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Dryad Books | Online SFF Bookshop

@dryadbookshop

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UK-Based Independent Bookshop 🌲🏹🏳️‍🌈
Fantasy • Horror • Sci-Fi • Speculative • Folklore
📦 Free Gift-Wrapping & Eco-Friendly Packaging

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Are you ready for an adventure? Our 2026 merch mini collection is available now, featuring exclusive artwork from award-winning illustrator @pigeonxperson 🪿🍄🌳

Join a rag-tag group of adventurers on a quest to uncover the lost bookshop of the forest. Introducing…
🪻 Bertilak, the druidic gentle giant
📜 Mishka, the bookish gnome artificer
⚔️ Kleio, the noble wood elf knight (who you may recognise from our bookmarks!)
…and their fearless sprite forest guide, Pebble!

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TOTES: Our new totes are the perfect companion for all quests great and small, whether you’re venturing through a forest or heading to the bookshop (Or, in the case of these courageous adventurers: both!)

ENAMEL PIN: Armed with their trusty lantern, Pebble is always ready to be your guide and shine a light on the darkest forest paths! Made from hard enamel, this limited edition pin is the perfect addition to any pin collection.

STICKER: Another item starring Pebble! This sticker is waterproof, low residue, and is printed with a clear background. Better yet? Purchase a tote before April 7th, and you’ll receive one for free with your order.

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CHARITY: For all future artist collaborations, we plan to donate a percentage of the proceeds to a charity of the artist’s choice. With our 2026 merchandise, we’re delighted to be donating 10% of proceeds to Good Law Project, an organisation that uses the law to stand against hate and remind us that “injustice is not inevitable.” Find out more about Good Law Project and their current campaigns by visiting @goodlawproject

BOOKSHOP FUND: The remaining percentage of the profits will go towards our brick-and-mortar bookshop fund. It’s always been our dream to be able to offer an in-person experience, and we’re getting a little bit closer every day!

🌱

So, what do you think of the new merch? Are you eager for more artist collaborations in the future? Let us know how you’re feeling! 🤭 by @dryadbookshop

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4 months ago

If you like your fantasy action-packed, D&D-esque, served with a side of killer wasps and a splash of existential horror, you’ll love This is Where The Future Bleeds — our book of the month for July! 🗡️🐝

New from @mikebrooks668, This is Where the Future Bleeds is a thrilling, queer adventure packed with laughs, escapes and kick-ass action, about a smart-talking bunch of rogues and dropouts being thrust into an epic quest to save the future and meddle with the destinies of empires. Full synopsis below ⬇️

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Copies will come with bookplates kindly signed by the author! However, the post room gremlin has unfortunately struck again, so we’ve had to send another round of bookplates out for signing. We’re aiming to ship copies by the end of the month (delivery service eldritch horrors permitting 🦑📦)

(If you’re a BOTM subscriber and waiting on your copy, thank you again for your endless patience and enthusiasm. As soon as the bookplates arrive, your copies will be flying out to you!)

Signed bookplates are limited, so be sure to head over to our website to find out more and preorder your copy.

🏹

Kitt Carver is one of the best diviners in the business at finding destinies for the rich and powerful. When she’s nearly killed, and her regular broker is murdered, it becomes clear someone has an issue with the last destiny she found.

Determined not to let anyone else die, Kitt gathers a mismatched group – including Two Tongue Derna, her childhood friend and now a renowned street duellist, and Sulian the Swallowmage, powerful but plagued with intrusive visions of futures – and sets off across the Timeless Lands to warn the destiny’s recipient.

However, unbeknownst to Kitt, she has her own destiny; one which might spell disaster for everyone.

#epicfantasy #fantasybookrecs #lgbtqreads #indiebookshop #bookshopuk by @dryadbookshop

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2 days ago

“My name is not Kim, it’s Kiamling. It means Sword Spirit. I was forged to cut down the undead.” 🧟‍♀️🗡️

If you put…
🗡️ Buffy
🗡️ Babel
🗡️ and K-Pop Demon Hunters
…in a blender, you’d get Eliza Chan’s upcoming historical supernatural fantasy, Harbour of Hungry Ghosts! 👻

Harbour publishes on 28th July, and Eliza has kindly send us some signed bookplates to pop into orders. Be sure to pre-order your copy at Dryad Books to snap one up! 🧚🏹

Unsure? Here’s the synopsis:
The Au family serve the people of Hong Kong: blessing shrines, honouring the dead and dealing with dangerous monster incursions. The expectations on eldest daughter Kiamling are high, which is not something her strict grandmother will let her forget.

