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
Today I have three very odd sounding novels to share. Of course, they are right up my alley! Take a look:
Return to the greatest contest in the galaxy in the sequel to the hilarious USA TODAY bestseller Space Opera from New York Times bestselling author and finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Ursula K. Le Guin awards.
The Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past returns and the fate of the Earth is once again threatened. The civilizations opposed to humanity have been plotting and want to take down the upstarts. Can humanity rise again in this sequel to the beloved Hugo Award–nominated national bestselling Space Opera by New York Times bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente?
Space Oddity (Space Opera #2) by Catherynne M. Valente. Releases in November 2023 from Gallery/Saga Press. Five years ago, Valente brought us Space Opera, and I had no idea it was destined to be a series. I had a lot of fun with it, so I’m definitely interested in reading the follow-up. Gotta love the nod to David Bowie…
Knock Knock, Open Wide weaves horror and Celtic myth into a terrifying, heartbreaking supernatural tale of fractured family bonds, the secrets we carry, and the veiled forces that guide Irish life.
Driving home late one night, Etain Larkin finds a corpse on a pitch-black country road deep in the Irish countryside. She takes the corpse to a remote farmhouse. So begins a night of unspeakable horror that will take her to the very brink of sanity.
She will never speak of it again.
Two decades later, Betty Fitzpatrick, newly arrived at college in Dublin, has already fallen in love with the drama society, and the beautiful but troubled Ashling Mallen. As their relationship blossoms, Ashling goes to great lengths to keep Betty away from her family, especially her alcoholic mother, Etain.
As their relationship blossoms, Betty learns her lover’s terrifying family history, and Ashling’s secret obsession. Ashling has become convinced that the horrors inflicted on her family are connected to a seemingly innocent children’s TV show. Everyone in Ireland watched this show in their youth, but Ash soon discovers that no one remembers it quite the same way. And only Ashling seems to remember its star: a small black goat puppet who lives in a box and only comes out if you don’t behave. They say he’s never come out.
Almost never.
When the door between the known and unknown opens, it can never close again.
Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson. Releases in September 2023 from Tor Nightfire. This sounds sort of messed up, in a good way. And wait, there’s a puppet? I haven’t recovered from the last puppet story I read, lol, but this should be fun. Plus I’m in love with the cover!
From the critically acclaimed author of Bunny comes a horror-tinted, gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother’s unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. Can she escape her mother’s fate—and find a connection that is more than skin deep?
For as long as she can remember, Belle has been insidiously obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother’s considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death. The stakes escalate when a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, offering a tantalizing clue about her mother’s demise, followed by a cryptic video about a transformative spa experience. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Méduse, the same lavish, culty spa to which her mother was devoted. There, Belle discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother’s) obsession with the mirror—and the great shimmering depths (and demons) that lurk on the other side of the glass.
Snow White meets Eyes Wide Shut in this surreal descent into the dark side of beauty, envy, grief, and the complicated love between mothers and daughters. With black humor and seductive horror, Rouge explores the cult-like nature of the beauty industry—as well as the danger of internalizing its pitiless gaze. Brimming with California sunshine and blood-red rose petals, Rouge holds up a warped mirror to our relationship with mortality, our collective fixation with the surface, and the wondrous, deep longing that might lie beneath.
Rouge by Mona Awad. Releases in September 2023 from S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books. I still haven’t read Bunny, although I have at least two copies on my bookshelves, lol. Wow does this sound good or what? This one is firmly on my TBR:-)
Interesting choices… although I don’t know that I’d specifically seek out any one of these (although once you read and review them, perhaps I’ll be more interested!). I had so looked forward to reading Space Opera when it came out, but couldn’t get past the first few chapters, so sadly, despite the Bowie reference, I may have to pass on Space Oddity.
Space Opera is a weird one, I’ll admit. I didn’t completely love it, but I want to see what she does with a sequel.
Knock Knock Open Wide sounds *so creepy*, but I dig it!!
It does, that’s probably why it’s calling to me…
Oooh! All of these covers look beautiful, especially the space one!
Ronyell (a.k.a Rabbitearsblog) recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday #216: In Nightfall by Suzanne Young and Chaos and Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland
I love that cover too!
I kind of can’t believe you haven’t read Bunny. So many people love it, I’m just not included in that group. I love the cover and sounds of Knock Knock Open Wide and can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Me either! I know it’s one of those books I’ll either love or hate, lol.
Some interesting reads. 🙂
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I agree, it’s a weird bunch!
Yup, you’ve certainly picked an interesting mix this week. 🙂
Maybe that’s why this post isn’t getting the usual traffic for Future Fiction, lol:-)
WELP, looks like I need every single one of these! I need to read the first Space Opera book still, but I know I’ll love it so. I love messed up so I am absolutely here for the last two as well! Thanks for putting them on my radar!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…Reviews in a Minute: The Dawn of March
It’s hard to keep up with all the upcoming releases, I feel like 2023 is just exploding with them!
David Bowie came to mind as soon as I read that first title. All three of these sound really good!
Also the lightning bolt, it’s obviously a David Bowie reference:-)
Knock Knock Open Wide sounds great. Thanks for introducing me!
It does sound great, I hope we both get to read it!
Rouge sounds interesting, I don’t know how I’ve never heard of Bunny before!
I’m surprised you haven’t heard of Bunny, I feel like it’s almost a cult book by now:-)
Damn Rouge seems intense and frightening!
Doesn’t it? I’m intrigued:-)
Rouge is the one of this week’s pick that has caught my eye. I have to be in the mood of Catherynne M. Valente – and right now, I’m not. Thank you for sharing:).
Valente is definitely a mood, ha ha.
Has it really been 5 years since Space Opera came out? Wow.
Jennifer | Book Den recently posted…Recent Updates and Currently Reading | March 5
Space Oddity and Rouge both sound very interesting.
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