What new SF&F Books are you Looking Forward to in 2017?

[[deleted user]]

Now that the wheel has turned another revolution, what books are expected in 2017 that you want to read?

[[deleted user]]

The problem with anticipating what novels I want to read in the future is I can only choose authors I've read before, usually series I've read before. So no surprise, all but one of my highly anticipated reads for 2017 are the next novel in the series, and the only exception is a new novel by a familiar author.

Books I'm looking forward to in 2017:

Six Feet Over Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone
Another Craft novel!

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
Another Stormlight Archive novel!

Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey
Another Expanse novel!

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
The Broken Earth trilogy concludes!

City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
Another Divine Cities novel!

Home by Nnedi Okorafor
Binti II, the sequel.

Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald
Conclusion of Luna story!

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
A new space scifi from Scalzi (the Old Man's War thing was getting... ahem... old.)

Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
Sequel to Ninefox Gambit

Skullsworn by Brian Staveley
More Emperor's Blades.

Fields of Fire by Marko Kloos
Another Frontlines novel! This is starting to get old, I hope Kloos has a conclusion coming soon.


And two graphic novel / comic collections...

Lazarus, Vol. 5: Cull by Greg Rucka & Mike Lark
Future distopia enhanced humans at war

Saga Vol. 7 by Vaughan & Staples
Space opera romeo&juliette


A couple of original anthologies coming out in the next two months I'm looking forward to:

Chasing Shadows: Visions of Our Coming Transparent World edited by David Brin

Galactic Empires edited by Neil Clarke

Edit: Added Wolf Moon
Edit: Rename Ruin of Angels

[Brendan]

The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

G33z3r wrote: "Now that the wheel has turned another revolution, what books are expected in 2017 that you want to read?"

You mean, besides The Winds of Winter?

[[deleted user]]

Brendan wrote: "The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley"

I debated putting that on my list, but decided to put it in the "see what the reviews say first" list, not the "shut up and take my money" list. :)

[Hillary]

Didn't realize there was a 2017 release date for Gladstone's next Craft book -- Six Feet Under now on my anticipated list, along with already-preordered City of Miracles.

Okorafor did a lot of set up of Binti's home planet in her first novella, so I'm looking forward to seeing the return in Home (haven't preordered this one because I'm hoping the paperback price will drop a bit -- we'll see).

& am definitely looking forward to The Stars are Legion (except that it's the start of yet another series! dare I hope it won't end with a huge cliffhanger? I've been holding off on the Worldbreaker series so far b/c of this).

I'm also looking forward to the release of A Conjuring of Light, when I will give myself permission to read A Gathering of Shadows. I enjoyed Schwab's Vicious & am hoping for even more fun with what sounds like a more complex premise in the Shades of Magic series.

[Brendan]

My understanding is that the Stars are Legion is not the start of a new series, but rather a standalone.

[Hillary]

Brendan wrote: "My understanding is that the Stars are Legion is not the start of a new series, but rather a standalone."

Great! (& somewhat amazing given current publishing trends)

[[deleted user]]

Randy wrote: "You mean, besides The Winds of Winter?"

It's cute you still believe. :) Plans leave memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten... You expect to get that from the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus?

[[deleted user]]

Hillary wrote: "Okorafor did a lot of set up of Binti's home planet in her first novella..."

You mean... Earth?

[Hillary]

G33z3r wrote: "You mean... Earth?"

I guess so -- but are we thinking that Binti's "harmonizing" abilitities are something humans have developed in the future, something the Himba culture has always had (but perhaps hidden? a little fantasy or magic realism within the bigger science fiction/fantasy universe?)?

[Silvana]

Some last books from trilogies:
City of Miracles (preordered)
Assassin's Fate (preordered)
Stone Sky (will wait for paperback)

others (part of series or set in the same world as the series I follow)
Persepolis Rising (will wait for paperback)
The Empty Grave
Sins of Empire (a new Powder Mage novel!)
Wolf Moon
Skullsworn

Standalone:
The Stars are Legion (preordered)

and because I want to believe:
The Winds of Winter
The Thorn of Emberlain
Doors of Stone

[Andrea]

A new Powder Mage book? Nice! Just started on the third book in the original trilogy, and I have the short story collection on my Kobo.