When the British disrupt the Hungry Ghosts festival and her grandmother is seized by a strange new monster, Kiamling must step up and lead the search. She is aided by unexpected allies: Archie, an earnest civil servant, Hoi gor, childhood sweetheart turned merchant-pirate and Jingling, her younger sister keeping secrets of her own. Kiamling must figure out who is behind the incursion and more importantly, how to defeat them.

With British fables mingling with local Chinese monsters, can Kiamling prove herself, when the old rules no longer seem to apply?

#fantasybooks #harbourofhungryghosts #fantasybookstagram #indiebookshop by @dryadbookshop

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3 days ago

🏰🌳✨ Fantasy Forest 2026 ✨🌳🏰

What an incredible three days! This was our third year attending Fantasy Forest @fanforfest at Sudeley Castle, and I swear it gets better every year 🧚

We had so many wonderful visitors to our stall — a huge, huge thank you to everyone who stopped by!

On Saturday, we had an amazing signing with @samparksbooks 🧚 The queue was out the door at times and we entirely sold out of her wonderful Roll for Romance series! Missed out? Keep your eyes on our socials, as we have a special giveaway coming soon 👀

We also had an exciting surprise visit from @naomiishiguro, whose adult debut, The Rainshadow Orphans, came out earlier this year (and is fantastic!) 🐉🌧️

And, (continuing the trend of me forgetting to ask for a photo with her every year 🫣) @alexandradawe came to sign a few copies of The Stitchwort Curse for us! Thank you, Alex! 🕸️🕷️

We can’t wait to do it all again next year! See you soon! ☺️

#fantasyforestfestival #indiebookshopuk #fantasybooks #fantasyforest2026 taken in Fantasy Forest, Sudeley Castle by @dryadbookshop

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5 days ago

It’s almost time for @fanforfest !!!! ✨ I love this festival so much that I wrote about it in 2 of my books 🙈 @dryadbookshop has your hookup for preorders of my Roll for Romance books, but even if you don’t preorder, please please come say hi!! #fantasyforest #renfaire #authorsigning by @dryadbookshop

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12 days ago

We've got an exciting pre-order promotion to share with you all! ✨

We've partnered with x5 wonderful indie bookshops across the UK to offer a fun pre-order exclusive for Homeward for a Spell, the delightful new queer romantasy from @jamiepacton and @beccapodos!

If you pre-order your copy before 17th August from:
✨@the.other.world.books
✨@proudgeekbookshop
✨@dryadbookshop
✨@queerlituk
✨@badgirlbooksuk

You'll receive:
✨Signed bookplate
✨A gorgeous A5 character art print
✨Custom TTPRG Game card

Check out our linktree in our bio to order! by @dryadbookshop

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20 days ago

The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance is out TOMORROW 🎉

That means that you have just twelve hours left to preorder and receive a signed bookplate and art print with your order! 📚 Link in bio!

Hardbacks are due to be delivered this afternoon and I’m waiting eagerly by the front door 🚚😂

⚔️🫖📖

Mount Vengeance is legendary, a monumental climb with a dragon at its peak.

For most, it’s an adventure, or a quest to prove themselves worthy of fame and glory.
For Ainsworth, it’s perfect thesis material.

Ainsworth is an ambitious research fellow and up-and-coming historian, finally ready to make his mark on the world. When his supervisor learns of the rumoured Misnich Inn at the foot of Mount Vengeance, she sends Ainsworth to be the first to document the exploits of the bold adventurers who seek to face the perils of the mountain and the dragon said to inhabit it.  The inn is far from the sophisticated city life he’s grown to love, but even as he grudgingly warms to its rustic charm—and its lovely innkeeper, Honey—the mystery of the mountain refuses to reveal itself. Worse, Ainsworth can’t find evidence that anyone has ever undertaken the climb. Even the bravest warriors who stay at the inn turn away from Mount Vengeance the next day.  With Ainsworth’s reputation on the line, he can’t allow this mystery to remain unsolved—even if he has to push the adventurers up the mountain himself.

#independentbookshop #cosyfantasy #preordercampaign by @dryadbookshop

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20 days ago

QOTD: If you could have a magic power associated with any type of weather, what would it be? ☀️⚡️☃️

Our book of the month for June is the Yoruba-inspired epic fantasy, Firstborn of the Sun by @justmarvewrites — and, honestly, we couldn’t have picked a more appropriate book for this weather! 🥵☀️

Copies are on the way to our lovely monthly book of the month subscribers! And we now have a few of extras available now on our website, complete with a signed bookplate and a glorious art print featuring the main characters 😍

More info needed? Here’s the synopsis:

In the Kingdom of Oru, L’ore has a secret. She is the only one without agbára – the ability to harness power from the sun. On pain of death she must conceal it from everyone. Including her best friend, Alawani.

