Future Fiction #264 – 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


Today I have a genre for everyone: science fiction, fantasy and horror. Take a look:


The Ballad of Halo Jones meets Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers by way of 3:10 to Yuma; a clash of law and lawlessness, storytelling and truth in a headlong romp across the stars.

After forty years of wreaking havoc across the galaxy, the outlaw Nine Lives – AKA Former General Gabriella Ortiz – has finally run out of lives. Shot down into a backwater at the system’s edge, she is rescued by deputy marshall Havemercy Grey.

Hav is a true soul, trying to uphold what is right in the heedless wastes. Hav is determined to see justice done. And Hav could sure use that 20-million bounty…

But escorting the most dangerous fugitive in the system across the stars is no easy task, especially when decades of fire and destruction are catching up with her, and every gutspill with a pistol wants that bounty. So when Ortiz offers a deal – to keep them both alive, as long as Hav listens to the stories of Gabi’s lives – Hav can’t refuse.

There’s just one catch: everywhere they go, during every brawl and gunfight and explosive escape, people say the same thing – don’t let her talk…

Ninth Life by Stark Holborn. Releases in June 2024 from Titan Books. This is the third book in Holborn’s Ten Low series, and I cannot wait! If you love really good science fiction, I highly recommend that you start this series.


From the author of The Book of Gothel comes the lush, magical story behind Shakespeare’s sonnets, as told by one of his most famous subjects—the incendiary and mysterious Dark Lady.

My name has only been whispered, heretofore…

England, 1591. Rose Rushe’s passion for life runs deep—she loves mead and music, meddles with astrology, and laughs at her mother’s warnings to guard her reputation. When Rose’s father dies and a noble accuses her and her dear friend Cecely of witchcraft, they flee to the household of respected alchemists in London. But as their bond deepens, their sanctuary begins to feel more like a cage. To escape, they turn to the occult, secretly casting charms and selling astrological advice in the hopes of building a life together. This thriving underground business leads Rose to fair young noble Henry and playwright Will Shakespeare, and so begins a brief, tempestuous, and powerful romance—one filled with secret longings and deep betrayals.

In this world of dazzling masques and decadent feasts, where the stars decide futures, Rose will write her own fate instead.

A Rose by Any Other Name by Mary McMyne. Releases in July 2024 from Redhook. I haven’t read the author’s last book, The Book of Gothel, but I definitely won’t miss this one. I love the idea of a story revolving around Shakespeare’s sonnets.


The Night Guest is an eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjavík that’s sure to keep you awake at night.

Iðunn is in yet another doctor’s office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something’s not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven’t revealed any cause.

When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same ― have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps.

Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night . . .

What is happening when she’s asleep? Why is she waking up with increasingly disturbing injuries? And why won’t anyone believe her?

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir. Releases in September 2024 from Tor Nightfire. This is translated from Icelandic by Mary Robinette Kowal (I didn’t know she was a translator, did you?) and it sounds really good. Plus that pink cover is making me a bit uneasy!


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

Posted January 31, 2024 by Tammy in Future Fiction / 34 Comments

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34 responses to “Future Fiction #264 – Cover Reveals & Newly Discovered SFF Books

  1. I’ve enjoyed several Icelandic mystery/thrillers, but The Night Guest sounds very different from all of them, and that has me even more intrigued.

    • Tammy

      I haven’t read much Shakespeare either (but have seen some movies) and now I’m curious about A Rose by Any Other Name as well:-)

  2. Ah I’ve never heard of the Ten Low series, but it seems really interesting! I’m a sucker for anything compared to Becky Chambers lol, hoping that’s accurate.

    I’ve been super excited for The Night Guest ever since I saw it about a month ago! Its temporary cover was a black background saying “cover to be revealed” and it was really surprising to see it go from that to bright pink! I didn’t know Kowal was a translator either but I love translated horror so I’m looking forward to it!

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