As the month is carrying on, so we come ever closer to March and the new book releases. So, here’s a new list with the best sci-fi and fantasy book releases of March 2021!
We have some fantasy romance (e.g. The Stolen Kingdom), urban fantasy (e.g. Chain of Iron), some great thought-provoking sci-fi (e.g. Machinehood), fairy tale retellings (e.g. Lost in the Never Wood), and so much more!
First, I’ll talk about the books I’ve read that are coming out this month: The Stolen Kingdom and Spellmaker. Then, I’ll continue with more amazing books that are sure to be a great addition to your tbr-list.
So scroll on down for the best sci-fi and fantasy book releases of March 2021.
Table of Contents
What I read: Fantasy Book Releases March 2021
The Stolen Kingdom by Jillian Boehme
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance
Pubdate: 2nd of March
Publisher: Tor Teen
The kingdom of Perin Faye was once prosperous until the throne was taken by the greedy and power-hungry Thungrave kings. The Thungrave leaders have access to dark and powerful magic, making them a force to be reckoned with. Alac Thungrave, the second son, has always been grateful that he’s not in line for the throne. He doesn’t want anything to do with the dark, stolen magic. But things might change when Maralyth Graylaern, a vintner’s daughter, discovers that her magical power is proof that she’s part of the ancient bloodline and has a claim to the throne. She gets embroiled in a plot to murder the royal family and seize the throne, but can she go through with that when she actually meets Alac, and the Thungraves don’t seem so evil after all?
I thoroughly enjoyed the Stolen Kingdom; it took a bit to get into, but the pace is really fast, and things get kicked up a notch fairly quickly. About halfway, I couldn’t seem to stop reading, and I finished the book in only a few days. The only thing I found somewhat annoying was that Perin Faye’s history was repeated a bit too much, even when it was already clear to the reader. But the growing connection between Alac and Maralyth was well-written; tension just keeps growing, especially with the murder-plot looming in the background. Moral dilemmas and difficult choices are present for both of the characters, and Jilian Boehme doesn’t shy away from writing them.
A great book to read if you love conspiracies, royal courts, and a complicated romance between enemies.
Spellmaker (Spellbreaker duology #2) by Charlie N. Holmberg
Genre: NA Historical Urban Fantasy Romance
Pubdate: 9th of March
Publisher: 47North
Spellmaker picks up where Spellbreaker left off: Elsie Camden knows who is behind the murders of the spellmakers and the thefts of their opuses. She just can’t do anything about it or risk being exposed as an unregistered spellbreaker. But when she refuses to join forces with the assassin, her secrets get out anyway, and Elsie is thrown in jail. Bacchus Kelsey is willing to do whatever it takes to get Elsie out of jail. He succeeds, helping Elsie become registered, but there’s one caveat: they need to get married to prove the story Bacchus made up. Between faking her lessons and questioning Bacchus’s true feelings for her, Elsie still plans to bring down the assassin who put her in jail. She needs to thwart the plans of the criminal. But she needs to be careful, or she might play right into the assassin’s hands.
In my opinion, Spellmaker was even better than Spellbreaker. There’s a lot more tension, especially with Elsie getting thrown in jail right at the beginning. I also enjoyed the growing bond between Elsie and Bacchus. A lot happens in the story, and it’s certainly never boring. All the while, you’re wondering how they’re going to stop the criminal, will they all make it out alive, and are they putting trust in the right people?
The spellbreaker duology is definitely worth a read if you enjoy a good murder mystery, an original magic system, and a slow-developing, blooming romance.
Fantasy & Sci-Fi Book Releases March 2021
Chain of Iron (The Last Hours #2) by Cassandra Clare
Genre: Urban Paranormal Fantasy
Pubdate: 2nd of March
Publisher: Walker Books
Cordelia Carstairs is engaged to James Herondale, her childhood love, and living a new life in London with her best friend Lucie and James’companions called the Merry Thieves. She’s also about to be reunited with her father, and she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade.
