The cover of the book featuring a white rabbit worm exposed ribs, and white keys on a red background

A green banner reading BookishSFF's 2026 watchlist scifi fantasy horror and spec fic publishing

I really loved @franceswrites.bsky.social's debut Voyage of the Damned, so I'm stoked for her upcoming The Bone Door: billed as a wild ride through humour, horror, magic and murder, as Hop wakes up with no memory in a mysterious labyrinth with a set of impossible tasks...

Out in May!
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A banner reading new Rebecca yarros untitled empyrean (not book 4) 29.9.26 preorder. The accompanying picture is a blank book with the words "cover coming soon. Edges coming soon. Cover to be revealed"

Big Rebecca Yarros news...

An untitled new Empyrean book has appeared for preorder!

It's definitely not book 4, they say, but it's bound to be an exciting return to this bestselling world of dragons and their riders.

www.waterstones.com/book/untitle...

Out end of Sept.

#4thWing
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#Romantasy

A green banner reading BookishSFF's 2026 watchlist scifi fantasy and spec fic publishing

The cover of the girl with a thousand faces: swirling golds, blacks and oranges with a beautiful face in the middle. The whole effect is reminiscent of Klimt, but with East asian cloud and water drawing textures and sparks

The Girl with a Thousand Faces by @sunyidean.com is due out early May: set after WWII, Mercy Chan washes up in Hong Kong with no memory and tries to make a living as ghost-talker for the local triad.

A gothic urban historical fantasy of trauma & war that's beautiful & emotionally devastating!

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Good Morning Blue Sky! Hope you’re all ok? Today I’m currently reading and highly enjoying Slow Gods by Claire North. What are you reading at the moment?

The two books on a worn wooden shelf.

Ooh, that one's definitely on my TBR. I've only heard good things.

I'm currently reading Fonda Lee's The Last Contract of Isako, and Antonia Hodgson's The Raven Scholar.

Both SO good so far!

A pile of books in a bookshop. The books are: Bee Speaker by Adrian Tchaikovsky; The Expanded Earth by Mikey Please; A Widow's Charm by Caitlyn Paxson; The Reaper by Jackson P Brown; The Tricky Business of faerie Bargains by Reena McCarty; A Palace Near the Wind by Ai Jiang; Year of the Mer by L D Lewis; Clockwork Boys by T Kingfisher; Strixhaven: Omens of Chaos by Seanan McGuire; Lore of the Tides by Analeigh Sbrana; Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake; The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar; Season of Fear by Emily Cooper

Just a few of the lovely new #SFF paperbacks out so far this month!

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#NewBooks

North American cover for J.R. Dawson's THE LIGHTHOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD - a view through an elaborate wall of windows, overlooking a lighthouse and the city of Chicago in the background. Plus author and title information.

UK cover for J.R. Dawson's THE LIGHTHOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD - a view through an elaborate wall of windows, overlooking a lighthouse and the city of Chicago in the background. A person walks their dog in front of the windows. Plus author and title information.

THE LIGHTHOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by @jrdawson.bsky.social has won the 2026 Society of Midland Authors Award for Adult Fiction!

midlandauthors.org/contest-winn...

Published by @torbooks.bsky.social & @torbooksuk.bsky.social

Ha! 😄

It is very convenient. Lots of people coming in for all kinds of space and astronomy books at the moment, and SF too of course!

A hand holds a copy of the book in a bookshop

First Mage on the Moon by @cameronjohnston.bsky.social is here!

Take rockets & a Space Race; a neverending war between great powers; and add magic & a heretical plan to reach the moon, forbidden home of the gods... This novel is generating some buzz, so come find out why!

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#SFF

(this also explains why my order for the old edition never turned up... But I'm not mad any more because it means I get one of these instead!)

A banner reading Waterstones special edition. Exclusive signed edition with sprayed edges. Art on the boards. Alternative colourways and endpapers

Set four centuries before bestseller Of Blood and Fire, @ryancahill.bsky.social's novella The Fall sees chaos on the streets & dragons in the skies of Ilnaen as the authority of The Order is questioned.

There's a fancy exclusive signed edition pre-orderable here: www.waterstones.com/book/the-fal...

Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep an eye out for it. Hope it goes well!

A pile of copies of the book in a bookshop

The second book in James S A Corey's Captive's War series is here!

The Faith of Beasts picks up where book 1 left off, a pacey tale of alien overlords, human subjugation, morally grey characters and fab scifi ideas.

And it's already flying off the shelf!