[Keith]

Here are mine:

The Core by Peter V. Brett
Iron Gold by Pierce Brown
Besieged by Kevin Hearne
The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark
Home by Nnedi Okorafor
Quests of the Kings: The Quests of the Kings Trilogy - Book One by Robert Evert
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

I'm hoping for:
Next book in Iron druid series by Kevin Hearne
Nexy book in the Odyssey series by Evan C. Currie
Any book by Joe Abercrombie

I've lost hope but maybe this is the year:
Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss

[Silvana]

Andrea wrote: "A new Powder Mage book? Nice! Just started on the third book in the original trilogy, and I have the short story collection on my Kobo."

Yep, and it has my fave character (which most people seem to hate), Vlora.
I LOVE the short story collection.

[Silvana]

Keith wrote: "Here are mine:
Any book by Joe Abercrombie

I've lost hope but maybe this is the year:
Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss



Yes on Abercrombie. He is writing a new trilogy set 15 years after Red Country. CANNOT WAIT.

And yeah, I'll add Doors of Stone as well to my list.
Wonder why I forgot about it.

I added two I forgot: Wolf Moon and Skullsworn

More books this year can be seen here (only till September 2017):
http://www.locusmag.com/Resources/For...

[[deleted user]]

Silvana wrote: "I added two I forgot: Wolf Moon ..."

Ah, I need to add Wolf Moon, too!

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

G33z3r wrote: "Randy wrote: "You mean, besides The Winds of Winter?"

It's cute you still believe. :) Plans leave memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten..."

LOL I'm hoping to get it from the Easter Bunny since that would mean Spring! This Spring, that is...hopefully...

[Hillary]

Keith wrote: "Here are mine:

The Core by Peter V. Brett
Iron Gold by Pierce Brown
Besieged by Kevin Hearne
[boo..."

It's been a while since I did a read of the Iron Druid books (not since Hammered, I think). Maybe this should be the year I catch up.

[Keith]

Hillary wrote: It's been a while since I did a read of the Iron Druid books (not since Hammered, I think). Maybe this should be the year I catch up.

I gobble up anything Kevin Hearne writes just like Oberon gobbles up sausages! All the books are great. Enjoy!

[Brendan]

I've started making Andrew Liptak's columns on new releases a thing I look at monthly. Here's his look at 2017: http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/5/1381...

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Brendan wrote: "I've started making Andrew Liptak's columns on new releases a thing I look at monthly. Here's his look at 2017: http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/5/1381..."

That is a pretty cool article. Thank you for posting the link.

It's especially good to know that the death of the author is no serious obstacle for another Michael Crichton book about dinosaurs. And another Tolkien book! Holy cow! That guy writes a lot more now that he's dead than he did when he was alive (I guess the schedule does free up some time once you no longer have to eat, sleep, socialize, etc.).

[Andrea]

Hmm, just finished reading Children of Hurin so I'm tempted by that Beren and Luthien book.

Sometimes I'm a bit weirded out by "dead" authors continuing to publish, but sometimes if the author left enough of an outline/unfinished manuscript I'm ok with it. Like Children of Hurin, it was nearly finished but not quite, and well...I'd read anything that takes place in Middle Earth because it does have this huge expansive history that one can delve into.

I'm on the fence with Herbert's son (note - I have not read the new books yet, though I want to)...did Frank Herbert really work out all that history and have that extensive a note collection? I understand he really only planned to write Dune and was kind of coerced into writing the rest. It's not like Tolkien whose whole life was more or less dedicated to fleshing out Middle-Earth so Christopher is really only polishing what was already written, rather than filling in massive gaps with his own invention.

"That guy writes a lot more now that he's dead than he did when he was alive" -- actually Tolkien did write more when he was alive, usually the same story multiple times over. He's just managed to publish more dead than alive :o)

As a reader, I must admit I like to have endings to series I've invested time in. But I always have a niggling in the back of my head of "is this how the author would have actually written it if he wrote it himself"? After all, even with all the notes and outlines in the world, once the author really starts writing, he could completely change his mind as a story takes on a life of it's own. But I guess it's better than a giant eternal cliffhanger!

[Marc-André]

Andrea wrote: "I'm on the fence with Herbert's son (note - I have not read the new books yet, though I want to)...did Frank Herbert really work out all that history and have that extensive a note collection? I understand he really only planned to write Dune and was kind of coerced into writing the rest. It's not like Tolkien whose whole life was more or less dedicated to fleshing out Middle-Earth so Christopher is really only polishing what was already written, rather than filling in massive gaps with his own invention."

A lot of what Herber'ts son and Anderson' wrote contradict what was written in the The Dune Encyclopedia, although the encyclopedia has a lot of issues regarding it canonical status.