It all seems so nice from the outside. But James and Cordelia’s marriage is a lie, only arranged to save her reputation. James is actually in love with Grace Blackthorn, whose brother, Jesse, died years ago in a terrible accident. Cordelia can’t touch the sword Cortana without burning her hands, and her father has grown bitter and angry. There’s also a serial murderer on the loose, targeting the Shadowhunters of London. The Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James, and Lucie, have to track down the killer, all trying to keep their secrets.
Machinehood by S.B. Divya
Genre: Adult Dystopian Sci-Fi
Pubdate: 2nd of March
Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press
Welga Ramirez is about to retire early when her client is killed in front of her. In 2095, people don’t usually die from violence. Humanity has pills now that help them stay alive and allow them to compete with artificial intelligence in the increasingly competitive gig economy. The pills protect against designer diseases, enhances focus, enhances physical strength and speed, and speed up healing. But Welga’s client is killed by the Machinehood, a new and mysterious terrorist group that has also attacked several major pill funders. The group seems to exist mostly of members who are part human and part machine; something entirely new. Their ultimatum: stop all pill production in one week.
Of course, this clauses global panic, and many people become ill. Thousands destroy their bots in fear of an AI takeover. Welga is put on duty to fight against the Machinehood. She’s deetermined to take them down, but who are the Machinehood really, and what do they want?
If we don’t think machines are human, can we see humans as machines?
Bridge of Souls (Cassidy Blake #3) by Victoria Schwab
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
Pubdate: 2nd of March
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Cassidy Blake thinks she has the whole ghost-hunting thing down. She and her ghost best friend, Jacob, have survived two haunted cities already while traveling for her parents’ TV show. That can’t count for nothing. But nothing can prepare Cass for New Orleans: a city full of ghost tours and tombs, raucous music, and all kinds of magic. But the biggest surprise is a foe Cass never expected: a servant of Death itself. This might be her most dangerous challenge yet…
Red Tigress (Blood Heir Trilogy #2) by Amélie Wen Zhao
Genre: YA Epic Fantasy, Retellings
Pubdate: 2nd of March
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Ana Mikhailov is the only surviving member of the royal family. But she has no army, title, or allies. So how can she take back the throne? She needs to find a way or risk brutal retribution of the empress, who is determined to establish a new world order on the spilled blood of non-Affinites. Aa’s only chance means partnering with Ramson Quicktongue again. But the crime lord has schemes of his own. To find an army, they need to cross the Whitewaves to the impenetrable stone forts of Bregon. But what will they find there? And will revolution bring peace or only more blood?
Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley
Genre: YA Fantasy, LGBTQ
Pubdate: 9th of March
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
The witch Tamsin was cursed to never love again. She was the most powerful witch, but she committed the worst magical sin, leading to exile by the ruling Coven and her curse. She can only love for a little while when she steals it from others.
Then we have Wren, who is a rare kind of person made of magic, though she can’t use magic herself. She’s called a source, who are required to train with the Coven, but Wren spent her life hiding from it so she can take care of her father. But then a magical plague ravages the Queendom, and Wren’s father falls victim. Wren tries to strike a bargain with Tamsin to save her father: if she helps Wren catch the dark witch responsible for the plague, Wren will give Tamsin the love for her father. But love bargains are a tricky thing, and they still have a long journey ahead of them.
The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst
Genre: Adult Adventure Fantasy
Pubdate: 9th of March
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Twenty-five years ago, five heroes defeated the bone maker Eklor: a corrupt magician who created an army out of animal bones. But only four of the heroes survived. Kreya, the leader, has exiled herself to a remote tower with one purpose: resurrecting her dead husband. But that requires a cache of human bones and a sacrifice: for each day he lives, she will live one less. Still, she’d rather live one year with him than a hundred without him. Unfortunately, using human bones for magic is illegal in Vos. Yet Kreya knows where she can find the bones she needs, but defying the laws of the land exposes a terrible possibility. Maybe the dead don’t rest in peace after all.
Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance, Retellings
Pubdate: 9th of March
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Isda was saved by Cyril, the opera house’s owner, after being cast into a well at birth. Isda is one of the magical few who can manipulate memories when people sing. Cyril has given her sanctuary from the world outside, only asking to keep the ticket sales high and that she stays out of sight. Isda breaks this rule when she meets Emeric Rodin, who has a voice unlike any she’s ever heard. But what’s even more shocking are the memories she finds, with hints of a way to finally break free from her prison. And so, Isda spends more and more time with Emeric, searching for answers. But the price of freedom is steeper than Isda could ever know; if she wants to take charge of her destiny, she must become the monster the world tried to drown in the first place.
Namesake (Fable #2) by Adrienne Young
Genre: YA Fantasy Adventure, Pirates
Pubdate: 16th of March
Publisher: Wednesday Books
In the sequel to Fable, the Marigold ship is free of Fable’s father. She and the crew are ready to start over. But the freedom is short-lived when she becomes a pawn in the scheme of some notorious thug. She needs to secure a partnership for the thug with Holland, a powerful gem trader, so she can get to her destination. On that journey, Fable descends deeper into a world of betrayal and learns that her mother was keeping secrets. These secrets are now putting the people she cares about in danger. Fable needs to risk everything if she’s going to save them, including the boy she loves and the home she found.
The Memory Collectors by Kim Neville
Genre: Adult Fantasy, Magical Realism
Pubdate: 16th of March
Publisher: Atria Books
Ev can feel the emotions people leave behind on objects. She considers this ability to be more of a curse than a blessing and feels most of the objects need to be handled with care and should be, if possible, destroyed. The harmless objects she sells in the Chinatown Night Market, but even that fills her with trepidation. In another part of town, Harriet hoards thousands of these treasures and starts to make her neighbors sick when the overabundance of heightened emotions starts seeping through her apartment walls. As fate would have it, the women meet, and Harriet knows that Ev can help her to make something spectacular of her collection. A museum of memory that not only feels warm and inviting but can heal the emotional wounds many people unknowingly carry around. Together, they help each other develop and control their gifts, unknowing that a darkness is wrapping itself around another, dragging them down a path that already destroyed Ev’s family once, and threatens to annihilate what little she has left.
Body of Stars by Laura Maylene Walter
Genre: Adult Dystopian Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Pubdate: 16th of March
Publisher: Dutton Books
What happens when women are objectified and stripped of choice? What happens when they fight back?
Celeste Morton has eagerly awaited her passage to adulthood. She was born with a set of childhood markings, like every girl, the freckles, moles, and more, foretelling her future and those around her. But with puberty comes a new set of predictions that will solidify her fate. The possibilities outweigh the worry and fear of her “changeling period,” a time when women are nearly irresistible to men and the risk of abduction is rife. Miles, Celeste’s brother, is a skilled interpreter of the future, a field that typically excludes men. Miles considers Celeste to be his only clue to what his own future will bring. But when Celeste changes, she learns a devastating secret about his fate: a secret that could destroy her family and one she will do anything to keep. Yet when the lies of brother and sister collide, it leads to a tragedy that irrevocably changes Celeste’s fate, and sets her on a path to fight against the misogyny of fortune-telling, and urges her to create a future that is truly her own.
The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance, LGBTQ, Retellings, Magical realism
Pubdate: 16th of March
Publisher: Feiwel Friends
Graciela Cristale’s world changes after she and a boy, Lock, are sexually assaulted at the same party. She loses her gift for making enchanted pan dulce. Trees vanish overnight, while mirrored glass appears, along with reckless magic. But when Lock shows up at Ciela’s school, he has no memory of the night and no clue that one piece of mirrored glass is taking his life apart. Ciela decides to help him, so she hides the truth about that night. Because she knows who assaulted them both. And she knows that their survival depends on no one finding out what really happened.
