Future Fiction #222 – 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


I’ve got most of my genre bases covered today: horror, science fiction & fantasy, take a look:


A haunted paleontologist returns to the museum where his sister was abducted years earlier and is faced with a terrifying and murderous spirit in this chilling novel from the author of A History of Fear—perfect for fans of Simone St. James and Katy Hays.

Curator of paleontology Dr. Simon Nealy never expected to return to his Pennsylvania hometown, let alone the Hawthorne Museum of Natural History. He was just a boy when his six-year-old sister, Morgan, was abducted from the museum under his watch, and the guilt has haunted Simon ever since. After a recent break-up and the death of the aunt who raised him, Simon feels drawn back to the place where Morgan vanished, in search of the bones they never found.

But from the moment he arrives, things aren’t what he expected. The Hawthorne is a crumbling ruin, still closed amid the ongoing pandemic, and plummeting toward financial catastrophe. Worse, Simon begins seeing and hearing things he can’t explain. Strange animal sounds. Bloody footprints that no living creature could have left. A prehistoric killer looming in the shadows of the museum. Terrified he’s losing his grasp on reality, Simon turns to the handwritten research diaries of his predecessor and uncovers a blood-soaked mystery 150 million years in the making that could be the answer to everything.

Are these the ravings of a madman? Or is there something supernatural at play? And what does this have to do with Morgan’s disappearance?

Another atmospheric mystery from Luke Dumas, The Paleontologist is a ghost story unlike any other that will haunt you long after you turn the final page.

The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas. Releases in December 2023 from Atria. Big thanks to Rebecca for putting this on my radar! This sounds like a fantastic, ghostly thriller. Although I do see the word “pandemic” in the blurb, and I’m really trying to stay away from anything Covid related. But hopefully it’s merely a background element and not the focus of the story.


No one escapes their past as the crew of the You Sexy Thing attempts to navigate the hazards of opening a pop-up restaurant and the dangers of a wrathful pirate-king seeking vengeance in Cat Rambo’s Devil’s Gun.

Life’s hard when you’re on the run from a vengeful pirate-king…

When Niko and her crew find that the intergalactic Gate they’re planning on escaping through is out of commission, they make the most of things, creating a pop-up restaurant to serve the dozens of other stranded ships.

But when an archaeologist shows up claiming to be able to fix the problem, Niko smells something suspicious cooking. Nonetheless, they allow Farren to take them to an ancient site where they may be able to find the weapon that could stop Tubal Last before he can take his revenge.

There, in one of the most dangerous places in the Known Universe, each of them will face ghosts from their past: Thorn attempts something desperate and highly illegal to regain his lost twin, Atlanta will have to cast aside her old role and find her new one, Dabry must confront memories of his lost daughter, and Niko is forced to find Petalia again, despite a promise not to seek them out.

Meanwhile, You Sexy Thing continues to figure out what it wants from life—which may not be the same desire as Niko and the rest of the crew.

Devil’s Gun by Cat Rambo. Releases in August from Tor Books. I was so happy to finally see this cover pop up on Goodreads. I really had fun with the first book in the series, You Sexy Thing, and I’m excited to read more about these characters:-)


The first book in a wildly entertaining new fantasy series from acclaimed author Josiah Bancroft where a married couple team up to solve magical, and often quite odd, mysteries.

The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.

But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake–going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven–the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent antiroyalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.

Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for whatever springs from the alleys, graves, and shadows next.

The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft. Releases in September from Orbit Books. I think a lot of readers are going to be excited about a new Josiah Bancroft book. I really enjoyed Senlin Ascends, although I never made it through the entire series, simply because of a lack of time. I’m eager to check out this new series!


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

Posted April 12, 2023 by Tammy in Future Fiction / 27 Comments

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27 responses to “Future Fiction #222 – Cover Reveals & Newly Discovered SFF Books

  1. I’m adding The Paleontologist to my TBR immediately. I’m here for it all, even the mention of the pandemic isn’t enough to stop me. I also try to stay away from anything Covid related. It’s bad enough to live through it, let alone read more about it. But still, this book sounds fantastic enough to make an exception.

    I still need to read the first book in the series but Devil’s Gun sounds like an amazing sequel. I love that the crew is opening a pop-up restaurant. For some reason that’s the last thing I expected from a scifi book but I’m here for it!

    The Hexologists is a totally new title to me but it sounds really good! The synopsis had me go ‘what the…’ at ever other sentence. It sounds like a crazy read but awesome nontheless. There’s a Madeline Miller quote on the cover so I’ll trust her judgement!
    Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Napoleon’s Spy by Ben KaneMy Profile

    • Tammy

      There’s a lot of food in Cat Rambo’s series, since they run a restaurant. I found that element so unique in the first book!

  2. I haven’ had the pleasure of reading Bancroft’s books – but I LOVE the sound of The Hexologists:)). And the Cat Rambo series sounds absolutely lovely – but for the fact that there doesn’t seem to be an ebook available on Amazon… Thank you for sharing these, Tammy – I’ll definitely be on the lookout for them!

    • Tammy

      That’s very strange about not having an ebook for Cat’s series. I hope they remedy that soon!

    • Tammy

      Exactly, I love the Simone St. James comparison, and I’ve heard really good things about his last book.

  3. The Paleontologist sounds good and scary! I think I’d check that one out, maybe the Hexologists too, although lately I don’t seem to have a ton of patience for learning the rules of new magical worlds.

  4. You Sexy Thing has a sequel! Nice! I look forward to trying Devil’s Gun. And thanks again, Tammy, for the giveaway last year. I really enjoyed You Sexy Thing.

  5. Oh quite the interesting group here! I think I would like You Sexy Thing, I need to get that one ASAP. And then this sequel of course! The Paleontologist sounds very intriguing, I am very curious! And I don’t mind pandemic stuff so bonus there heh. I… don’t think I even understand the synopsis of The Hexologists? I feel like it might be a little too much magic for me, but I do love the cover!
    Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…Reviews in a Minute: April 11th ReleasesMy Profile

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