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
Picking only three books from the flood of cover reveals last week was nearly impossible, but these are the three I’m most excited for:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Golden Girls in this humorous contemporary standalone fantasy about a group of former Chosen Ones coming out of retirement to save the world one last time
Three former Chosen Ones have joined together to spend their retirement in peace and quiet, running Second Life Books and Gifts in Salem, MA. A calm, peaceful, tourist-filled oasis, where they never have to worry about saving the world. Until some of the locals start summoning ancient creatures best left where they were . . . and they discover that their bookstore basement just may be the portal to the underworld. These ex-heroes may have thought they were done . . . but if they want to finish their retirement in peace, they’ll have to join together to save the world one last time.
Why leave saving the world to the young? Cozy mystery readers looking for an extra dash of magic will eat this story fun, funny, and heartwarming, it’s a novel about community, second chances, and the healing power of scones.
Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines. Releases in October 2025 from DAW Books. OMG this sounds like a “me” book for sure! I love that so many books featuring older characters are being published these days, and this will be a must read October release!
An alchemist and his young nephew hunt down a legend in this profound and unsettling speculative Western, for fans of Karen Russell and Victor LaValle.
Alone in a frontier town in the nineteenth-century Northwest, Gentle Montgomery is grieving his best friend. Liam was an alchemist, killed when he tried to capture a creature that shouldn’t a giant salamander that drives men mad. When Gentle’s teenage nephew Kitt arrives at his doorstep, the two set out together to track the monster down, so they can use its blood in an alchemical formula that will bring Liam back to life.
It’s a hard and haunted journey. The salamander produces surreal nightmares and waking dreams of a blighted, burning future. And Gentle and Kitt soon find themselves pursued by a bloodthirsty hunter, a sadistic judge, and a doomsday cult, all of whom have their own plans for the river monster. Armed with nothing but Liam’s alchemical notebooks, they must not only find the salamander but learn to understand it—and the terrifying visions it causes—before it’s too late. And as Gentle struggles to comprehend the creature, his lost friend, his nephew, and his fellow seekers, it becomes clear that the Great Work of the alchemists may pale in comparison to the small work of human connection.
Sheldon Costa’s dark, vivid, and strangely hopeful debut novel is a supernatural adventure through the wilderness of friendship and the rotten heart of the early American empire.
The Great Work by Sheldon Costa. Releases in November 2025 from Quirk Books. Not only is this cover everything, but the story sounds sooo good. I can’t wait!
The next novella in the New York Times bestselling Sworn Soldier series, featuring Alex Easton investigating the dark, mysterious depths of a coal mine in America
Alex Easton does not want to visit America.
They particularly do not want to visit an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia with a reputation for being haunted.
But when their old friend Dr. Denton summons them to help find his lost cousin—who went missing in that very mine—well, sometimes a sworn soldier has to do what a sworn soldier has to do…
What Stalks the Deep (Sworn Soldier #3) by T. Kingfisher. Releases in September 2025 from Tor Nightfire. I’m glad to see the blurb says “next” and not “last” in the series, which means this isn’t the end!
A new Kingfisher book is always a good news, even if I haven’t started this series yet (but I will get to it, sooner or later! ) and the first book sounds hilarious!
I’m so excited for Slayers of Old, I hope it’s as funny as it sounds:-)
I’m excited for What Stalks the Deep and I love the sound of Slayers of Old – that’s definitely going on my TBR!
Slayers of Old is going to be a must read for sure:-)
Slayers of Old sounds like such a fun story! I feel like it’s gonna be laugh-out-loud hilarious!
The Great Work’s synopsis seems like really my kinda read. And omg that cover!
How is What Stalks the Deep the third book yet? I haven’t even read the second one. I’m very much behind on T. Kingfisher’s books. I need there to be two of me lol
Ha ha I want there to be two of me as well! How do we make that happen??
Slayers of Old sounds like a fun concept (plus, that cover :D).
I read the first Sworn Soldier novella and it didn’t much for me…but they sure have excellent covers!
“didn’t DO much”
The covers are fantastic! I’m hoping book 3 is better than book 2, which I didn’t enjoy that much.
Definitely intrigued by the first two, especially because of the giant salamander on the cover. I liked the first book of that Kingfisher series, but tbh it didn’t grip me enough to want to keep reading.
I struggled with book 2 in the Kingfisher series too, but I’m still curious about this new one.
Hmm, I hesitant about the Kingfisher, and I usually want ALL of her books. I loved the first in the series, but didn’t particularly enjoy the 2nd, and I’m on the fence about continuing. Slayers of Old sounds amazing!
I didn’t care for book too either, it was sort of a snooze fest for me. But I’m invested enough to read book 3!
I think that Slayers of Old would be just my cup of tea Tammy!
I think so too, and I’m in the mood for something funny revolving around slayers:-)
Every time I see that cover for The Great Work it makes me want to read it more! Also so excited for new T. Kingfisher!
The Great Work sounds sooo good!
Ooh, Slayers of Old is going to be fun!
Right? I’m excited:-)
I might like the Slayers of Old.
Anne – Books of My Heart
I think it’s going to be fun:-)
Slayers of Old sounds like a hoot!
Doesn’t it? I’m so curious, I hope it’s good.
All creepy for me in their own way. Enjoy!
Ha ha, so true.
I think I’m most intrigued by the middle option. That cover is impossible to resist and the story sounds intriguing too. I’ll definitely be watching out for your thoughts on the first one though and hope you enjoy all of these
Thanks Charlotte, these are all must reads for me, so hopefully I’ll love them.
I didn’t know the Kingfisher series was a thing. The covers are so creepy but I really like them. I see tentacles! That Jim Hines book looks and sounds great and I’ve read a few from him in the past so I know this one will be a good time.
I’m so excited for the Jim Hines!
Good to hear that the next Sworn Soldier book probably won’t be the last. This new one sounds really good
It does sound good, and I love the cover.