There exists, dear reader, a rather wonderful sort of magic that has nothing whatever to do with wands or prophecies or the slaying of dragons. It is the magic of a warm hearth on a winter’s evening, of a cup of something lovely curling steam into the lamplight, and of stories that wrap themselves around you like the most comfortable of quilts. This magic has a name now, whispered among readers who seek refuge from the storms of ordinary life: cozy fantasy.
And what, you might ask, distinguishes these tales from their grander cousins? Simply this: where epic fantasy sends heroes off to save worlds (a tiresome business, when one thinks about it), cozy fantasy invites them to open bookshops, tend gardens, and serve tea to very curious customers indeed.
New Enchantments for 2026
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
Come February, the most delightful thing shall happen. In an alternate 1920s Montréal, where magic lurks in basement shops and cats are rather more than they appear, a meticulously organized woman named Agnes runs a cat rescue. Her only available landlord happens to be a grouchy magician called Havelock—infamous for nearly ending the world, though he really does try to behave now.
The cats, naturally, are demons. Or so Havelock believes. Agnes believes him to be insufferable. Both of them are somewhat correct, and entirely wrong, which makes for the most satisfying sort of story. Those who adored Howl’s Moving Castle shall find themselves quite at home here.
The Pioneers of Comfort
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Once upon a time (for all proper stories begin so), an orc named Viv decided she was rather finished with swords and bloodshed and the whole tiresome business of adventuring. She wanted, of all things, to open a coffee shop—though nobody in the city of Thune had the faintest notion what coffee might be.
This is the book that taught an entire generation of readers that fantasy need not always involve saving worlds. Sometimes, it might simply involve perfecting the cinnamon rolls. A New York Times bestseller and Nebula Award finalist, it has quite deservedly become the standard by which all cozy fantasy is measured.
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Before Viv discovered coffee (and this is a rather well-kept secret), she discovered books. Set years before her café days, this prequel finds our young orc mercenary stranded in the seaside town of Murk with an injured leg and nothing much to do but heal.
There she befriends a struggling bookseller, helps renovate the shop, joins a book club, and falls into a gentle summer romance with a dwarf baker. It is, as the best prequels are, a story about becoming the person who might one day open a coffee shop.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Professor Emily Wilde is not, it must be said, particularly good with people. She is, however, extraordinarily good with faeries—those dangerous, capricious creatures that most sensible folk know to avoid. When she travels to a far northern village to complete her encyclopaedia, she finds herself troubled by the locals, the bitter cold, and most especially by her infuriatingly charming colleague Wendell Bambleby.
Written in the style of field notes (with footnotes, which are themselves delightful), this book has been called “an absolutely enchanting story from start to finish.” The New York Times praised its “impeccable Tam Lin vibes,” and really, what higher compliment could there be?
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
When revolution comes to the Great Library of Alyssium (and revolution, as you may have noticed, does tend to come for libraries), the librarian Kiela does what any sensible librarian would do. She rescues what books she can—with the help of Caz, her sentient spider plant assistant—and flees to the island of her childhood.
There she discovers that illegal spellbooks make rather excellent jam, metaphorically speaking. This cottagecore fantasy was described by the New York Times as “the fall book for you” if the words “cottagecore fantasy romance” sound appealing. It became an instant New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestseller.
Timeless Treasures of the Genre
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
There is a house on a cliff by the sea where extraordinary children live—a gnome, a wyvern, an amorphous blob named Chauncey who dreams of becoming a bellhop, and one small boy who might possibly be the Antichrist (though he’s really quite nice about it).
Into this house comes Linus Baker, a government caseworker who has never in his life broken a rule. By the end, he will have broken nearly all of them, and fallen quite thoroughly in love in the process. A New York Times bestseller and winner of the Alex Award, this book has been described by every single reviewer as “feeling like a warm hug.”
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
In a world where witches must hide and never gather together lest their powers attract unwanted attention, a witch named Mika Moon posts videos online “pretending” to be magical. She thinks it’s rather harmless fun. Then someone believes her, and she finds herself at the mysterious Nowhere House, teaching three young witches to control their magic.
The Washington Post called it “whimsical romance… full of quirky, lovable characters who will charm even the grumpiest of readers.” It won a Goodreads Choice Award and proved that found family, when done properly, never grows tiresome.
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Long before “cozy fantasy” had a name, there was Sophie Hatter, transformed by a witch’s curse into an old woman and quite unable to do anything about it—except march straight into the moving castle of the dreaded Wizard Howl and make herself useful.
Howl is vain. The fire demon Calcifer is grumpy. The castle tends to wander about. And Sophie, freed from the expectations of her youth, becomes wonderfully, gloriously, magnificently herself. Diana Wynne Jones wrote this decades ago, yet it remains “an absolute delight from start to finish” and the perfect first fantasy for readers of any age.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
In this gentle novella, a tea monk named Dex wanders the inhabited places of their moon, brewing custom blends for troubled souls. One day, a robot named Splendid Speckled Mosscap emerges from the wilderness—the first of its kind seen in centuries—to ask a deceptively simple question: “What do people need?”
There is no villain here, no world to save. There is only a road trip, a series of conversations, and the persistent, aching question of what makes a life worthwhile. Publishers Weekly called it “a cozy, wholesome meditation on the nature of consciousness.” It won the Hugo Award.
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
For those who prefer their coziness with a dash of adventure, there is Irene—a spy for the mysterious Library, an organization that exists to collect works of fiction from different realities. Her latest mission takes her to an alternate Victorian London filled with vampires, werewolves, and the dangerously capricious Fae.
Publishers Weekly compared Cogman’s work to Diana Wynne Jones and Neil Gaiman, noting she “writes with a vivacity and wittiness that breathes new life into the genre.” If you have ever wished Doctor Who were a book-obsessed librarian, this is what you’ve been waiting for.
Beware of Chicken by CasualFarmer
And now for something rather different—a young man finds himself reincarnated into a universe where martial artists cultivate supernatural powers through violence and competition. He decides, quite sensibly, that he would rather not. He buys some land, acquires chickens, and becomes a farmer.
The chickens, unfortunately, develop cultivation powers of their own. What follows is “cozy cultivation,” a genre you didn’t know you needed. With over twenty million views on Royal Road before its print publication, this has become a beloved example of how even the most action-focused genres can discover the joys of tending vegetables.
What Makes a Fantasy Truly Cozy?
The secret ingredient, if one must give it a name, is simply this: stakes that matter without mattering too much. Will the coffee shop succeed? Will the bookshop survive? Will the library be saved? These questions carry weight without carrying the burden of world-ending consequence.
Cozy fantasy offers magic seamlessly woven into everyday life—not as a tool for battle, but as a way to make better jam, to serve the perfect cup of tea, to communicate with one’s sentient spider plant assistant. The settings themselves become characters: cramped bookshops that smell of old pages, gardens bursting with magical plants, kitchens where something wonderful is always in the oven.
And always, always, there is found family. Strangers becoming friends becoming something like home.
Whichever title you choose first, dear reader, remember this: there is nothing frivolous about seeking comfort. In a world that can be rather harsh and hurried, these books offer something precious—the reminder that small joys are not small at all, that coffee and conversations and the company of friends (even demon cats) constitute a kind of magic all their own.
Now fetch a blanket, brew something warm, and begin.