But honestly, the biggest problems with what they wrote isn't that it doesn't respect the ideas of Frank Herbert or his writing style (they do not to be clear), the biggest problem is that what they wrote is simply terrible. It is boring, too long, clichéd and imports Star Wars elements. They are just milking the Dune brand.

I stopped reading their prequels when the emotionaless robots were just to emotionally campy.

[Brendan]

Marc-André wrote: "But honestly, the biggest problems with what they wrote isn't that it doesn't respect the ideas of Frank Herbert or his writing style (they do not to be clear), the biggest problem is that what they wrote is simply terrible. It is boring, too long, clichéd and imports Star Wars elements. They are just milking the Dune brand."

This man speaks the truth. Read the Anderson books if you want a lot of space opera with no intellectual content whatsoever (which is fine, Anderson fans must come from somewhere!). Don't read it if you like Dune. I would recommend reading Frank Herbert's other books instead if you haven't. I particularly liked Whipping Star and The Dosadi Experiment.

[Daniel]

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson is my number 1 anticipated book for this year, by far.

Also looking forward to Assassin's Fate by Robin Hobb and Dark Immolation by Christopher Husberg

While I haven't been riding the anticipation train so much on it, I'll definitely read Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan because I've read the other books (but not all of the tons of short fiction he wrote in the world--maybe I'll figure out what all that comprises one of these days and check it out).

Oh, and it looks like An Echo Of Things To Come by James Islington is coming out this year, too. I'll definitely be reading that.

[Bryce]

Personally, I can't wait for Robin Hobb's Assassin's Fate. She's my favorite author, and she never disappoints.

Also Kristen Britain's newest Green Rider book Firebrand. Her last book in the series caught me off guard, and I really enjoyed it. Excited to see what she does with this one.

[Brendan]

Haven't read through all of these lists yet, but since finding good new writers is very tough: Fantasy (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sc...) & science fiction debuts in 2017 (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sc...)

[Daniel]

I forgot! The Unholy Consult by R. Scott Bakker comes out this year, too!

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Brendan wrote: "Haven't read through all of these lists yet, but since finding good new writers is very tough: Fantasy (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sc......"

Thanks for the links Brendan. I added a few to my wish-list.

Reading through both, I was much more interested in the fantasy books than the SF. It felt like the SF was weighted heavily towards YA selections. I wonder if that's a trend for the genres or if it just reflects the tastes of the person(s) who assembled the lists?

[[deleted user]]

G33z3r wrote: "The problem with anticipating what novels I want to read in the future is I can only choose authors I've read before, usually series I've read before. So no surprise, all but one of my highly antic..."I am curious about the the Storm Light Trilogy by Sanderson. Is his writing style similar to Tolkien or is it a continuation of the Wheel of Time story. I am asking because I was pleasantly surprised by the fresh new ideas in Patrick Rotthfuss
books and it would be great to be surprised again.

[Daniel]

Michael wrote: "G33z3r wrote: "The problem with anticipating what novels I want to read in the future is I can only choose authors I've read before, usually series I've read before. So no surprise, all but one of ..."

The Stormlight Archive is in a different universe--the Cosmere. Also in this universe are Elantris, Warbreaker, all of the Mistborn books, White Sand (a graphic novel; although, if you want to read the manuscript it was based on, you can contact the author on his website, and he'll send it to you), along with some short fiction.

I wouldn't compare it to Tolkien, really. It's much more modern, and Robert Jordan is absolutely more of an influence than anyone else. A word of warning, though--it's not just three books; it's going to be ten. I wouldn't be surprised if we're not at least 20 years from a conclusion (and that's just Stormlight; there's a meta-story in the background, about the Cosmere in general, that is very, very far from its conclusion). A lot of fans are worried about living to see its conclusion, but that doesn't stop them from reading and enjoying the books. If you're interested, I can scare up a list of all the Cosmere stuff in chronological order, but as long as you start a given series at the beginning, you don't really have to read any single one first. The connections are loose enough right now (and you won't notice them the first time through, anyway).

[[deleted user]]

Wonderful answer, thank you for your patient answer. I will begin with this series and enjoy discussing it with our members !

[Gary]

The 2017 books that I am most looking forward to reading are Oathbringer (Stormlight #3) by Brandon Sanderson, The Heart of What Was Lost (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn #4) by Tad Williams, Bane and Shadow (Empire of Storms #2) by Jon Skovron, and New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson.