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A wavy gradient going from orange-red to blue-purple in the background. Logos of The British Fantasy Society and Waterstones in the corners at the top. White writing in the middle: The British Fantasy Society & Waterstones Reading; Making Galaxies: Identity and Community in Space Opera. Pictures of Stewart Hotston, Ren Hutchings, and Claire North with their books, Project Hanuman, An Unbreakable World, and Slow Gods respectively, in the bottom left corner. White writing above the pictures: Stewart Hotston, Ren Hutchings, Claire North. White writing below the pictures: in conversation with Greta Colombani. White writing in a darker box in the bottom right corner: Wednesday 6th May, 6:30pm, Waterstones Reading

The BFS is excited to announce our first in-person Reading event, Making Galaxies: Identity & Community in Space Opera. Wed 6th May 2026, 6:30pm.
Waterstones, Broad Street, Reading. £6.

Ticket: tinyurl.com/watopera

@stewarthotston.com ‬ @voidcricket.bsky.social @gretacolombani.bsky.social ‬

A poster for the event: Brandon Sanderson in conversation at Emmanuel centre London, thurs 21st may 7pm

Ooh. Looks like there's a rare @brandonsanderson.com UK event in London on 21st May, discussing ISLES OF THE EMBERDARK with fellow author @joeabercrombie.com! ✨

Tickets available from 5pm: www.waterstones.com/events/brand...

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They're very good at not taking hints if they don't want to...

We used to only allow him in the kitchen, but he's very persuasive and now basically has the run of the house. He's proven a very effective alarm clock: comes and jumps on the bed just before our alarms go off every morning 😅

A tuxedo cat dozing in a room in the sun, plants and garden in the background.

Good morning Bluesky ☀️

*Some* of us need to go to work, others not so much.

#NotMyCat

Some great books and stories on the list of Locus Award finalists this year, well worth a look!

Some great books and stories on the list of Locus Award finalists this year, well worth a look!

A hand holds a copy of the book in front of the colouring board filled with monsters

A photo of the finished board covered in colourful monsters

Thank you Ipswich!

We had a wonderful creative Easter holiday with you all, celebrating Huw Aaron's fantastic award-winning Sleep Tight Disgusting Blob with a mega monster party colouring board 👾

Amazing work everyone!

#Booksky

The cover of the book, showing a female figure weilding a long samurai like blade and wearing a red cape, walking through snow towards a city under a terraforming dome in the distance.

Good morning Bluesky, hope you all had a lovely weekend and read some good books (or at least part of a good book!) 📖

I've finished my secret reading project (phew) and can finally get back to Fonda Lee's Last Contract of Isako, which is great so far! Out 5th May.

#Booksky
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That and I'd rather stay away from Meta if I can, of course.

People keep telling me I should get on Insta for SFF as well, but... I like it here. I've tried Instagram for other things and it feels much more like a never-ending content grind somehow.

Cover for The Many by Sylvain Neuvel

Let's talk hive minds! The Many comes out 4/21 and it's a hive mind story from the perspective of the "hiveminded" (think reverse Pluribus). First question, what are your favorite hive minds from any kind of fiction? (books, movie, tv, games...)

I'm pretty sure it'll do ok as it is- it's Patrick Ness!

A photo of the book in a bookshop. A sticker on the front says Waterstones signed exclusive edition.

Piper at the Gates of Dusk is here! 20 years on, this new tale returns readers to @patricknessbooks.bsky.social's acclaimed world of the Chaos Walking series.

Following two brothers haunted by dreams of Noise, a brave & compelling new adventure with themes of power, division & hope.

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#NewBooks

A copy of the book in a bookshop alongside a paperback of the prince without sorrow. On the cover a wyvern or dragon swoops across a burnt orange sky and landscape.

Book two of the Obsidian Throne series is out!

The Witch Without Memory by Maithree Wijesekara continues Ashoka and Shakti's tales through betrayal, memory loss, and the dangerous politics of empire...

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#NewBooks

A copy of the book in a bookshop, turned to show off the sprayed botanical edges

The Verdant Cage is a brand new really gripping dystopia by Jess Lourey.

When her mother is murdered, apothcary Rose discovers that life in seemingly idyllic protected Noah's Valley may be built on a lie... What will it take to rebel?

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A board is covered with coloured in monsters

A hand holds a carefully coloured green monster with little pink hearts added around the edge and the name "greenard"

The Waterstones banner for sleep tight disgusting blob as children's book prize winner and children's book of the month

Enjoyed doodling a load of monsters inspired by Huw Aaron's very fun award-winning Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob for our Easter holiday colouring activity board in the bookshop.

Lovely to see what kids do with them. So much industrious colouring at the table this week!

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#Bookshop

In fact:

SPECULATIVE POETRY FRIENDS, PLEASE SOUND OFF!

If you're a speculative poet with a published FORMAL POEM anywhere readily available on the internet, please reply to this post with examples of your work!
Any form is good!
Show off your prosodic prowess here!