13 new SF/F books to check out in September 2025
Title Wave!
September marks the start of the really busy book-buying season, and a quirk of the calendar means that there are five Tuesdays in the month this year. With some rare exceptions, Tuesdays are the days that new books are released. I've seen a bunch of reasons for this: it's timed to coincide with how bestseller lists are compiled, they're slower sales days, it frees up Monday for publishers to prepare the day before, and so forth.
Whatever the reason, it means we've got five weeks of new books to look forward to this month. September 2025? It's jam-packed (I count nearly 50 titles!), so I'm going to do something I've never done before: split the list into three batches. I'll have one for the first two weeks, another for the middle of the month, and another for the last couple of weeks.
Okay, here are 13 new books to check out this month. As always, you can see prior lists via the Book List tag.
Angel Maker by Elizabeth Bear (September 2nd)
Elizabeth Bear's bringing out her second book of the year: Angel Maker. It's a steampunk novel and is the sequel to 2016's Karen Memory and her 2018 novella Stone Mad. She opted to go the self-publishing route for this one, and it picks up the story of frontier woman Karen Memery and her companion Priya, who've found work on a motion picture about a rogue robot called Cowboy in the wild west. Mid-production, she finds the horse of her dreams: Angel Maker, and she hatches a plan to rescue him from the production's deadly stunts.
Her plans are derailed when two men are murdered and Priya and Cowboy are arrested for the crime, and it's up to Karen to clear their names and save her new beloved horse.
One Last Game by T.A Chan (September 9th)
In the 22nd century, the world has figured out a new way to wage war: violent wargames. This book follows the players of the Atlantic Archipelago Nation's Battle Team, and its star player, Niko Vandes wants to quit. He can't though: the games they play are critical to the ongoing war, and the stakes are incredibly high. Niko's only escape will be to play until he dies, or escapes.
Gnomes of Lychford by Paul Cornell (September 9th)
Paul Cornell brings his Witches of Lychford (Witches of Lychford, The Lost Child of Lychford, A Long Day in Lychford, The Lights Go Out in Lychford, and Last Stand in Lychford) series to a close with Gnomes of Lychford.
A new threat has presented itself to the town of Lychford: gnomes. Some modern design has run up against an ancient prophecy and now the people of the town have to figure out how to save their community before King Greg, the leader of the gnomes calls in the terms of a promise made long ago.
An Unbreakable World by Ren Hutchings (September 9th)
Ren Hutchings' latest is set in the same world as her 2022 novel Under Fortunate Stars, but it stands on its own. It follows a thief named Page Found, who's unaware of her past: she's been working hard to survive on an isolated outpost, and ends up getting kidnapped by the people she's trying to rob.
The kidnappers are Zhak and Maelle, who plan to use her as decoy monk to try and get onboard a ship that's loaded down with treasure. If Page can play along, they'll cut her in for her troubles. As they plot, they realize that everyone has their own secrets and motivations: Maelle has her own loyalties and is conflicted, while Page isn't sure if she can trust either – something they'll have to learn in order to survive.
The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson (September 9th)
A painter named Lewis Dixon is surprised when the British Museum shows interest in his art. He's often felt a powerful pull to put his art to canvas, particularly a painting that he made that's a surreal and horrific reimagining of one his great-grandfather produced more than a century ago.
Despite his reservations, he accepts the museum's invitation and it turns out that they have a particular interest in what he does: to see if the state he enters when he’s painting is actually magic and connected to the strange paintings his great-grandfather produced decades ago, paintings that tap into a deep eldritch power and which now have people seeking them – and now, seeking Lewis's abilities for their own purposes.
Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, saying it's "a page-turning, continent-spanning adventure that combines elements of psychological horror and gore with dark humor and a queer romance between Lewis and Noah, whose businesslike demeanor hides a complex and tragic past."
Changelog by Rich Larson (September 2nd)
I really like Rich Larson's short fiction (I published a story by him in my anthology War Stories: New Military Science Fiction), and he's a pretty prolific guy. He published a collection back in 2018 called Tomorrow Factory, and now he's brought together some more of his short stories in Changelog, ranging from biopunk stories set in West Africa all the way to a generation ship in the depths of space.
The Maiden and her Monster by Maddie Martinez (September 9th)
Malka is the daughter of a healer, and has long watched how the forest surrounding her small village has caused problems for her family. The Ozmini Church hasn't helped: it only collects its dues, but doesn't protect them, and when one of the church's girls wanders into the forest and vanishes, they accuse Malka's mother of her murder.
