As I wind my way through this year’s Hugo nominees, I’ve realized that there are several books coming in the near future that I really, really want to read. It’s almost enough to want to opt out of the Hugos (what with all the lame controversy), though I suppose there’s a fair chance that two of these will be eligible next year (and one the following year). There’s also the fact that I’ve already read 3 of the Hugo novels and am halfway through another, so I guess that’s still on the table. Still, These 4 books make me want to drop everything and read them first:
- Seveneves by Neal Stephenson (May 19, 2015) – So close I can almost taste it, this is coming in the mail next Tuesday. Stephenson is my favorite author, so I don’t even really need to know what it’s about, but if you do want to know, I posted the official synopsis a while back.
- Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold (February 2016) – Just recently announced, this is most exciting news. Bujold is my other favorite author, so this is another almost blind buy. Details are sparse, but Bujold has stated that the main protagonist is Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, which is most exciting. She’s also stated that “It is not a war story. It is about grownups.” which doesn’t really narrow it down much, though it may suggest that this novel takes place long after Cordelia’s previous entries in the series (Shards of Honor and Barrayar, both great) and perhaps during her stint as Vicereine of Sergyar (will Aral be there?) Honestly, this one is probably the most exciting on the list to me, if only because I have so much already invested in the series.
- The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker (May 19, 2015) – Finally! Barker has been talking about this story since 1993. 1993! I know he doesn’t owe his fans anything, but it’s been 20+ years, which is a bit excessive… It supposedly features Harry D’Amour (from The Last Illusion and Everville) and Pinhead (from The Hellbound Heart and Hellraiser). This gets on the list simply because it’s been so damn long, but since it comes out on the same day as Seveneves, it will have to wait!
- The End of All Things by John Scalzi (Serial, August 11, 2015)- I was a huge fan of The Human Division… right up until it ended on a cliffhanger. Well Scalzi’s finally gotten around to publishing the second volume (which supposedly will finish off the overarching story), which is supposed to happen in serial form over the next few months, but I’ll probably wait until the full collection is released in August.
There are tons of other books in the queue, but these are some of my favorite authors and they deserve special attention. Can’t wait for some of these!