News & Media
DAW Holiday Gift Guide
From romantic epics to cozy cottagecore, here’s the ultimate holiday gift guide for every reader in your life.
For the reader seeking…
To run away to a fairytale circus full of magic and mystery…
To binge an entire seven book series…
Older MCs and a book that gives those Buffy vibes
Pantomime: A queer fantasy trilogy about a circus aerialist’s quest to escape his past and decipher the magical prophecy that will shape his future. Book 3, Masquerade, publishing in 2026.
From the USA Today-bestselling author of Dragonfall
Amazon Editors’ Pick for Best SFF Book of the Month!
Empire of Silence Deluxe Edition: with sprayed edges, premium cover effects, map, new foreword, bonus content, and the short story “The Pits of Emesh”
Hadrian Marlowe, a man revered as a hero and despised as a murderer, chronicles his tale in the galaxy-spanning debut of the Sun Eater series, merging the best of space opera and epic fantasy.
Slayers of Old: Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Golden Girls in this humorous contemporary standalone fantasy about a group of former Chosen Ones coming out of retirement to save the world one last time.
“The butt-kicking action scenes, dark atmosphere, and world-building and lore that made the subgenre a hit are very much in evidence in this story of found family and fighting for what matters.” — Shelf Awareness.
An Eldritch twist on a sweet sapphic rom-com…
The paperback edition of a fantasy favorite
A regency romantic fantasy based on your favorite fairytales…
Direct Descendant: This cozy horror novel set in modern-day Toronto includes phenomenal characters, fantastic writing, and a queer romance—the perfect balance of dark and delightful.
“The secrets under Lake Argen are chilling, the hellhounds and eldritch horrors are adorable, and the romance goes from fated to bitter to sweet in an epic climax. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal
The Narrow Road Between Desires: #1 New York Times-bestselling phenomenon Patrick Rothfuss returns to the wildly popular Kingkiller Chronicle universe with a stunning reimagining of “The Lightning Tree.”
From dawn to midnight over the course of a single day, follow the Kingkiller Chronicle’s most charming fae as he schemes and sneaks, dancing into trouble and back out again with uncanny grace.
The Cyprian: cozy, cottacore readers, come hither!
The latest in Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters series is a stand-alone romantic fantasy based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Wild Swans.
A bisexual cinnamon roll hero healing from his trauma
Epic fantasy that understands the power of friendship
Female leads hardened by war who battle against the undead corruption devouring their land…
Wearing the Lion: Nebula Award-winning author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In John Wiswell brings a humanizing and humorous touch to the Hercules story.
“Wiswell makes something new and thrilling—and funny and wrenching and tender—out of a very old myth.” —Kelly Link, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Book of Love
The Serpent Called Mercy: In this inventive and character-driven epic fantasy novel, a debt-ridden slumdog joins an illegal monster-fighting arena for some fast coin, but quickly learns the most dangerous beasts are outside the ring.
“A show-stopping debut that dazzles even as it pulls at your heartstrings.” —Chelsea Abdullah, author of The Stardust Thief
House of Dusk: A romantic epic fantasy featuring a fire-wielding nun grappling with her dark past and a young spy caught between her mission and a growing attraction to an enemy princess.
With complex relationships, a rich and mythic world, and brisk pacing, this standalone novel is perfect for fans of Tasha Suri, Samantha Shannon, and Shannon Chakraborty.
Fiction that is WEIRD in all the right ways
Something to take with them on their next camping trip…
The book that inspires many of your favorite authors.
Mad Sisters of Esi: Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi meets Italo Calvino’s If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler in this stunning meta fantasy about the power of stories, belief, and sisterhood.
A hallucinatory fantasy from Tashan Mehta takes readers from inside a cosmic whale to a village of enchantment.” —The Wall Street Journal
They Fear Not Men in the Woods: When Jen Monroe returns home to disprove her father’s death, only to find the forests of rural Washington are hiding something ancient and dangerous in this unsettling folk horror.
“Drawing from Scandinavian folklore, McNeil excels at creating an immersive forest setting, where eerie silences and misty shadows explode into true terror.” —Booklist
The Dragon Bone Chair: The book that inspired a generation of bestselling fantasy authors and must have for any fantasy reader’s collection.
“One of my favorite fantasy series.” —George R. R. Martin
“Groundbreaking.”—Patrick Rothfuss
“One of the great fantasy epics of all time.”—Christopher Paolini
