10 must-read SFF releases to make October your best reading month yet

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

October is the Spooky Season, so a fantasy story about witches feels like the perfect addition to any TBR pile. And Alix E. Harrow’s newest releases offers just that: The Once and Future Witches takes readers back to the late 1800s to follow three sisters who set out to bring witchcraft back into the world.

When the story picks up, witches are a thing of the past, stories that keep people up at night. Without magic to grant them power, women must find other ways to control their destinies. But the Eastwood sisters — James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna — are hoping to change all that:

"“But when the Eastwood sisters — James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna — join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement.”"

It’s hard to imagine loving any trio of witches more than the Sanderson Sisters, but the Eastwoods do sound pretty compelling.

On top of that, we need feminist stories more than ever these days, and The Once and Future Witches delivers on that front. It’s a must-read for anyone looking for strong, female-led fantasy novels. (And honestly, when aren’t we looking for those?)

The Once and Future Witches is available now in ebook, audiobook, and print formats.