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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

2016. Hell, 2016. How is it coming up 2016 already? I’d only just got used to it being 2015. Now I’m going to have to get used to a whole new year.

But in compensation for none of us being as young as we used to be, there are new and interesting-sounding books coming out in the next six months. So many, in fact, that I can’t keep track of them. I’m sure I’m missing plenty, but here are a few I’m looking forward to in advance.

January offers us Charlie Jane Anders’ All The Birds In The Sky, a debut SF novel from an already-acclaimed writer of short fiction. Truthwitch by Susan Dennard bids fair to be an interesting YA epic fantasy. There must be other things as well – what else comes out in January? Seriously, tell me, because I’ve managed to miss pretty much everything but the UK release of Louisa Hall’s Speak.

February brings us an interesting selection. Jordanna Max Brodsky’s debut The Immortals sounds like an interesting mix of Greek legend and modern noir. Lee Kelly’s second novel, A Criminal Magic, looks set to mix Prohibition Washington DC and magical hijinks. Lois McMaster Bujold’s Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen gives us Dowager Countess Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan and Admiral Oliver Jole in an exploration of how to start one’s life anew, how to learn to live for oneself, when one has lived several decades already. Patricia McKillip bids fair to return to excellent form with Kingfisher, and Jacey Bedford offers us magic, ghosts, and piracy in Winterwood.

But what of March? It’s a busy month for Seanan McGuire, with Chaos Choreography, the new InCryptid novel out from DAW, and Every Heart A Doorway from Tor.com Publishing. Mishell Baker’s debut Borderline begins a new urban fantasy series set in Hollywood and Fairyland. Elizabeth Bonesteel’s debut The Cold Between is the start of a new space opera series of murder and conspiracy. Mercy Thompson returns in Patricia Briggs’ Fire Touched. And award-winning author Sofia Samatar brings us a completely new novel in The Winged Histories.

In April, we’ll see the new solo novel from Sarah Rees Brennan, Tell The Wind And Fire, as well as Jodi Meadows’ sequel to The Orphan Queen, The Mirror King. Faith Hunter’s newest Jane Yellowrock novel, Shadow Rites, hits the shelves, Marie Brennan gives us another Lady Isabella Trent novel of natural history, travel, and dragons with In the Labyrinth of Drakes, and C.J. Cherryh’s long-running Foreigner series continues in the much-anticipated Visitor.

May brings us the several-times delayed Company Town by Madeline Ashby, which comes to us now out of Tor instead of Angry Robot, and hopefully won’t be delayed again. Claire North follows up her well-received Touch with The Sudden Appearance of Hope, while Ada Palmer’s hotly-anticipated debut SF novel Too Like The Lightning hits the shelves.

And then we’re at June, and halfway through the year. Genevieve Valentine follows up near-future-thriller Persona with Icon. Kat Howard makes her novel-length solo debut with fairy-tale-inspired Roses and Rot. Laura Lam’s False Hearts promises conspiracy and crime and murder, while Jo Walton’s Necessity, third in the series that began with The Just City, gives us the philosopher-kings of the future.

And these are just the novels I know about to look forward to. What are you guys looking forward to? And why?

Liz Bourke is a cranky person who reads books and other things. She has recently completed a doctoral dissertation in Classics at Trinity College, Dublin. Find her at her blog. Or her Twitter.

About the Author

About Author Mobile

Liz Bourke

Author

Liz Bourke is a cranky queer person who reads books. She holds a Ph.D in Classics from Trinity College, Dublin. Her first book, Sleeping With Monsters, a collection of reviews and criticism, was published in 2017 by Aqueduct Press. It was a finalist for the 2018 Locus Awards and was nominated for a 2018 Hugo Award in Best Related Work. She was a finalist for the inaugural 2020 Ignyte Critic Award, and has also been a finalist for the BSFA nonfiction award. She lives in Ireland with an insomniac toddler, her wife, and their two very put-upon cats.
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