15 new SFF books you can binge at the beach this June

The Chosen – Taran Matharu

Taran Matharu has spent the majority of his writing career immersed in his Summoner fantasy series. This June, he’ll step out of that world and into a new one with the first novel in his new Contender series, The Chosen, which comes out on June 4.

The Chosen is set in a world where people have a tendency to vanish with little explanation behind their disappearances. Three seemingly ordinary teenagers find out why this happens when they themselves become part of the vanished population. Our main character, Cade, is one of these teens, finding himself suddenly transported from his boarding school to another realm.

And this new realm is full of pieces of history: prehistoric creatures, ancient artifacts, and people — all things that have disappeared from Cade’s world. Unfortunately, Cade has little time to connect the dots before he and his classmates find themselves thrown into a dangerous game organized by this realm’s overlords. Without any other options, Cade’s forced to fight for his life, but he also needs to figure out why all of this is happening in the first place.

Judging by the synopsis, Matharu’s upcoming series will be as action-packed as his previous one — making it the perfect addition to any SFF reader’s summer TBR pile. It’s got an interesting premise, high stakes, and elements of mystery. What more could you possibly need in a book?