, with the Council of Science, keeping things under control. In this latest adventure, Lucky Starr takes on a pirate captain named Anton, planning to take revenge for the death of his parents. Under the guise of sending a ship to be captured and blown up in pirate hands, Starr hides onboard and plans to infiltrate their ranks.

Kill All Wizards by Jedediah Berry (June 16th)

When a barbarian undertakes a long journey to consult with the Empire's wizards, he's met with a cold reception: he's bewitched, manipulated and stolen from. Enraged, he embarks on a quest to kill those who wronged him. To do so means infiltrating their society and blending in to gain their trust to get close enough to kill. It looks like this one will be a lot of fun.

The Cold Between and Remnants of Trust by Elizabeth Bonesteel (June 2nd and June 16th)

Last year, I wrote about Elizabeth Bonesteel and some of her issues with the larger publishing industry and how she felt like there was a mismatch between how she saw her books and how they were marketed. She's recently gotten the rights to the novels back, and she's begun republishing them herself, starting with The Cold Between and Remnants of Trust.

It'll be followed by another new edition of the third installment in the series, Breach of Containment, as well as a fourth installment, Condition of War, which came out last year.

The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher (June 9th)

It follows Briar Jones, who's dreamed of attending a prestigious institution called the Temple School of Thaumaturgy, which has produced many of the country's notable figures, and there are rumors that it's secret to success is magic. His friend Sebastian isn't swayed by the school's reputation, but he wants to stay with Briar.

When Seb gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn't, their friendship is shattered. Years later, Briar takes a temp job at the academy to sort through the school's attics, and reunites with his friend. However, he finds that he's completely changed: the quiet, sweet kid he loved is now an arrogant bully, while the secrets that the school hold might not be as magical as he imagined.

The Traveler by Joseph Eckert (June 9th)

A regular guy named Scott Treder is headed to work when suddenly, he finds that he's no longer in his car, and everyone is wondering where he went. It turns out that he lost an entire day, and that he had slipped forward in time.

He begins experiencing more of these slips, every morning at 7:52 in ever-doubling intervals, while his wife is trying to figure out how to pick up and the pieces of their lives along with their son, Lyle. As his dad vanishes for longer and longer intervals, he decides to figure out what happened to his father by studying quantum physics.

The Captain's Daughter by Peter F. Hamilton (June 9th)

Peter F. Hamilton continues his Arkship Trilogy (preceded by A Hole in the Sky) with a new installment, The Captain's Daughter. In that first book, we're introduced to Hazel, a passenger on a generation ship that's 500 years into its journey, and on which life has devolved to an agricultural society, and where everyone over the age of 65 is recycled by the ship's AI. Hazel discovered a population of people who've escaped, and that the ship is in critical danger.

The ship is now repaired, and Hazel how has to convince the rest of her passengers everything that she's learned about it – that humanity isn't alone on the ship: aliens known as the Yi have also made it their home. When their leaders don't listen to her, she ventures out into the ship once again to learn more about the Yi and their intentions – and find that there are more dangers lurking out there.

Exodus: The Helium Sea by Peter F. Hamilton (June 16th)

That's not the only sequel that Hamilton has coming out: back in 2024, he published Exodus: The Archimedes Engine, a novel set in the same world as the (still forthcoming) video game. (It's now due out in 2027)

In this story, humanity escaped from Earth tends of thousands of years ago for Centauri, traveling in generation ships, where they eventually settled, and society came to be ruled by five great houses, who are now dealing with new arrivals from Earth.

In this book, Hamilton finishes off his story as the Crown Dominion is facing a crisis: an exiled faction of humanity that has been waiting for thousands of years to strike against them. Finn – who grew up under the control of the Celestials, it represents a new opportunity to overthrow his oppressors, and he and his allies have to track down and figure out how to use some ancient artifacts that could give them the edge in the coming fight.

Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim (June 2nd)

Isabel J. Kim earned a considerable amount of acclaim for her short fiction, particularly for her 2024 Clarkesworld story, "Why Don't We Just Kill the
Kid In the Omelas Hole."

