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
Get ready to push the “Add to Goodreads” buttons on all of these, take a look:
Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.
Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.
So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.
But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.
It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all….
Seasonal Fears (Middlegame #2) by Seanan McGuire. Releases from Tor Books in May 2022. That blurb is frustratingly vague, and there isn’t any mention of Roger and Dodger, the two main characters from Middlegame. So I’m wondering if this is more of a companion novel than a true sequel? Hmmm. In any case, I loved Middlegame and I’m all over this, plus I love the cover and I think it works well with the first book:
Dark Crystal meets About a Boy in a thrilling race against the clock to save the world in this nostalgia-infused adventure.
Jack Corman is failing at life.
Jobless, jaded and on the “wrong” side of thirty, he’s facing the threat of eviction from his London flat while reeling from the sudden death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, a film Jack loved as a child, idolising its fox-like hero Dune.
But The Shadow Glass flopped on release, deemed too scary for kids and too weird for adults, and Bob became a laughing stock, losing himself to booze and self-pity. Now, the film represents everything Jack hated about his father, and he lives with the fear that he’ll end up a failure just like him.
In the wake of Bob’s death, Jack returns to his decaying home, a place creaking with movie memorabilia and painful memories. Then, during a freak thunderstorm, the puppets in the attic start talking. Tipped into a desperate real-world quest to save London from the more nefarious of his father’s creations, Jack teams up with excitable fanboy Toby and spiky studio executive Amelia to navigate the labyrinth of his father’s legacy while conjuring the hero within––and igniting a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do his father proud.
The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning. Releases in March 2022 from Titan Books. Damn, look at this cover! I’m flashing back to vintage 80s fantasy covers, movies and video games. And they picked the perfect font for the title, too. I’ve read one of Winning’s books and had a lot of fun with it (Vicious Rumer) and this sounds like so much fun! You can also read an excerpt here.
Glowing red lines split their faces. Shock-red hair and clothes warn people to flee their approach. They are plague birds, the powerful merging of humans and artificial intelligences who serve as judges and executioners after the collapse of civilization.
And the plague birds’ judgement is swift and deadly, as Crista discovered as a child when she watched one kill her mother.
In a world of gene-modded humans constantly watched over by benevolent AIs, everyone hates and fears the plague birds. But to save her father and home village, Crista becomes the very creature she fears the most. And her first task as a plague bird is hunting down an ancient group of murderers wielding magic-like powers.
As Crista and her AI symbiote travel farther from home than she ever imagined, they are plunged into a strange world where she judges wrongdoers, befriends other outcasts, and uncovers an extremely personal conspiracy that threatens the lives of millions.
Plague Birds is a genre-bending mix of science fiction and dark fantasy and the epic story of a young woman who becomes one of the future’s most hated creatures, with a killer AI bonded to her very blood.
Plague Birds by Jason Sanford. Releases in September 2021 from Apex Books. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a new book from Apex, I honestly thought they had stopped publishing novels. But this showed up on Instagram, maybe? And I think it sounds really good! Plus, killer cover!
You’re right about the blurb of Seasonal Fears being very vague but that way you might be surprised about the book? The Shadow Glass’ cover looks to be perfect for what it’s about. Gotta say I’m intrigued! I really love (and fear…) books about AI so Plague Birds sounds good to me too!
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Sometimes it’s better to have vague story blurbs, I agree!
You’re right about that cover and font for The Shadow Glass like, proper takes me back to the old school fantasy I read as a kid. And how sick is that cover art for Plague Birds?!!?
Apex always has amazing covers, I’m actually not that surprised how much I love Plague Birds.
Plague Birds sounds really good! I got a little chill just reading the blurb.
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I agree, and Apex is such a solid publisher, I’m really looking forward to it.
Plague Birds reminds me a lot of Scythe by Neal Shusterman!! I love that cover and definitely want to check it out.
The cover is what grabbed me too:-)
Seasonal Fears will be a companion novel! McGuire said that Roger and Dodger will only guest-star in it basically, and for a very short page count. But I love everything she writes (Middlegame included), so I don’t mind .
Actually, I beta-read Josh’s novel! It’s a blast!
Plague Birds sounds really good – I’ll keep it on my radar!
(All those covers are spectacular, aren’t they?).
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Oh so cool that you got to beta read Josh’s book! I can’t wait:-)
What a pretty bunch of covers! <3
I agree, it’s a pretty good cover week:-)
Holy crap, how awesome is that cover for The Shadow Glass?!?!
I know, I just about fell over when I saw it!
Seanan McGuire is another of those authors I’d like to try.
She is so prolific, and writes in so many different genres, there’s bound to be something you’d enjoy:-)
Ooh, I just saw the cover reveal for Seasonal Fears yesterday, and it does sound like it’s a companion rather than a sequel. (Which is good, I guess, so I don’t have to reread Middlegame!). I’m so excited, because any new Seanan McGuire book is an automatic yes for me!
Definitely good if you haven’t read Middlegame!
Omg, The Shadow Glass also has some Neverending Story vibes, as well. Also I’m really loving this VHS cover theme I’ve noticed around the place.
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It has a lot of different vibes, which makes me want to read it even more:-)
YAHHHH I am stoked about the Seasonal Fears cover!! Even the vague blurb has me hyped haha as it’s more info than we’ve got before. It is definitely a companion rather than sequel. I saw a thread Seanan did some time back about how she was concerned people would be disappointed because it’s not a book about Roger and Dodger (they make a cameo, iirc.)
Hopefully the new characters will be just as wonderful as Roger and Dodger…
Awesome picks this week – I love the look and sound of Shadow Glass.
Lynn 😀
Me too, I’m super excited for it:-)
Ooh, Plague Birds sound intriguing! Loving that cover, also.
I know, the cover grabs you, right?
The Shadow Glass one sounds really cool!
I’m so curious about it, it sounds crazy:-)
The Shadow Glass sounds great. The cover makes me think of Rocket Raccoon and Guardians of the Galaxy though, lol.
Me too!
Love the first cover, and I remember how eye catching the first book in that series was. Great picks this week!
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I agree, sometimes simple is better:-)
I’m looking forward to more from McGuire! Thanks dlfor sharing!
Me too, I’m always ready for a new book from her:-)
Seasonal Fears has such a pretty cover!!
I agree! It’s simple but it works.
That font on shadow Glass screams 80’s at me. I’m having visions of Secret of NIMH now or something! :):)
Ha ha me too!
Oh gosh, I guess this is my annual reminder that I really need to hurry and get through Middlegame before the *sequel* comes out. xD Oops.
I NEEEEED to read The Shadow Glass! Oh my goodness! Plague Birds, too. You were definitely right about hitting all those Want to Read buttons.
I’m chomping at the bit to read The Shadow Glass, I’m going to need a review copy:-)