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 hitting all three of my favorite genres today: science fiction, fantasy and horror. Take a look:
When her cousin gets kidnapped by a dastardly trickster, Luzia is forced to sell herself in servitude to the Eoi in exchange for his life. But the terms of the deal turn out to be much more complicated than she ever imagined…
Luzia N.E. Drainway never really thought too much about the Astrosi. They lurk above and below Bastion City – a giant multileveled megalopolis she calls her home – and they tend to keep to themselves. On the rare occasions they use their magics to meddle with human affairs, most people with an ounce of sense steer clear of whichever unfortunate soul happens to be their victim. Luzia is far too dedicated to repairing and maintaining the frequently-damaged Bastion to pay them much attention, and prefers to ignore the Astrosi just like everyone else.
That disregard gets blown out of the water when a rogue Astrosi and nefarious trickster named Carrion kidnaps her nephew and sells him to the Eoi, one of the Astrosi courts.
With no other options to save her nephew, Luzia trades her life for his and finds herself in service to the Eoi. Unfortunately for her, Astrosi logic is acrobatic in ways even the most devious human mind can barely comprehend. It’s not until the deal is struck that she realizes she’s trapped in the most abstruse verbal contract imaginable. She is essentially conscripted into their ranks, and her devotion to her city becomes stretched to breaking point by her new masters’ orders.
As she struggles under this weight, she begins to uncover the secrets of the Astrosi people – the internal battles for power between the two kingdoms, the never-ending conflict between them, the trickster Carrion who somehow bridges that gap, and the very nature of the Bastion itself.
Terms of Service by Ciel Pierlot. Releases in June 2025 from Angry Robot. I loved Pierlot’s Bluebird, and I will read anything she writes. This sounds really good, and wow that cover!
Blood once turned the wheels of empire. Now it is money.
A new age of exploration and innovation has dawned, and the Empire of the Wolf stands to take its place as the foremost power in the known world. Glory and riches await.
But dark days are coming. A mysterious plague has broken out in the pagan kingdoms to the north, while in the south, the Empire’s proxy war in the lands of the wolfmen is weeks away from total collapse.
Worse still is the message brought to the Empress by two heretic monks, who claim to have lost contact with the spirits of the afterlife. The monks believe this is the start of an ancient prophecy heralding the end of days-the Great Silence.
It falls to Renata Rainer, a low-ranking ambassador to an enigmatic and vicious race of mermen, to seek answers from those who still practice the arcane arts. But with the road south beset by war and the Empire on the brink of supernatural catastrophe, soon there may not be a world left to save . . .
Grave Empire (The Great Silence #1) by Richard Swan. Releases in February 2025 from Orbit Books. I’m sorry I haven’t read Swan’s Empire of the Wolf series, which I’ve heard so many good things about. I’m glad this is the start to a new series, and do I see pirate motifs on the cover??
In this hauntingly twisted tale, an author reconnects with an old boarding school friend, forcing her to reckon with their shared past and the imaginary creature she thought they left behind.
Touch a line, you break your spine.
Stacey is the dusty air, the cracked soil, the drought. To fourteen-year-old Bethany Sloane, she’s everything.
Abandoned by her mother at a remote African boarding school, Bethany will do anything to stay in Stacey’s good graces. And that means learning the rules of each twisted game.
Touch a crack, you break your back.
Seventeen years later, Bethany is a bestselling author. Disabled now, she can’t remember what happened back in the bush. But there’s no mistaking Stacey Preston’s name in her inbox.
Glassy, glassy, cut my arsey.
That email brings Bethany’s childhood rushing back. The Glass Man was just a story the Thorns invented, a game of wits. But every game has its rules—and consequences for breaking them. To stay alive this round, Bethany needs to play right into Stacey’s hands.
Dark and disturbing, The Thorns explores the horrifying world of adolescent abuse, controlling friendships, and blinding obsession.
The Thorns by Dawn Kurtagich. Releases in March 2025 from Thomas & Mercer. Oooh this sounds so good! I have never read anything by Kurtagich before, but I’m not going to miss this one:-)
All three of them sound intriguing!! I read the first book in the other series by Swan and… I didn’t enjoy it so much but this one sounds promising all the same!! And I am intrigued by the first one, too! Thanks for sharing!
I would like to try Swan’s first series to see if I like it, but I still want to try this new book.
I love the sound of Grave Empire although I may try to read the authors other series first as it’s set within the same world and I’d rather avoid any spoilers that being said I saw a comment saying its set 200 years later so maybe I could get away with it. I haven’t read anything by the last author either but I have several of her books on my TBR & that one sounds intriguing too.
I didn’t realize it was set in the same world. That makes me want to read his first series as well.
Eek, The Thorns sounds a little too creepy for me! Sounds like it’d make a good movie.
Oh you are right. The Thorns definitely sounds like it could be on the small (or big) screen:-)
All three of these sound amazing!
They do, I’m excited for all of them:-)
All of these sounds equally amazing but I especially love the sound of Grave Empire. It sounds like quite the epic story!
I hear nothing but good things about Richard Swan’s other books, so Grave Empire is going to be a must read:-)
The cover of The Thorns is amazing! These all sound really good!
I love it too, I’m so curious!
The Thorns is one I’m definitely going to have to check out. Grave Empire’s cover is really calling to me but don’t know if I’m sold on it yet. I will need to see some reviews. I immediately thought of Empire of the Vampires when I saw it though and think I was disappointed.
Grave Empire definitely has that Empire of the Vampire vibe going. I love the cover of The Thorns, it’s sort of creepy!
Grave Empire is probably my most anticipated release of 2025!
I know it’s going to be very popular!
Ooo… Terms of Service sounds awesome – and that cover is fabulous!! Thank you for sharing, Tammy:)).
I hope we both get the chance to read it!
Yes, the first cover is so awesome!
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It’s definitely eye catching with the pink!
I’m so in love with the cover or Richard Swan’s new book, lol. I loved his Empire of the Wolf series and have faith this one will also be amazing. Also excited for new Dawn Kurtagich! She’s always been really good at creating some really haunted and creepy settings/tones.
I remember how much you loved Swan’s other series! And yep, that cover is amazing.
Oooh I LOVE the Terms of Service Cover! I’d not yet seen that one but it is very pretty! Also very intrigued by the Kurtagich one! I think the Swan one is a little too high fantasy for my tastes, but I am definitely interested in the others!
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Terms of Service is such a great cover, right?
Ohh, a new Richard Swan, I am excitement.
Lynn 😀
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I thought you’d be:-)
Grave Empire has a great cover. So many little details.
I love the cover too. And I want to know more about the pirate parts:-)
I don’t know why but that Grave Empire looks a lot like Empire of the Vampire’s cover in just other colors!
It really does!
Terms of Service sounds very interesting!
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