Her debut novel is set in a world where immigrating to another country means that you're leaving a copy of yourself behind. Folks sometimes keep in touch with themselves, but one, Soyoung Rose Kang, never did, and never expected to return to Korea until her grandfather dies. It's only when she returns that she finds that the copy who remained behind is planning on taking her place and the life that she's built.

I've been reading this for a couple of weeks and it's really fantastic. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, saying "the gorgeously rendered and deeply unsettling second-person narration enhances the intense and emotional reading experience. The result is a sharp, deeply felt first outing from a writer already at the top of her game."

Obstetrix by Naomi Kritzer (June 9th)

Liz is an OB/GYN who had just been tried and acquitted for performing an abortion in North Dakota when she's abducted by a fundamentalist cult that has realized that they need a doctor. She finds that she's their only one, and while she's treated well by her captors, she's wary of what happened to her predecessor. She has to figure out how to escape, and is determined to take the girls who are trapped on the compound with her.

Publishers Weekly says that "Kritzer’s premise feels chillingly plausible."

Smoke Season by Carrie-Edmund Laben (March 31st)

Justin Erasmus has found himself on a commune in Missoula, Montana after hooking up with Adrian – someone who can help him find his estranged sister Helen. The members of that commune are admirers and followers of her.

He hasn't seen her in years, and only has the barest memories of her as a child when she was locked inside of a dog crate, and somehow went through the bars like they were nothing before she was sent away. Recently, he's been hearing a voice telling him that he needs to find her. As he deals with his relationship with Adrian and life on the commune, he finds that he's not the only person looking for Helen – a mysterious governmental organization that is trying to destroy Helen and everything she represents.

Publishers Weekly says "those drawn in by the thrilling premise and unexpected plot twists will be entertained."

Charity and Sylvia by Tillie Walden (June 16th)

Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake were two women who lived in Vermont in the early 1800s who lived as married partners and who were generally accepted by their community in Weybridge. Their story has been well-documented, but I'm really excited to see this new take on it in graphic novel form. I’m a huge fan of Tillie Walden’s comics (particularly On a Sunbeam and Spinning), and I’m excited to see how she translates this story. The artwork is gorgeous.

Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, saying "When Walden pushes against this format’s restrictions, her looser, almost ethereal imagery proves breathtaking. Walden also employs her particular gift for drawing simple faces that express innocence, excitement, devastation, and devotion in a few pen strokes—she brings Charity and Sylvia to life with tremendous tenderness and grace."

The Martian (Deluxe Edition) by Andy Weir (May 26th)

Andy Weir's now-classic science fiction novel The Martian is getting the deluxe edition book treatment: it looks like it's a step up above the regular trade edition, coming with sprayed edges with a cool design, new cover art, endpapers, and a nice, stamped case featuring a potato.

I've been a little down on some of these deluxe editions, but this looks like a particularly snazzy one: the cover is shiny and looks very cool, and while the interior text hasn't changed, it should look really nice on a bookshelf. (If you want something a step up, The Folio Society also has a nice edition.)

The Heart of the Nhaga by Lee Young-do, translated by Anton Hur

Originally published in 2003, Lee Young-do's The Bird that Drinks Tears has been hailed as a classic of Korean fantasy literature, and it's been translated into English for the first time. The first installment is The Heart of the Nhaga, set in a world that's inhabited by four races: the fire-manipulating Tokkebi, the bird-like Rekon, the reptilian Nhaga (who gave up everything to chase immortality), and humans. For centuries, they were divided by the Line of Limit, but now, things are changing: a Nhaga representative has been dispatched to the North for the first time and is accompanied by representatives of each of the other races.

They quest they find themselves on is anything but simple: the Tokkebi is a scholar, the Rekon hates water, and the human is a Nhaga hunter. When the Nhaga they were originally tasked with escorting was killed, its replacement is anything but the heartless creature its race is known for, and together, the four must find a way to overcome their differences to survive the journey ahead of them.

Alrighty: what catches your eye, and what have you been reading? Let me know in the comments.