Antiuniverses, Deepfakes, and Clone Children: September’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

September is my birthday month, so these latest sci-fi, fantasy, and speculative books feel like presents for both me and you. Prepare for fantasy heists, magical spy thrillers, dystopian abortionists, parallel-universe marriage stories, deepfake Dorian Grays, haunted houses and more. Don't forget to check out Freya Marske's Bodies of Magic and Emily St. John Mandel's Exit Party from our 2026 SFF preview.

Scott Hawkins delivers the first book in over a decade from the author of modern horror cult classic, The Library at Mount Char. Blacktail is a weird and exciting story of forest animals following a strict hierarchy of hunters and prey, and the rise of half-wolf Blacktail as the Forest God's dark champion. Blacktail's killing spree starts with revenge on humans but eventually leads to apocalyptic consequences as he encounters various animal allies who want to see the end of the two-leggers' world.

Chloe Benjamin's Under Story follows Laurel Salter, a thirtysomething scientist studying mycelium, who leaves her work and broken marriage for the anonymity of Antarctica's McMurdo Station. Outside the station, she encounters an otherworldly light known as the Arc, which draws physicists like her ex-husband, Eli, to study its effects. Laurel becomes increasingly drawn to the antiuniverse and the potential to heal the tragic loss that ruptured her relationship with Eli.