[Jennifer]

Hillary wrote: "Didn't realize there was a 2017 release date for Gladstone's next Craft book -- Six Feet Under now on my anticipated list, along with already-preordered City of Miracles.

Okorafor did a lot of set..."

I'm also really looking forward to A Conjuring of Light ! I started A Darker Shade of Magic just recently, but I'm reading it pretty fast. I already love her writing (first time reading one of her books). Have you pre ordered the book?

[Hillary]

Jennifer wrote: I'm also really looking forward to A Conjuring of Light ! ... Have you pre ordered the book?"

not yet; I'm debating whether to preorder or get myself on the library waitlist. I figure I'll at least wait a while & price watch. I'm pretty squeamish when it comes to purchasing hardbacks, but last-in-a-series books do get me on occasion. I haven't seen it dip below $20 yet tho.

[Greg]

I finally got around to reading The Copper Promise, which I bought last July. I'm digging it, so hopefully I can read the other Copper Cat books this year.

So far I have seven books pre-ordered for Amazon Kindle:

1. A Conversation in Blood
2. Kings of the Wyld
3. Hunger Makes the Wolf
4.Red Sister
5. River of Teeth
6. A Gathering of Ravens
and this one just cause I could resist this one because I couldn't resist a book by Wesley Snipes.
7. Talon of God

Plus I need to get some books of series I'm following.

[nmm]

Got a few books pre-order but the ones I'm looking forward to the most are Death's Mistress and New York 2140. Just loving both authors at the moment.

[Rosemary]

Ash and Quill is the book I am looking forward to, but it does not come out till July 2017, so I have a while to check out some of the other excellent reads listed in this forum.

[Jennifer]

Hillary wrote: "Jennifer wrote: I'm also really looking forward to A Conjuring of Light ! ... Have you pre ordered the book?"

not yet; I'm debating whether to preorder or get myself on the library waitlist. I fig..."

It is pretty spendy. I wish I had more patience like you!

[Hillary]

Jennifer wrote: "It is pretty spendy. I wish I had more patience like you!

I'm not very logical about it. I'll spend more on three or four $8 or $10 books but then go into miser mode when it's a hardback or nondiscounted trade paperback even if I really love the author

Rosemary wrote: Ash and Quill is the book I am looking forward to, but it does not come out till July 2017

I haven't read any of the Great Library books yet, though I've had my eye on them. I thought Caine's Weather Warden books were a lot of fun.

[Norm017]

I am eagerly awaiting

Book 5 in the Samair in Argos series.
Allies and Enemies: Exiles

[nick]

Iron Gold by Pierce Brown.
The Core by Peter Brett

[Ben]

Not been that successful getting stuff read for a while nor since SF Signal stopped been doing that good a job of keeping up with what is going on in the field but there is a decent chance I will at least try to read:-

Borne I quite like Vandermeers stuff so a new book is worth a try.

I think there is a new Richard Parks' Yamada book and they are something I consistently enjoy and easy enough reading that I will probably get it.

Six Wakes I have only tried a short story or so by Mur and wasnt really taken by it but I am drawn to SF/ Crime crossovers so might try a sample

Saga volume 7 - Will get to at some point - the series often goes in unexpected directions which are not always perfect but often a lot of fun.

Walkaway Cory writing is not exactly shimmering and he can be a bit preachy for some but I have consistently been drawn in and fascinated by most of what he has done although the "Little Brother" sequels paid diminishing
returns

There is a new Daryl Gregory and there is a chance I will get to it.

I will probably enjoy some short fiction from Tor and Clarkesworld and may well pick up an anthology or two if anything takes my fancy.

[[deleted user]]

Ben wrote: "Not been that successful getting stuff read for a while nor since SF Signal stopped been doing that good a job of keeping up with what is going on in the field but there is a decent chance I will at least try to read:..."

Hey, Ben, welcome back. I've missed your comments even more than I miss SFSignal. :)

[Jeetash]

Hi all , can someone help me choose ... between the below

Red rising
The traitor
The secret fire

[Kivrin]

Jeetash wrote: "Hi all , can someone help me choose ... between the below

Red rising
The traitor
The secret fire"

Red Rising is a great book! Absolutely loved it. Immediately passed it around to everyone in my book club and most of them loved it as well. Lots of action; great characters! Read it!

[Jeetash]

Thank you will do ...

[Ben]

Thanks G33z3r - Not sure how much reading I will get done but will do some lurking and comment when I have read things or if/when I manage to get stuff read.

[C]

Really looking forward to reading Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Damian Duffy. The original text is by Octavia E. Butler