Malka strikes a bargain with them: if she can bring out the monsters and show them, they'll spare her mother. But when she goes into the forest, she finds that the monsters aren't what she's imagined: it's a disgraced golem who agrees to help her, but only if she'll help her find the rabbi who created her.
Making History by K. J. Parker (September 2nd)
The ruler of Aelia has been itching for war against a neighboring country, and to justify his actions, he gathers a group of professors for a talk. His goal is to get them to rewrite history in such a way that glorifies his nation's story, and if they don't go along with it, they'll be imprisoned. To further the ruse, they have to oversee a massive, fake ancient city that'll provide "evidence" for their claims.
Writing for Grimdark Magazine, Adrian Collins says "is an almost perfect modern dark fantasy novella. It’s insightful, holds a mirror up to our society, and is such a fun way to spend a few short hours reading."
Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson (September 9th)
A Portland bartender has his life upended when he encounters a vampire. Duane Minor is home after a stint in Vietnam in 1975, and when he accidentally encounters John Varley, Varley murders his wife, Heidi. Stricken with grief and vengeance, Duane and his niece Julia work their way through the Pacific Northwest looking for the killer, encountering a grim underworld as they do so.
Library Journal gave the book a starred review, saying that it "has a wide focus and will be a delight for anyone who has even the inkling of interest in a fantastically told vampire revenge tale."
The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi (September 16th)
The 7th installment of Scalzi's Old Man's War series comes as the first novel turns 20 years old in 2025. Set after the events of The End of All Things, where humanity had figured out a peace settlement with the Conclave, a consortium of alien civilizations that had been competing for galactic real estate.
A decade into that peace, a new threat has emerged: the Consu, an advanced civilization (who we first encountered in Old Man's War) have descended into a jarring civil war, a conflict that threatens to drag the Colonial Union, Earth, and the Conclave into it. A former Colonial Union diplomat, Gretchen Trujillio (a familiar name from Zoe's Tale), is called in to assist with a diplomatic mission that could forever upend the balance of power in the galaxy.
Kirkus Reviews gave the book a starred review, saying "Scalzi enjoys constructing intricate puzzle-box crises that somehow the protagonist is just the right person at the right time with the right amount of smarts to defuse, even in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds," and that it was "classic Scalzi space opera at its wisecracking, politically pointed, and, somehow, fiercely optimistic finest."
Andrew Liptak
A Ruin, Great and Free by Cadwell Turnbull (September 16th)
I've been a big fan of Cadwell Turnbull's writing, and with this book, he brings his Convergence Saga (preceded by No Gods, No Monsters and We Are the Crisis), in which the real world is confronted by the emergences of a number of supernatural creatures, upending society.
Two years after the US was rocked by violent, anti-monster riots, the inhabitants of Moon have established a hidden home where they've been able to find some measure of peace, even as the rest of the world becomes more chaotic. But they soon face new challenges as people hunting after them are coming closer, and as cults want to use them as a proxy for their own fight.
Library Journal gave the book a starred review, calling it "stunning in its emotional depth while still appealing to readers looking for an action-filled fantasy."
You Weren't Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White (September 9th)
A strange entity has made its home in the depths of Appalachia: "the hive" is made up of malevolent worms that have gathered up a cult around it: in exchange for their loyalty and dead bodies, they offer up salvation to those who join them. A trans man named Crane has joined their numbers, hoping for a new start. There, he meets Levi, an ex-Marine and murdered who at first seems to treat him well, but when he's impregnated by his abusive partner, the hive demands their child, and pressured into carrying the baby to term, he threatens to break apart the entire community.
Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, saying "Stomach-churning gore pairs with quieter but equally disturbing moments of psychological horror as Crane fights for the bodily autonomy that others are trying to strip away from him. The result is both a brilliant, page-turning piece of trans splatterpunk body horror and an earnest, heart-rending tragedy."
Space Ships! Ray Guns! Martian Octopods! Interviews with Science Fiction Legends, edited by Richard Wolinsky (September 2nd)
How did the modern science fiction genre come to be? In this volume, Richard Wolinsky compiles more than 50 radio interviews with authors ranging from Isaac Asimov, Margaret Atwood, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Frank Herbert, and many others. It looks like a fascinating exploration of the genre.