Future Fiction #226 – 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


Here’s a group of unusual sounding speculative fiction choices, take a look!


When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.

Moscow has resurrected the mammoth, but someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out, again.

The late Dr. Damira Khismatullina, the world’s foremost expert in elephant behavior, is called in to help. While she was murdered a year ago, her digitized consciousness is uploaded into the brain of a mammoth.

Can she help the magnificent creatures fend off poachers long enough for their species to take hold?

And will she ever discover the real reason they were brought back?

A tense eco-thriller from a new master of the genre.

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler. Releases in January 2024 from Tordotcom. OK this story sounds CRAZY, and I absolutely love the cover. Naylor wrote The Mountain in the Sea, a book on my backlist “must read” list, and I’m anxious to read both books.


Following the bestselling The Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi returns with Starter Villain, another unique sci-fi caper set in the strangest of all worlds, present-day Earth.

Inheriting your mysterious uncle’s supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.

Sure, there are the things you’d expect. The undersea volcano lairs. The minions. The plots to take over the world. The international networks of rivals who want you dead.

Much harder to get used to…are the the sentient, language-using, computer-savvy cats.

And the fact that in the overall organization, they’re management…

Starter Villain by John Scalzi. Releases in September 2023 from Tor Books. I have to admit, when I saw the cover reveal for Starter Villain, I thought it was a joke. I mean, what a ridiculous cover! But knowing Scalzi, I have a feeling the cover will be perfect, as I’ve seen some early reviewers using the word “ridiculous” to describe this story. I cannot wait!


In 1937, American circuses are trying to recoup the losses they incurred during the Great Depression while competing with newer forms of entertainment like movie theaters. Kate Montgomery travels to the small town of Brixton Hill to scout a new act for her father’s struggling circus. Lewis Oswald, a trainer and friend of Kate’s family, introduces her to the Shadow Dancers, three young girls who can make their shadows dance independently of their bodies. While the act would revive her family’s circus, Kate is horrified by the young women’s dismal training and living conditions. She wants to help them escape their dreadful situation, but when the Shadow Dancers take matters into their own hands, she’ll have to save herself.

The Shadow Dancers of Brixton Hill by Nicole Willson. Releases in June 2023 from Cemetery Gates Media. I read Willson’s Tidepool a few years ago and loved it, so I was very excited to see she has a new book coming out soon. And a book about circuses, no less! I can’t wait for this one:-)


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

Posted May 10, 2023 by Tammy in Future Fiction / 15 Comments

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15 responses to “Future Fiction #226 – Cover Reveals & Newly Discovered SFF Books

  1. The Tusks of Extinction. Just… WOW! That synopsis was unlike anything I could’ve imagined for myself that this book would be about. At the point of While she was murdered a year ago… I kept going what? what? WHAT? I’m definitely very intrigued now!

    Scrolling down and seeing that cover of Starter Villain was also rather unexpected. But I loooove the description of the book. Especially this part, “Inheriting your mysterious uncle’s supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.” It sounds like so much fun!

    The Shadow Dancers of Brixton Hill also sounds incredible! I love the era it’s set in and that it’s about a circus. This can also be an excellent (and creepy) read, I think!
    Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Can’t-Wait Wednesday: A Day of Fire: A Novel of PompeiiMy Profile

  2. Great choices this week. I need to read a Scalzi book. I actually have a few on my shelves. Also, I don’t know if I can pass up a book about a mammoth. I’ve always loved them. Wasn’t Mr. Snuffleupagas on Sesame Street a Mammoth?

  3. I’ve already preordered Starter Villain!! I mean, anything by Scalzi is a must for me at this point. I have my eye on The Tusks of Extinction too — I picked up a copy of the author’s octopus book recently (and have a friend who’s been raving about it), but haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Shadow Dancers sounds great too!!

  4. Oh my goodness – you’ve surpassed yourself this week, Tammy:)). Tusks of Extinction AND Starter Villain… I’d love them both. (Crosses fingers fervently and wishes aggressively at the Small God of ARCS…) I hope you enjoy them and I get copies of them both in due course!

  5. Ooh uploaded into a mammoth. I need that. And Shadow is by Tidepool’s author? I LOVED Tidepool. I wouldn have totally missed it… 🙂
    Greg recently posted…Camping Ch. 6My Profile

  6. The Shadow Dancers of Brixton Hill sounds like the one I’d be mostly likely to read but that cover for Starter Villain!! And the idea of sentient cats. I cannot wait to see what you make of it all 😀

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