Imagine marrying the mega-selling romantasy trend with the ever-growing popularity of tarot. Picture a divination deck populated by characters from Rebecca Yarros's dragon-filled Fourth Wing novel in her Empyrean series, or perhaps one detailing the faerie worlds in Holly Black's Folk of the Air series.
No need to imagine. These licensed spinoffs will be in people's hands as soon as 2026 thanks to Running Press, the mind-body spirit publisher renowned for surfing popular culture waves. How many hands might that be? A recent Pew Research survey found that 11 percent of U.S. adults consult tarot cards at least once a year, including seven percent who say they deal a deck once or twice a month.
“Tarot is a timeless framework for storytelling and self-exploration, and we couldn’t be more excited to guide readers on that journey using the Fourth Wing characters and settings Rebecca Yarros has so brilliantly created,” says Running Press executive editor Shannon Kelly.
The 78-card Fourth Wing deck, to be released in fall 2026, is illustrated by Keri Ruediger, and the accompanying guide to it was developed with tarot writer Satu Hämeenaho-Fox. “It’s a celebration of story, symbolism, and the many ways readers can experience the Empyrean world.” says Justine Bylo, associate publisher for Entangled, Yarros’s publisher.
Kelly tells PW that their suite of novel tie-ins will include other authors as well. Black, a young adult fantasy fiction writer, will be first out of the gate in July 2026. RP is drawing on The Cruel Prince, her 2018 novel that inaugurated her Folk of the Air series. Along with Black's Faerie Tarot Deck and Guidebook will be a set of coloring postcards and a 1,000 piece puzzle.
Taking cues from pop culture
RP's high-spirited approach to the spirituality trend routinely plays on cultural celebrities, including Taylor Swift and her blockbuster Eras tour. Hence, RP will release The Eras Tarot: A Deck and Guidebook Tribute to the Magic of Taylor Swift (Unofficial and Unauthorized) on November 11. Two self-proclaimed Swifties, author Hämeenaho-Fox and illustrator Maddalena Carrai, reinterpreted the traditional tarot symbolism to play with all he touchstones in her lyrics such as a "soothing Temperance card suggesting, 'You Need to Calm Down'" according to the publisher.
Other unusual variations on tarot in the forthcoming RP lineup include Soul Tarot (May 2026) by Lindsay Mack with illustrations by Chelsea Grainger. It takes a unique non-gendered approach with no humans represented, just images from nature. A card for a king is, instead, an explosive volcano, a sign of energy and power, says RP editor Kate Anderson.
And hopping in later next year will be Fortunate Frogs, a deck created by British freelance illustrator Devon Short, who transformed all the suits in traditional decks into frogs, mushrooms, twigs, and even bugs. Frogs take the cover as "a touchstone in pop culture for a lot of people, particularly for the queer community, of which Devon is a part," says Anderson.
