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’m a day late, but hopefully my selections this week will make up for that. Take a look:
Two species. One salvation.
From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky comes a thrilling anti-colonial space heist to save an alien civilization
Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations―until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Born off-world and infected by an alien virus from a young age, she receives the occasional vision of the future. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life on Earth as a graduate student of anthropology.
Until an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Two no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it.
Maya sets out on a breakneck quest through a universe teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. But the farther she goes, the more her visions cast a dark shadow over her team of friends new and old. Someone will betray her along the way. Worse yet, in choosing to save one species, she may doom humanity and Earth itself.
The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei. Releases in June 2024 from Flatiron Books. Ooh I love this cover so much! The author just revealed this on Instagram, and I couldn’t be more excited for the sophomore novel by the author of the wonderful The Deep Sky.
Inspired by Sri Lankan folklore, award-winning author Amanda Jayatissa turns her feverish, Gothic-tinged talents to late 19th century Sri Lanka where the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal village.
Being the daughter of the village Capuwa, or demon-priest, Amara is used to keeping mostly to herself. Influenced by the new religious practices brought in by the British Colonizers, the villagers who once respected her father’s craft have turned on the family. Yet, they all still seem to call on him whenever supernatural disturbances arise.
Now someone—or something —is viciously seizing upon men in the jungle. But instead of enlisting Amara’s father’s help, the villages have accused him of carrying out the attacks himself.
As she tries to clear her father’s name, Amara finds herself haunted by dreams that eerily predict the dark forces on her island. And she can’t shake the feeling that it’s all connected to the night she was recovering from a strange illness, and woke up, scared and confused, to hear her mother’s frantic No one can find out what happened .
Lush, otherworldly, and recalling horror classics like Carrie and The Exorcist , Island Witch is a deliciously creepy and darkly feminist tale about the horrors of moral panic, the violent space between girlhood and adulthood, and what happens when female rage is finally unleashed.
Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa. Releases in February 2024 from Berkley Books. I’m getting Isabel Cañas vibes from the cover and the story, and I love the idea of a story based on Sri Lankan folklore, which I know nothing about, but I need to know more!
It is said there is a price that every passenger must pay. A price beyond the cost of a ticket.
It is the end of the 19th Century and the world is awash with marvels. But there is nothing so marvellous as the Wastelands: a terrain of terrible miracles that lies between Beijing and Moscow.
Nothing touches this abandoned wilderness except the Great Trans-Siberian Express: an impenetrable train built to carry cargo across continents, but which now transports anyone who dares to cross the shadowy Wastelands.
On to the platform steps a curious cast of characters: a grieving woman with a borrowed name, a famous child born on the train and a disgraced naturalist, all heading for the Great Exhibition in Moscow.
But the old rules are changing, and there are whispers that the train isn’t safe. As secrets and stories begin to unravel the passengers and crew must survive their journey through the Wastelands together, even as something uncontrollable seems to be breaking in . .
The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks. Releases in July 2024 from Flatiron Books. I spotted this cover on NetGalley and wow, I think I need it! A historical fantasy involving a train sounds pretty unique:-)
Nice post
Thanks
I’m totally with you on the Island Witch cover having Isabel Cañas vibes. All three books sound great!
I’m wondering if the story has anything in common with her books:-)
I can’t wait to read Island Witch. It looks and sounds so good. And tentacles in the sky – you know that has my attention given my obsession for tentacles on books!
I love the tentacles too:-)
OMG I love the traveller’s guide cover! Nice pick Tammy!
It’s so cool, right?
These all sound awesome and are going on my tbr!
It’s a pretty good bunch:-)
These all look good, and all are new to me! Of the three, the 3rd catches my eye the most. Great picks!
Thanks Lisa, I really like the sound of that last one too:-)
I love the scifi options!
Me too, I can’t wait:-)
The cover of The Stardust Grail is absolutely gorgeous (even though the tentacle lowkey scares me)
Also love the sound of Island Witch because I’ve never read anything inspired by Sri Lankan folklore.
The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands is another one that sounds amazing. I love that it takes place on a train!
Ha ha I almost didn’t see the tentacles;-)
These all sounds so good. I am in love with the concept of The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands (now that’s a mouthful!), and The Stardust Grail has such a cool cover. Amazing picks, as always!
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I’m so tempted to request The Cautious Traveller’s Guide, I’m trying to cut back on requests, but I might break down:-)
HOW did I not know that Yume Kitasei had a new book coming out!? I really do hope she writes a Dark Sky sequel someday though. I am SO excited for this, thanks for putting it on my radar, you made my day!
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I only found out because she revealed the cover on her Instagram, otherwise I would have missed it! Maybe the publisher is planning a “real” cover reveal, but in any case isn’t it exciting??
The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands sounds good and I love the cover 😀
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It does sound good, right?
The third of these is the one I’m most intrigued by but I adore the covers of the first two
The last cover isn’t my favorite but the story sounds amazing:-)
I love the cover of the first book. Hope you enjoy all of them.
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Thank you:-)
Seems I have to pay more attention to Flatiron Books! The Stardust Grail looks interesting, I am intrigued by those tentacles in space!