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
Three cover reveals spotted this week!
In a botched demonic extraction, they say the demon feels it ten times worse than the man. But they don’t die, and we do. Equilibrium.
The unnamed and morally questionable narrator is an exorcist with great follow-through and few doubts. His methods aren’t delicate but they’re undeniably effective: he’ll get the demon out—he just doesn’t particularly care what happens to the person.
Prosper of Schanz is a man of science, determined to raise the world’s first philosopher-king, reared according to the purest principles. Too bad he’s demonically possessed.
Prosper’s Demon by K.J. Parker. Releases in January 2020 from Tor.com. OK, first THIS COVER. It makes me want to read this so badly! The blurb is vague, but I don’t mind that. Parker is a pseudonym for Tom Holt, and I’ve never read books by either author. I do love a good possession story…
From award-winning author Ken Liu comes his much anticipated second volume of short stories.
Ken Liu is one of the most lauded short story writers of our time. This collection includes a selection of his science fiction and fantasy stories from the last five years—sixteen of his best—plus a new novelette.
In addition to these seventeen selections, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories also features an excerpt from book three in the Dandelion Dynasty series, The Veiled Throne.
The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu. Releases in February 2020 from Gallery Books/Saga Press. I have to admit I included this mainly because I love this cover. But I know Liu is highly respected in the SF field and I feel terrible that I’ve never read any of his books. Perhaps these stories will be my first?
The critically acclaimed author of Lovecraft Country returns with a thrilling and immersive virtual reality epic—part cyberthriller, part twisted romantic comedy—that transports you to a world where identity is fluid and nothing can be taken at face value.
John Chu is a “sherpa”—a paid guide to online role-playing games like the popular Call to Wizardry. For a fee, he and his crew will provide you with a top-flight character equipped with the best weapons and armor, and take you dragon-slaying in the Realms of Asgarth, hunting rogue starships in the Alpha Sector, or battling hordes of undead in the zombie apocalypse.
Chu’s new client, the pseudonymous Mr. Jones, claims to be a “wealthy, famous person” with powerful enemies, and he’s offering a ridiculous amount of money for a comprehensive tour of the world of virtual-reality gaming. For Chu, this is a dream assignment, but as the tour gets underway, he begins to suspect that Mr. Jones is really North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, whose interest in VR gaming has more to do with power than entertainment. As if that weren’t enough to deal with, Chu also has to worry about “Ms. Pang,” who may or may not be an agent of the People’s Republic of China, and his angry ex-girlfriend, Darla Jean Covington, who isn’t the type to let an international intrigue get in the way of her own plans for revenge.
What begins as a whirlwind online adventure soon spills over into the real world. Now Chu must use every trick and resource at his disposal to stay one step ahead—because in real life, there is no reset button.
88 Names by Matt Ruff. Releases in March 2020 from Harper. I missed Ruff’s last book (Lovecraft Country) but I’m hoping to read his next book. I’m a big fan of his from back in the day, before blogging, and I’m curious to see what he’s writing these days.
Prosper’s Demon sounds interesting! Definitely looking forward to it 🙂
Me too, it sounds different!
I’ve read Sharps by Parker and it was fantastic. I can’t wait for Prosper’s War!
Oh cool, now I’m even more excited:-)
Ooh! Excited about the Ken Liu collection. And 88 Names sounds awesome!
88 Names does sound good, and I love Matt Ruff so this will be high on my “must read” list.
While I have not managed (yet) to enjoy The Grace of Kings, I always enjoyed Ken Liu’s short stories when I came across them, so this new collection will certainly be a “must” for my future acquisitions 🙂
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I will definitely be looking for your thoughts on Liu’s new collection when it comes out:-)
Prosper’s Demon sound pretty good as does 88 Names. You’ve discovered some great ones this week!
Thanks Barb! I’m really excited about Prosper’s Demon:-)
I didn’t request 88 Names, but I am so curious about it. It sounds so intriguing. Your other picks sound good as well. I hope you love them all! Enjoy your day!
I’m really tempted to request 88 Names, also I love the cover:-)
I love the cover of Prosper’s Demon! I keep picking up Matt Ruff books at my library sale, and have yet to start any (I think I have 3 on my shelves right now!). 88 Names sounds crazy and fun — I’m going to keep that one in mind!
I love Matt Ruff’s older books, and I’m so curious to see what he’s up to these days:-)
The first one has a really creepy cover! thanks for sharing these! The link to my Wednesday post is below!
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It is really creepy, isn’t it? I love it:-)
I hadn’t seen the cover of Prosper’s Demon before and… wow. I’m not sure what it is about, I don’t know the author and I’m not sure books about possession are for me either, but now I kind of want to read it and that’s a lot for a cover to do.
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That’s exactly what I thought when I saw it, I don’t really care what it’s about!
Once again, I love all these covers, but Hidden Girl is amazing! My eye goes right to it, and I love the colors.
Isn’t it cool? I’m helpless around multi-colored covers, I can stare at them all day:-)
The Hidden Girl and Other Stories is one I might be interested in. I haven’t tried that author yet.
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Me either, but he’s well loved, so I need to try something of his.
All these are new to me! And aw, the Ken Liu one is an anthology, I saw his name and was about to be all over it when I saw it was a short story collection. I can’t wait until he writes another novel!
I still haven’t read him, but he’s on my list for some day:-)
I swear I was ready to pre-order Prosper’s Demon the second I scrolled down and saw that cover–wow! Fortunately that little blurb also sounds really intriguing. 🙂 The Hidden Girl and Other Stories also sounds promising also. Great picks!
I’m going to need my own copy of Prosper’s Demon too:-)
Umm these are all amazing?? Especially Prosper’s Demon. That’s the kind of book that makes me think ‘I don’t care what this is about, I need it.’
Me too! I really don’t care what it’s about, I just want to hold that book in my hands:-)
I’ve not read anything by KJ Parker (Tom Holt) but I like the look of Prosper’s Demon, sounds like it has potential. And you can’t go wrong with a Ken Liu anthology. I’ve not yet tried one of his novels, but I’ve read a number of his short stories and enjoyed them all.
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I definitely want to try Liu’s short stories, since I haven’t read any.
Oh wow, I need Prosper’s Demon — that cover! And the premise!!
It’s intriguing, isn’t it? I definitely want my own copy:-)
All of these sound really intriguing. I hope you enjoy them all!
Thanks Tressa!
Prosper’s Demon sounds really cool. That cover is great too!
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I can’t stop looking at the cover:-)
I was also excited about the Ken Liu – and then saw it was a collection.
I love the sound of Prosper’s Demon – and what a creepy cover.
Lynn 😀
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Isn’t that cover cool? I know it’s going to give me nightmares…
Well, that K.J. Parker book has my attention, especially with that cover! A new Ken Liu collection! I’d prefer a novel but I’ll take what I can get, he’s such a fabulous writer in any form.
I need to read Liu! What do you think I should start with?
His short fiction is amazing. The Paper Menagerie is fantastic. I think it may also be online somewhere for free.
I really enjoyed his novel The Way of Kings alot despite my ups and downs with epic fantasy and military fiction. He was inspired both by Chinese mythology and folklore as well as Greek epics such as the Illiad. It’s a lot of political stuff and battle strategy. Friends to enemies, all that good stuff. I know some people had issues with the style of writing, felt it put them at too much a distance, but I didn’t have that issue. Ymmv. 🙂
Prosper’s Demon cover is so cool! I love it! Probably wouldn’t read the book though because I can’t do demon stories and exorcism. Seems very scary.
It does seem scary. I’ll try to read it so you don’t have to:-)