It’s a new year and after completing the latest draft of the sequel to The End of the Line (more on that anon), my brain has turned to my TBR pile. There are so many good SFF books coming out this year, I thought I would share some of my top most anticipated books for 2020.
The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie
It’s so nice to have a Joe Abercrombie book to look forward to every year again. His return with A Little Hatred was a brilliant opener to his new trilogy set years after the original First Law books and it ended on such a cliffhanger I can’t wait to be able to dive back in and see what happens next. There were plenty of new characters to get to know, to love and to hate, (and some of the older characters in the wings) and it’s going to be an utter pleasure to get my hands on another delicious looking hardback.
For those inclined to join me in my excitement, you can pre-order Joe’s book here.
Goldilocks by Laura Lam
I already have this lined up on my Kindle. I’ve been a big fan of Laura’s prose since I read False Hearts a few years back. Goldilocks has such an excellent premise, I’m looking forward to seeing what Laura does with it. Mixing spaceship thriller with The Handmaid’s Tale, this follows a mother and daughter who are part of an all-female crew on their way to a habitable planet in the ‘Goldilocks’ zone. The Earth is dying (and simultaneously restricting the freedoms of women) and their mission could be humanity’s last hope for survival. But things start going wrong – there’s a saboteur on the ship. Big themes and an excellent thriller concept. What’s not to love?
Stormblood by Jeremy Szal
This sounds like a guns-out SF action-thriller with a DNA-enhanced Jason Bourne at the helm. Thanks to a shady ‘super soldier’ program, our hero Vakov is addicted to adrenalin and aggression but this is going to come in handy because now his ex-army buddies are being killed off one by one and it’s up to him to stop it. This is his first novel, but Jeremy already has form having published over forty short stories which bodes well for what sounds like a complete thrill-ride.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I pulled out Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s previous book, Gods of Jade and Shadow as one of my top picks of 2019. Well, I’m continuing that fascination with her gorgeous blend of gothic aesthetic and Mexican folklore with her aptly titled Mexican Gothic. Set in the 1950s in a haunted Mexican mansion, Noemi arrives to investigate her cousin’s claims that she’s being poisoned by her new husband. Cue dark family secrets, menacing villains, violence and madness. Sign me up.
The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey
I was lucky enough to hear Mike read an early sneak preview of this book at SRFC last year and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Set in the far future where humanity has fucked up the planet and efforts by scientists to fix the problem have only made things worse (or at least more interesting), we follow Koli, a boy from a small village where life is hard, enlivened by scraps of old-tech that wait to be woken by the right touch. It’s all written in the character’s vernacular ala Knife of Never Letting Go, which Carey pulls off with aplomb. Carey has long been one of my favourite authors and so I’ll definitely be snapping this up first chance I get.
Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett
The sequel to 2018’s Foundryside, this is a must for those of you who, like me, are fans of the video game series Thief. I loved the introduction to this steam-punky world, run by runes and powerful guilds who are constantly battling for supremacy and Sancia, a gifted thief, is the perfect protagonist to sneak among all their goings-on. The first had great action, believable characters and some top-notch world building, the sequel, I’m sure, will be no different.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
It seems like forever since Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell came out (oh, wait, it was!) so it’s very exciting that Susanna Clarke has a new book coming out this Autumn. No idea what it’s about! They’re keeping that underwraps, but I will be there for it.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
I am always home for some Weird Fiction. N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy was one of the most lauded SFF series of the last decade with multiple wins and nominations for awards (and with good reason) so it’s exciting that she’s starting this decade with something new. The author reviews are looking good (Neil Gaiman has already chimed in) and this tale about New York seems right up my alley.
The Deep by Alma Katsu
Let’s be honest, when the first line of your pitch to me is ‘Someone, or something, is haunting the Titanic’ then you’ll get the Futurama ‘Take my money’ gif in response. Set during World War One, a survivor of the Titanic, working on the sister ship Brittanica, now a hospital ship, finds that whatever strange occurrences happened on Titanic haven’t finished with her yet. I am so here for this book I’ve already requested it on Netgalley and it has some amazing author reviews from the likes of Sarah Pinborough, Josh Malerman and Paul Tremblay.
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stu Turton
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was an amazing debut. Love it or loathe the concept (and I loved it), what Stu Turton did with it was undeniably a work of genius and I loved curling up with this book over a Christmas holiday in Donegal. Now Stu has a new book coming, it’s set at sea, there are detectives, demons, mystery… I feel that sofa in Donegal calling me again!
So that’s it. As I’ve said, I have my own new book coming out in ebook and audio this year. It’s currently slated for June and I’ll have more to tell you about it in the coming months. In the meantime, you can check out my debut, The End of the Line which is currently only £1.99 in ebook.
Get in touch with me on Twitter and let me know what other books I should be looking out for.
Gray Williams - Author 