NEW YORK -- Brandon Sanderson, whose epic “Wind and Truth” is a highlight of the upcoming publishing season , sees nothing wrong with the idea of “escapism.”

“It's simply the ability to immerse oneself in another world and connect with the problems of others, issues that are different from our own. It's a truly valuable tool in our lives,” the fantasy novelist said to The Associated Press in a recent phone interview. Sanderson's fans have waited four years for “Wind and Truth,” the 1,300-page fifth volume in his “Stormlight Archive” fantasy series.

He acknowledges, with a mix of emotions, that some readers will complete the book relatively quickly.

“They will absolutely devour it in two days, which is both satisfying and a bit alarming,” he says. “You pour your heart and soul into something for so long, knowing that fans will finish it quickly and then ask, ‘When’s the next one?'”

The presidential election is expected to be a major focus in the news this fall, but booksellers are looking to Sanderson and other authors to maintain the momentum of fantasy and hybrid romantasy novels, which have been performing strongly in recent years. “Wind and Truth” is one of many highly anticipated releases, alongside Jeff VanderMeer's “Absolution,” Alan Moore's “The Great When,” Cecy Robson’s “Bloodguard” and Kerri Maniscalco’s “Throne of Secrets,” the second book in her “Prince of Sin” series.”

According to Circana, which monitors approximately 85% of retail sales, fantasy books have experienced consistent growth over the past five years. Since last summer, there has been a significant surge in sales, reaching nearly 75%. This upward trend is attributed in part to the million-selling romantasy authors Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros.

"The fantasy genre is the fastest-growing segment of the overall U.S. print book market," says Circana analyst Brenna Conner, who points to the reader-driven popularity of #BookTok as a significant contributor. "I also believe escapism plays a role as more readers seek out stories with elements of escapism to counter daily stress and fatigue from the news cycle."

At Barnes & Noble, senior director of books Shannon DeVito observes that fantasy has expanded and diversified, incorporating horror, romance, and mystery. She highlights Maas and Yarros, and upcoming releases such as Frances White's gay-themed “Voyage of the Damned,” John Gwynn's Norse-inspired “The Fury of the Gods” and Ann Liang's mythical “A Song to Drown Rivers."

"It's impervious to events,” DeVito says of fantasy and its subgenres. “It doesn't rely on current events.”

President Joe Biden's decision not to seek re-election may have little effect on the fantasy market, but it upended the fall campaign and left a void in the publishing schedule: No one had time to work up in-depth books on the Democrats' new nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris . The best chance for revelations likely comes from Bob Woodward's “War," which centers on Biden's handling of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, but also promises insights on Harris and the presidential race.

Publishers of books critical of President Biden are moving forward with their planned fall releases, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani ’s “The Biden Crime Family." Harris' Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, has a photo book titled “Save America," featuring the AP image of him injured and raising his fist after the assassination attempt in July. His wife, former first lady Melania Trump, is releasing her memoir, “Melania.” Donald Trump's estranged niece and bestselling author, Mary Trump, returns with more family stories in “Who Could Ever Love You."

H.R. McMaster, who served briefly as national security adviser during the Trump administration, has written “At War With Ourselves.” Onetime Trump opponent Hillary Clinton reflects on marriage, faith, and politics in the essay collection “Something Lost, Something Gained.” Project 2025 architect Kevin Roberts' “Dawn's Early Light,” for which GOP vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance wrote the foreword, has been delayed until just after the election amid Republican efforts to distance themselves from the controversial blueprint for a second Trump term. But pre-election readers can consider recommendations from Joel B. Pollak's “The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 50 Days,” with a foreword from Trump ally Steve Bannon.

Sally Rooney’s “Intermezzo” is a story of grief and sibling rivalry from the author known for the best sellers “Normal People” and “Conversations With Friends.” Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk 's “The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story” is the Polish's author variation of the Thomas Mann classic “The Magic Mountain.” Nobelist Annie Ernaux of France combines memoir and images in “The Use of Photography" and perennial Nobel candidate Haruki Murakami expands on an early short story for “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” which his Japanese publisher is calling “soul-stirring, 100% pure Murakami world.”

Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Powers ’ “Playground” explores themes ranging from climate change to artificial intelligence, while another Pulitzer winner, Louise Erdrich, sets “The Mighty Red” on a North Dakota beet farm during the economic recession of 2008. In “Tell Me Everything,” Pulitzer winner Elizabeth Strout returns to fictional Crosby, Maine, and such familiar characters from “Olive Kitteridge and ”Olive, Again" as the elderly title character and the scribe Lucy Barton.

“I never planned to write about them again. I think I keep returning to them because they are so very familiar to me,” Strout says. “They feel almost as real as actual people. I know they're not real people, but they feel like real people.”

John Edgar Wideman combines fiction, history and memoir in “Slaveroad,” and Rebecca Godfrey's “Peggy” is a fictional portrayal of the heiress-art collector Peggy Guggenheim that was completed by Leslie Jamison after Godfrey's death in 2022. New fiction is also being released by Richard Price, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Kate Atkinson, Janet Evanovich, Rachel Kushner, Richard Osman, Tova Reich, Paula Hawkins, Jami Attenberg and Rumaan Alam.

Margaret Atwood began her career as a poet and her verse is collected in “Paper Boat: New and Selected Poems: 1961-2023," while “Blues in Stereo” features early work from the late Langston Hughes. Prize winners Paul Muldoon, Kimiko Hahn and Matthew Zapruder all have collections coming out, along with new books from Billy Collins, Ben Okri, Kimiko Hahn, Frank X Walker and E. Hughes.

“Dear Yusef” is a tribute to the renowned poet Yusef Komunyakaa that includes contributions from Terrance Hayes, Major Jackson, and Sharon Olds. “Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology” compiles poetry from the 17th century to the present.

Like all pop culture phenomena, from the Beatles to “Star Wars,” Taylor Swift 's influence extends beyond a single art form. Her songs and her life have inspired young adult novels, children's books, and biographies, and the trend continues.

Katie Cotugno's “Heavy Hitter” is a romance novel about an athlete and a pop star, partially inspired by Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce, while “The 13 Days of Swiftness” is a picture book for holiday shoppers who can recite lines such as “12 strings for strumming” and “11 bracelets beaded.”

The anthology “Poems for Tortured Souls” features poetry from Emily Dickinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and other writers who seem to have shared Swift's emotional depth. Biographies and critical studies include the picture book “Taylor Swift: Wildest Dreams,” by Erica Wainer and Joanie Stone; and Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield's “Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music.”

Lisa Marie Presley 's “From Here to the Great Unknown” was nearly done before she died in 2023, and was completed by daughter Riley Keough . In “Didion and Babitz,” Lili Anolik draws upon newly discovered letters as she contrasts the California bards Joan Didion and Eve Babitz, who died within days of each other in 2021 and whose lives, Anolik documents, were more entwined than previously known.

Celebrity books also will include Cher's “The Memoir, Part One,” Al Pacino 's “Sonny Boy,” Josh Brolin's “From Under the Truck,” Kelly Bishop's “The Third Gilmore Girl” and Connie Chung's ”Connie." Pedro Almodóvar shares stores-allegories-musings in “The Last Dream” and Neneh Cherry looks back on her life and music in “A Thousand Threads.”

“Patriot” is a posthumous memoir from imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has written “Lovely One: A Memoir,” Malcolm Gladwell returns to familiar ground in “Revenge of the Tipping Point,” and Ta-Nehisi Coates examines the power of stories, and misinformation, in “The Message.”

Numerous books delve into racism in U.S. history and those who fought against it. David Greenberg's “John Lewis” is a biography of the late civil rights activist and congressman, while Wright Thompson's “The Barn" promises new information on the murder of Emmett Till. Russell Cobb's “Ghosts of Crook County,” like David Grann 's “Killers of the Flower Moon,” recounts the story of a white oil man in Oklahoma who seeks to steal Native property. In “The Black Utopians,” Aaron Robinson traces a century of planned communities and asks, “What does utopia look like in black?”