Future Fiction #284 – Cover Reveals & Newly Discovered SFF Books

Welcome to Future Fiction, my reimagining of the Waiting on Wednesday meme! There are so many amazing new books coming out, that I can no longer pick just one. My goal with Future Fiction is to share at least three new books each week, a combination of recent cover reveals and books that I’ve recently added to my TBR pile. I’m still going to be linking up with Wishful Endings/Can’t Wait Wednesday, and I also want to give a shout out to Jill at Breaking the Spine for starting the original Waiting on Wednesday meme. I hope you’ll find some new books to add to your TBR piles, and as always, I look forward to hearing what YOU’RE looking forward to:-D

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Two fantasies and a horror book, and three new covers, take a look:

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From Vulture‘s “master of horror” Clay McLeod Chapman, a relentless and emotionally charged social horror novel about a family on the run from a demonic possession epidemic that spreads through media, for fans of The Last of Us and When Evil Lurks

Noah Fairchild has been losing his formerly polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reawakening” is here, he assumes it’s related to one of the many conspiracy theories she believes in. But when his own phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the long drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles, a fridge full of spoiled food, and his parents locked in a terrifying trance-like state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it and get medical help.

Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him.

But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart-–literally-–as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend watching particular channels, using certain apps, or visiting certain websites. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn–-but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?

This ambitious, searing novel from “one of horror’s modern masters” holds a mirror to our divided nation, and will shake readers to the core.

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman. Releases in January 2024 from Quirk Books. I was thrilled to see the U.S. cover revealed last week, and it’s really creepy! Clay always comes up with original story ideas, and I look forward to his take on what appears to be a horror story based on “fake news.”

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‘You fear the forest.. It is not foolish.’ His words rang like bells in the clearing, each face reacting to their din. ‘But the forest does not hate you, it does not hunt you. It simply does not care about you.’

The Forester known as Cahan led the village of Harn in rebellion against the all-powerful, oppressive forces of the Rai. A great victory was won, but to avoid retaliation, he must now lead the people of Harn into the forest.

Cahan never wanted this responsibility, but fate and his gods have conspired against him. Without him, the people will be helpless against the great beasts and poisonous traps of the forest – not to mention worse things that dwell there. A corruption grows in the fungi and decay of the Wyrdwood, a magic unlike any Cahan has ever seen – can he resist its deadly pull, while avoiding his pursuers, and trying to turn his charges into true people of the Wyrdwood?

Warlords of Wyrdwood is book two in a new fantasy trilogy set within the bounds of a forest straight out of darkest folklore – with outlaws fighting an evil empire and warring deities. RJ Barker is the British Fantasy Society Award-winning author of The Bone Ships and Age of Assassins.

‘ An experienced novelist at the top of his game – this is Avatar meets Dune, on shrooms’ Five stars from SFX on Gods of the Wyrdwood

‘A sweeping story of destiny and redemption. Weighty, deliberate, tender and brutal, this is a big, wonderful book and an utterly involving read’ Daily Mail on Gods of the Wyrdwood

Warlords of Wyrdwood (Forsaken #2) by R.J. Barker. Releases in September 2024 from Orbit Books. I loved the first book in the series, Gods of the Wyrdwood, and I’m looking forward to diving back into Barker’s amazing world!

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A mother must fight for her daughter’s life in this fierce and haunting tale of witchcraft and revenge from the author of A Haunting in the Arctic.

Clem gets a call that is every mother’s worst nightmare. Her nineteen-year-old daughter Erin is unconscious in the hospital after a hiking trip with her friends on the remote Orkney Islands that met a horrifying end, leaving her boyfriend dead and her best friend missing. When Erin wakes, she doesn’t recognize her mother. And she doesn’t answer to her name, but insists she is someone named Nyx.

Clem travels the site of her daughter’s accident, determined to find out what happened to her. The answer may lie in a dark secret in the history of the Orkneys: a woman wrongly accused of witchcraft and murder four centuries ago. Clem begins to wonder if Erin’s strange behavior is a symptom of a broken mind, or the effects of an ancient curse?

The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke. Releases in October 2024 from Berkley. I had no idea this was a thing, so I’m glad I spotted it on NetGalley! A Haunting in the Artic is one of my favorite books of 2024, and now I’ll read anything Cooke writes. This sounds very different but I’m here for it:-)

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What do you think of this week’s Future Fiction picks? Let me know in the comments!