In these fantasy novels, witches’ brews, magical potions, and deadly poisons might just save the world—or end it.

In honor of cauldron season, might I interest you in a range of poisons, potions, and brews in fantasy novels?
Riding the line between cooking and chemistry, a classic magic brew is a respected form of world-building in the fantasy genre. However, the art of creating poisons, potions, and brews in fantasy is not entirely mythic; instead, it takes inspiration from real-life processes and dials them up to 11 to explore the ways we think about bodily health.
It is unsurprising that in literature, witches’ brews, magical potions, and deadly poisons have often served as the jumping-off point for epic poems, plays, and novels alike. There is something fundamental that stretches across time and continents about mixing ingredients to create a new thing that can radically improve your well-being—or have deadly consequences.
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In the wake of a global pandemic that continues to impact the world, it is only reasonable that a steady wave of books featuring poisons, potions, and brews in fantasy has come out. After all, haven’t we all relied on modern medicine to drastically change our lives? I believe there is a real connection between our literary obsessions and our lived reality, and in this case, we are working through our collective desire to find cures for the things that ail us and understand the poisons that threaten our lives.
So, without further ado, here are ten fantasy books featuring poisons, potions, and brews.
Bracken’s adult fantasy debut is stunningly sensuous and sinister, as one woman’s fight for freedom changes the fate of the kingdom. When a murder leaves the crown vulnerable, royal spymaster Hugh Thornton seeks out the only person who can help him get to the bottom of things: Viola Lockwood. As the last living member of the House Rosebourne, Viola is the last person with the ability to infuse fragrance with magic. Viola knows she needs Hugh’s favor once he outmaneuvers her, so she agrees to use her ability to manipulate the hearts, minds, and actions of others in his hunt. The perfumer and the spymaster might just risk everything in the process.
As a healer, Anja has spent years studying poisons of all kinds. So, when the king summons her to figure out how to save his daughter, Snow, she is confused but answers the call. With the help of her guard and an oddly helpful cat, Anja discovers something impossible: the princess has been entering a silver world that mirrors her own, and it’s killing her. Now she is rushing against a clock to figure out a way to save Snow and find an ultimate cure for the danger that lies at the heart of the mirrored world. Kingfisher has quite a few books that fall into this category, but her menacing Snow White reimagining is dangerously enchanting.
In this epistolary cozy romantasy, two unlikely individuals find a way to save a struggling apothecary. When Josie Pinova is fired, she manages to find a job to pay the bills while she waits on her Institute of Magic acceptance. Aufidius Reid hired Josie, but her endless charm chips away at his patience as his shop’s business declines. He doesn’t suspect she is the same woman he’s been writing to for months on their mutual quest to attend the Institute. But with growing industrialization and anti-magic sentiment, the shop and their dreams may soon disappear. They will have to work together if they want a chance to create the kinds of spells that matter.
When Terlu Perna cast a spell to create a leafy companion to cure her loneliness, she was punished for practicing forbidden magic. Cursed to live as a wooden statue in a dusty library, she thought her life was over until she woke up on an island with endless magical greenhouses. With only a terse gardener for help, Terlu finds herself oddly comfortable rehabilitating her humanity. When she discovers the magic that sustains the greenhouses is failing, she does everything she can to help save her new home, even if it means practicing the very magic that stopped her former life.
In an alternate L.A., crime syndicates’ alchemy supplies the world’s elites’ appetite for a drug that helps them achieve perfection. Grand Central and Lumines have always controlled the black market, doing whatever is required to become the market leader. A childhood friendship becomes star-crossed when they are selected to become alchemists for opposing syndicates. Sam knows that achieving power in Grand Central will allow her to escape poverty. Ari was hand-picked to become a Lumines apprentice, leaving behind his family in the process. As war approaches, the alchemists who’ve already sacrificed so much will have to determine how far they will go for ambition.
At thirteen, Lore escaped being sacrificed at the hands of a cult with the very death magic that continues to threaten her life. To escape the cult’s notice for the last decade, she’s run poisons to stay alive until the day she’s caught by the warrior-monks. Now, King August wants Lore to figure out the cause of the mysterious deaths ripping through the country. Choosing between a new government job and death, Lore chooses to accept the job. But as she gets to the bottom of the deadly mystery, she begins to uncover dangers at the heart of court that threaten the new life she is building.
When five assassins teamed up to steal the immortal crown from the god king, everyone thought they were doomed to fail. Together, three unlikely duos travel across an empire to do the impossible. Now, the poison maiden and the son of her indenture holder, the thief and her bodyguard, and the king’s spymaster and an exiled prince will risk everything to change the world order. But journeying together, they begin to realize killing a dictator might just mean replacing one monster with something far worse in Corland’s Korean-inspired fantasy series.
Ambrose Beake hates the kind owner of the new potion shop across the street…and the challenge his business represents. From his apprenticeship to ownership, Ambrose has worked in the same potion shop, perfecting his scholarship and craft without worrying about customer service. But when Eli’s smile and salesmanship steal customers, Ambrose begins to rethink his approach. Eli is betting that his discounts will drive enough business to keep him open. When the mayor’s upcoming commission offers them both a way to stay afloat, these two rivals work together, discovering chemistry that could change their lives forever.
Glover’s 1960’s historical fantasy asks readers to imagine what would happen if engineers had magic to help the US win the space race. Cynthia Rhodes is a leading arcane engineer at Ainsworth Research Labs whose understanding of math and magic helps her host a magical educational show. When a cursed museum curator interrupts her latest broadcast, Cynthia teams up with a professor of arcane archeology to investigate the oddity. Their investigation goes off the rails quickly when one of Cynthia’s coworkers dies in a lab accident, further threatening their progress in the space race. Now they will have to put their brains to the test if they want to uncover the truth.
Living as a scholar and a healer, Magdalena Overmorrow has dedicated her life to women’s reproductive freedom, risking her life in the process. When her supposedly wicked deeds are uncovered, she faces certain banishment. Magda thought her life was over before she met the Lord Proctor prior to her trial. The priest is younger and surprisingly open-minded for a man so stoic. She may have a chance at survival if her tentative alliance with the Lord Proctor holds up to serious pressure.
After serving up poisons, potions, and brews in fantasy, I’m sure you’re ready for more books to read. You should try picking up these SFF Books Set at Schools, these Mundane Fantasy Novels, and these Sci-Fi and Fantasy Mystery Novels.
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