Wild Sign (Alpha & Omega #6) by Patricia Briggs
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance, Mystery
Pubdate: 16th of March
Publisher: Ace Books
All the inhabitants of a small town in the Northern California mountains have gone missing. The FBI fears something supernatural might be happening, so they consult the werewolves, Charles Cornick and Anna Latham. But they soon find that the deserted town is the least of the mysteries they face. Death sings in the forest, and Charles and Anna must answer its call. Something old and dangerous has awakened in those mountains, and it’s met werewolves before.
The Theft of Sunlight (Dauntless Path #2) by Intisar Khanani
Genre: YA Fantasy, Retellings
Pubdate: 23rd of March
Publisher: HarperTeen
Children have been disappearing from across Menaiya for longer than Amraeya can remember. But she knows she can’t look away any longer when her friend’s sister is snatched. Not even if it means seeking answers from the royal court. Yet court holds its share of surprises as she discovers an ally in the foreign princess, who recruits her as an attendant. Rae seeks answers in the dark city streets, finding more unexpected help in a rough-around-the-edges street thief with secrets of his own. Yet treachery runs deep, and the more Rae finds out, the more she endangers the kingdom itself.
Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
Genre: YA Fantasy Retellings, LGBTQ
Pubdate: 23rd of March
Publisher: Swoon Reads
It’s been five years since Wendy, and her two brothers went missing in the woods. Yet, when the children in the town start to disappear, the questions surrounding her brothers’ mysterious circumstances are brought back into the light. Wendy attempts to flee her past, which makes her almost run over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road. And so she gets pulled into the mystery haunting the town. Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, claims that they need to do something, or the missing children will meet the same fate as her brothers. To find them and rescue the missing kids, Wendy needs to confront what’s waiting for her in the woods.
The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost #1) by C.L. Clark
Genre: Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ
Pubdate: 23rd of March
Publisher: Orbit
Touraine was stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire. Her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. Yet her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought. Luca needs a turncoat, all to get her uncle off the throne. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet’s edge between treason and orders. Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren’t for sale…
Rule of Wolves (King of Scars Duology #2) by Leigh Bardugo
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pubdate: 30th of March
Publisher: Orion Children’s Books
So, what do we have in this conclusion to the duology?
A Demon King, a Stormwitch, and a Queen of Mourning: a King, General, and Spy. Fjerda’s massive army is preparing to invade, so Nikolai Lantsov needs to summon all his ingenuity, charm, and the monster within to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that needs more to be defeated than just a young King’s gift. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war: her mentor is dead, and her worst enemy resurrected. She doesn’t want to bury another friend. She needs to become the weapon her country needs, whatever it costs. Nina Zenik risks everything as she’s deep undercover, waging war on Fjerda from the inside. Her desire for revenge may just cost her country its chance at freedom, though. All need to find a way to forge a future in the darkness. If not… they have to watch their nation fall.
Those were the Book Releases of March 2021
That’s it for the list of Fantasy and Sci-Fi book releases of March 2021. I hope you found some excellent ones in here! Which one are you most excited about? Any you’d like to preorder or read as soon as it comes out? Let me know in the comments!
I really loved Spellmaker and the Stolen Kingdom, so those are definitely great picks. Next to that, Machinehood seems very interesting and thought-provoking, along with Body of Stars. And, as a sucker for books that involve overcoming trauma, The Mirror Season also seems like a great read.
2 thoughts on “18 Best Fantasy & Sci-Fi Book Releases of March 2021”
I agree with the list. Thank you for sharing your this.
I have also read this fantasy book entitled “THE SHADOW OF THE STAFF“, might also love this.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for sharing your book 🙂 I do always enjoy a good book with dragons in it!