But when the gods declare Alawani an Àlùfáà High Priest – a great honour where he will serve the gods and the Kingdom – he must be stripped of his power in a brutal trial likely to kill him. Unwilling to bear his death, L’ore vows to rescue him.

When she desperately attempts to channel agbára an icy shadow magic instead pours from her hands; a power she learns originated from a forbidden, secret land beyond Oru.

In this place, she and Alawani must seek sanctuary from those pursuing them. But soon they will discover a secret that could bring the kingdom to its knees…

#fantasybookrecs #firstbornofthesun #indiebookshop #signedbooks by @dryadbookshop

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I was putting together a ‘cosy fantasy summer’ recommendation stack… but realised quickly it would also be accurate to call it a ‘fantasy small business ownership’ stack 😌😂

There is a lot of overlap between cosy fantasy and protagonists running their own shop/business. It’s not always the focus, but I do find the overlap interesting.

Is it just because writers find independent employment (whether the depiction is true to life or wildly inaccurate) easier to write about? Is it a way to have the protagonist meet many interesting people and become ingrained in their community — something we feel so deprived of today? Is it because the idea of existing by your own terms in a suffocating capitalistic world is incredibly alluring?

Maybe it’s all three. Maybe it’s none of the above. Or maybe authors just hate their boss and like coffee shops.

Books featured below —

🌱 Books & Bewitchment by Isla Jewell

🌱 Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Not pictured but definitely fits here: Legends & Lattes!)

🌱 Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos

🌱 Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn E. England

🌱 The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance by Chiara Bullen (Upcoming! Preorder from us to get an exclusive print and signed bookplate 🐉)

🌱 Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher

🌱 Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife by Deston J. Munden

To find more information on all of these titles and order your copy, head over to dryad-books.co.uk 🏹

#cosyfantasy #romantasy #indiebookshop #legendsandlattes #tkingfisher by @dryadbookshop

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a month ago

Happy Publication day to The Someday Garden by @heyashposton! 🌸🌻🪻

We’ve received the most beautiful independent bookshop exclusive editions of this whimsical romance — and just in time for indie bookshop week! 🌱

Stock is limited, so head over to our website to score your copy…

The indie bookshop edition features:
🌱 Floral sprayed edges
🌱 A signed bookplate
🌱 A lovely letter from the author! (I’ve never seen this in an indie exclusive before and I think it’s just wonderful!)

🌱 Here’s the blurb…

Sophie Drear never expected to fall in love. But over a summer in Maine, she does: with the dazzling flowers and the towering hedge maze of Lilymoor House.

But then, a door appears. Never in the same place twice. Leading only to a dishevelled garden, and a beguiling thundercloud of a man, confined inside.

Battling with the vines – just as much as she is with Lilymoor’s owner’s two inconveniently handsome nephews – Sophie knows that she is the only person who can help Lilymoor bloom again. But when you’re stuck between the men on the outside, and the one trapped within, can the seeds of romance bloom into something more…?

#romancebooks #indiebookshop #exclusiveedition by @dryadbookshop

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a month ago

Happy Pride Month! ✨🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Need some reading inspo? Here’s a selection of wonderful paperbacks from queer writers…

✨ Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by August K. England
Stardew Valley meets cosy fantasy, in which a former (and unwilling) villains hench-person starts anew in a small town.

✨ This Princess Kills Monsters by Ry Herman
A princess with a mostly useless magical talent takes on a madcap quest to save a kingdom.

✨ Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop.

✨ Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
A timely and provocative look at the power of youth, protest and art in this YA magical realist novel.

✨ Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell
A sapphic romantasy set in the aftermath of a war between vampires, humans, and the gods that created them.

✨ Queer as Folklore by Sacha Coward
A non-fiction celebration of queer history and storytelling

✨ Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews
An atmospheric YA novel in which two boys must battle the monsters they’ve unwittingly brought to life through their nightmarish illustrations.

✨ The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
A genre blending novel following a man. trained from a young age to assassinate a prominent spiritual leader, who escapes into a supernatural city.

✨ Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers
In a post-Utopian world, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot seeking an answer to the question: “what do people need?”

✨ City of Others by Jared Poon
An urban fantasy full of workplace found family, queer romance, and supernatural creatures from Southeast Asian lore.

✨ Human Rites by Juno Dawson
The final instalment in Dawson’s explosive Her Majesty’s Royal Coven series, packed full of witches, deadly prophecies and perilous bargains.

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All books — plus the Read Queer Books mug! — are available at Dryad Books! 🏹

We also have hundreds of other fantastic LGBTQIA+ books to choose from, so make sure to have a browse at dryad-books.co.uk/lgbt 🌈

#pride2026 #queerbooks #pridebookstack by @dryadbookshop

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