8 New SFF Books Out in September to Add to Your TBR Right Now

Delia grew up on an island in the South Pacific and discovered her love of math, along with a novel that supposedly doesn’t exist, written by a legendary sci-fi writer and founder of a new religion. It’s a book that disappears once it’s read. Mobster Oskar is obsessed with finding the book and will do anything for it. When Delia’s husband vanishes, she looks for help from an unlikely source: a book dealer. But what’s so special about the book? Does it hold secrets of the universe, or is it all a con?

In this sci-fi take on Hamlet, Hayden finds his father murdered in their lab and the camera footage erased. He suspects the killer was after the Sisyphus Formula they were working on, a formula that might have the potential one day to reverse death. He steals the research in hopes of luring the killer, but when the lab is locked down, and he’s trapped with four other people — his uncle, a lab tech, the research intern, and her father, who happens to be the head of security — one of them is the killer. Will he figure out who before it’s too late?

I included this book even though it’s not technically SFF because Butler is practically synonymous with SFF when you think of her. Her work was barrier-smashing and changed the landscape of SFF. She was the first Black writer to win Nebula and Hugo awards, and her books have been prophetic. This book is a collection of interviews and conversations with Butler, along with an introduction by Samuel R. Delaney, an SFF legend in his own right.

When The Vanishing plunged Manhattan into darkness 15 years ago, people adjusted. They did their thing during the day, but at night, people stayed home. But it’s at night that Rei Reynolds can hunt Deathlings, the dangerous creatures who come out at night on the street and in the subway ever since The Vanishing, killing people — including Rei’s parents. She wants revenge, and her goal is to qualify for the Tournament, a competition to join the city’s Deathling hunters. But the competition brings out socioeconomic clashes, an ex-boyfriend who is also a competitor, and much more — who or what poses the largest threat?

This is the first book in a projected trilogy called The Mirror Cycle and is a Sephardic-tinged folkloric tale set during the Spanish Inquisition era. Toba can speak but not shout, and Naftaly sees things that others can’t, and his dreams become real. Both of them flee when the Queen demands that Jews convert or be banished — and both have items the Inquisition wants: Toba’s amulet that she cannot take off and Naftaly’s ancient book that he’s forbidden to read. What is the connection between the two items? Why does the Inquisition want them so much? When they find themselves in a magical realm of a people called the Mazik, they find their fates are wrapped up in this place — what does it all mean?

In this companion book to The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, Tokuda-Hall tells the story of what happens after the Pirate Supreme and their fighters sank a group of warships. Resistance fighters all over the empire are hoping to end the Emperor’s rule and bring the rebirth of the Sea, but knowing who to trust isn’t always easy. This is an action-packed fantasy that also brings together a diverse cast of characters, telling a story of truth, love, resistance, and rebuilding.