Acquisition Announcement: HOPELESS NECROMANTIC by Shiloh Briar

It’s dead good romantasy: Orbit to publish Shiloh Briar’s Hopeless Necromantic.

Shiloh Briar’s debut is a fantasy novel with romance at its undead heart.

Necromantasy is the new romantasy in Hopeless Necromantic, a romantic debut fantasy for fans of Gideon the Ninth, Long Live Evil or Assistant to the Villain. A jaded necromancer and a demoness with anger issues must quest alongside each other to defeat an ancient evil. But which is more awkward: the gigantic crush they’re developing on each other, or the talking skeleton trying not to be a third wheel?

The story began online, where Briar published Hopeless Necromantic as an indie fantasy novel and also drew viral Tiktoks and Instagram reels featuring her characters. Orbit fell in love with the read, and plan to publish Hopeless Necromantic in Summer 2026.