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
Three new covers, three new books to add to your TBR, take a look:
The start of a no‑holds‑barred, action‑packed fantasy series from the always irreverent Jackson Ford where a group of charmingly-named Bone Raiders harness the power of gigantic, fire-breathing lizards to defend their homeland from an invading enemy.
You don’t mess with the Rakada. The people living in the Great Grass call them the Bone Raiders, from their charming habit of displaying the bones of those they kill on their horses and armor.
But being a raider is tough these days. There’s a new High Chieftain ruling the Grass. He’s had it with the raider clans, and plans to use his sizeable military to do something about it. And then there are the araatan: fire-breathing lizards the size of elephants – one of which happens to turn up in a cute little settlement the Rakada are in the middle of raiding.
Sayana is a Rakada scout, and in the chaos of the raid-gone-wrong, she finds herself on the back of a rampaging araatan. Whoops. In a panic, she discovers she can steer it, like you would a horse. It’s frankly amazing she survives any of this. Once Sayana gets an idea into her head, it’s awful hard to dislodge. And now she has a doozy: what if the Rakada could swap their horses for araatan? Train the lizards to act as mounts? That would even the odds against the High Chieftain, no?
The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford. Releases in August 2025 from Orbit Books. I’m a huge fan of Jackson Ford (check out my rave reviews of The Frost Files), and I believe this is his first fantasy release, which sounds like it’s going to be a blast! The cover is giving me Nicholas Eames’ The Band vibes (another fantastic series!), and I really want to meet those giant fire-breathing lizards:-)
WARNING! Under no circumstances must employees strike a deal with unauthorized personnel on Dark Enterprises property. Such behavior could result in death…or the end of the world.
Colin is a low-level employee at Dark Enterprises, a Hell-like multinational corporation solving the world’s most difficult problems in deeply questionable ways. After years of toiling away in a cubicle, he’s ready to climb the corporate ladder and claim the power he’s never had.
The only problem is, he’s pretty sure he’s about to be terminated. Like, terminated. That’s tough, because his BFF has just set him up with a great guy. In fact, maybe he’s a little too great. And asks a lot of questions…
When Colin meets a shadowy figure promising him his heart’s deepest desire, he can’t resist the urge to fast-track his goals. In return for a small, unspecified favor, he asks for the one thing that will improve his life: a promotion.
But that small favor unleashes an ancient evil. People in New York are disappearing, the world might be ending, and Management is starting to notice. Getting to the top is never easy, and now it’s up to Colin to save the world. It’s the ultimate power move, after all.
Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World by Mark Waddell. Releases in October 2025 from Ace Books. I’m loving this cover! And the story sounds crazy. I’m definitely on board for this adventure:-)
A fierce, glamorous sapphic fantasy reimagining the secret societies of postcolonial Singapore, for fans of Jade City, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and the feverish intensity of RF Kuang’s Poppy War trilogy.
Singapore, 1972: Newly independent, a city of immigrants grappling for power in a fast-modernizing world. Here, gangsters are the last conduits of the gods their ancestors brought with them, and the back alleys where they fight are the last place where magic has not been assimilated and legislated away.
Loner schoolgirl Adeline Siow has never needed more company than the flame she can summon at her fingertips. But when her mother dies in a house fire with a butterfly seared onto her skin and Adeline hunts down a girl she saw in a back-alley barfight—a girl with a butterfly tattoo–she discovers she’s far from alone.
Ang Tian is a Red Butterfly: one of a gang of girls who came from nothing, sworn to a fire goddess and empowered to wreak vengeance on the men that abuse and underestimate them. Adeline’s mother led a double life as their elusive patron, Madam Butterfly. Now that she’s dead, Adeline’s bloodline is the sole thing sustaining the goddess. Between her search for her mother’s killer and the gang’s succession crisis, Adeline becomes quickly entangled with the girls’ dangerous world, and even more so with the charismatic Tian.
But no home lasts long around here. Ambitious and paranoid neighbor gangs hunt at the edges of Butterfly territory, and bodies are turning up in the red light district suffused with a strange new magic. Adeline may have found her place for once, but with the streets changing by the day, it may take everything she is to keep it.
When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-Yi Lee. Releases in October 2025 from Tor Books. The comparisons to Jade City and Silvia Moreno-Garcia grabbed my attention, and this gorgeous cover sealed the deal. This sounds so good!
When They Burned the Butterfly sounds most like something I would read and enjoy, but the strangeness of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World sounds pretty good too 😀
All three books this week are so different from each other:-)
The second title is hilarious. Enjoy!
Ha ha right? Super funny.
COLIN GETS PROMOTED looks like a fun time! Sounds like it’s in the vein of DREADFUL & the dark lord duology.
It sounds like a blast!
Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World has got to be one of the best titles of 2025 book releases. The story itself also sounds funny and like an entertaining read!
I love the title too, and the cover is perfect for it:-)
I’m honestly not sure that any of these are really up my alley, but the Colin book sounds funny, so maybe if I see good reviews! Love the cover of the butterfly book!
Colin Gets Promoted sounds crazy but really good:-)
The second and the third book sound very interesting.
Agreed!
Hope you get your hands on them. 🙂
Me too!
You know I’m there for Carl Gets Promoted. I love the looks of them all but that one calls to me. I saw all three of these for the first time this week. Lots of cool releases lately.
The cover reveals have been so good! I think I saw 4 or 5 new ones today.
I rarely read fantasy but have been searching for books set in Singapore. I look forward to reading your review.
I’m excited, and I love the setting.
There were a LOT of good covers this week. The Bone Raiders!!
I’m SO excited for The Bone Raiders!!
All of these sound great, but Colin Gets Promoted and When They Burned the Butterfly both sound especially fascinating. All I had to hear was Jade City for the one and I was in!
Yep, that Jade City comparison got me too:-)
I saw Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World and I’m so intrigued! When they Burned the Butterfly is new to me and sounds SO good, I’ll have to keep my eye out for that one as well.
I checked to make sure all these were on my watch list! Love the cover to the first one, though I momentarily got excited because I thought it might have been the next Kings of the Wyld book
These all look so good. I’m really drawn to When They Burned the Butterfly.
Lynn 😀
I already had When They Burned The Butterfly on my TBR but I hadn’t seen the cover before and it’s stunning. I also feel like Bone Raiders is on my TBR but I’m not 100% and will definitely be double checking
All three of these sound great but Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World sounds like it’s gonna make me laugh.
Wow when they Burned the Butterfly looks so good!
Like you I also immediately thought of Nicholas Eames’ The Band when I saw the cover for The Bone Raiders. And I love the cover of When They Burned the Butterfly. Almost haunting.
I need the first two books!! All three of them sound interesting, to be honest, but the first ones are the most appealing to me. They sound too good to pass!! Thanks for sharing!
Gah these are ALL new to me, how is this possible!? AND I need them all! My poor TBR heh.