Never-before-read Star Wars secrets! Stormlight Archive Book 3! A Nutella-loving space spider? Here are just some of the books coming out in 2017 that we would really like to read right this second.
Binti: Home – January 31, 2017
It’s been a year since Binti and Okwu enrolled at Oomza University. A year since Binti was declared a hero for uniting two warring planets. A year since she found friendship in the unlikeliest of places.
And now she must return home to her people, with her friend Okwu by her side, to face her family and face her elders.
But Okwu will be the first of his race to set foot on Earth in over a hundred years, and the first ever to come in peace.
As wonderfully self-encompassed as Binti was all on its own, I cannot wait to see what lies in wait for her, and what she can accomplish after all that she has already been through. Yeah, I’m not gonna say more. Just super excited. –Emily
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty – January 31, 2017
A Goodreads reviewer recently described Lafferty’s sci-fi thriller as “Clue in space with clones,” which has me even more excited. Now that we’re seeing more generation ship stories, I appreciate takes that refine the central conflict beyond just how do we survive on this voyage?—like in the case of clone Marie Shea IV. Marie is certainly used to being activated after after her former selves have died (of illness, injury, you name it), but this time around she’s come to life because Marie III was murdered. Problem is, there are only six suspects—namely, the other clones, some of which have also been offed. Fingers crossed there’s a Wadsworth-like figure in the form of a ship AI or robot to walk them through how it was done… —Natalie
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders – February 14, 2017
George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. One year into the Civil War, Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state—called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo—a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie’s soul.
This is George Saunders’ debut novel! A shocking proportion of Saunders’ short stories have made me weep (often in public) so I am both excited for this novel, and deeply afraid of it. —Leah
Universal Harvester by John Darnielle – February 7, 2017
When a local schoolteacher comes in to the video store to return her copy of Targets—an old movie, starring Boris Karloff, one Jeremy himself had ordered for the store—she has an odd complaint: “There’s something on it,” she says, but doesn’t elaborate. Two days later, a different customer returns a different tape, a new release, and says it’s not defective, exactly, but altered: “There’s another movie on this tape.”
I looooved Wolf in White Van, so I’m excited to see how John Darnielle’s literary career continues to unfold. —Leah
The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley – February 7, 2017
Set within a system of decaying world-ships traveling through deep space, this breakout novel of epic science fiction follows a pair of sisters who must wrest control of their war-torn legion of worlds—and may have to destroy everything they know in order to survive.
I’ve read the first few chapters of Hurley’s latest and I’m itching to get back to her mystifying, rich story about mothers and daughter and amnesia and world-ships. I don’t quite know what’s going on—yet!—but I have every faith it’s going to be a fantastic and surprising read. —Molly
Aftermath: Empire’s End by Chuck Wendig – February 21, 2017
Considering how much fun the second volume in the Aftermath trilogy was, I’m really keen to know where Wendig’s corner of the Star Wars universe is going to end up. Gimme all those Jakku secrets…. —Emily
Revenger by Alastair Reynolds – February 28, 2017
Captain Rackamore and his crew’s business is to find the tiny, enigmatic worlds which have been hidden away, booby-trapped, surrounded by layers of protection – and to crack them open for the ancient relics and barely-remembered technologies inside. But while they ply their risky trade with integrity, not everyone is so scrupulous.
Space! Pirate! Sisters! Is this a movie yet? I want to read it and watch it. —Molly
Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar – March 7th, 2017
Alone in Deep Space, Jakub discovers a possibly imaginary giant alien spider, who becomes his unlikely companion. Over philosophical conversations about the nature of love, life and death, and the deliciousness of bacon, the pair form an intense and emotional bond. Will it be enough to see Jakub through a clash with secret Russian rivals and return him safely to Earth for a second chance with Lenka?
A Czech astronaut travels to Venus, but along the way he meets a Nutella-loving space spider! Did you hear me? SPACE SPIDER. I am all about this book. —Leah
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers – March 14, 2017
After reading The Long Way to A Small Angry Planet, I was instantly ready for more. Count me in on this one. –Emily
YES, THIS. It’s out in ebook now but I want the book on my shelf now now now.—Chris
Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys – April 4, 2017
The government that stole Aphra’s life now needs her help. FBI agent Ron Spector believes that Communist spies have stolen dangerous magical secrets from Miskatonic University, secrets that could turn the Cold War hot in an instant, and hasten the end of the human race.
Confession: I got an ARC of this, so I’ve already read it. Suffice it to say, if you already enjoyed “The Litany of Earth”, and wanted more of Aphra Marsh’s story, this will be one thrilling read. –Emily
Dear Cyborgs by Eugene Lim – June 6, 2017
In a small Midwestern town, two Asian American boys bond over their outcast status and a mutual love of comic books. Meanwhile, in an alternative or perhaps future universe, a team of superheroes ponders modern society during their time off. Between black-ops missions and rescuing hostages, they swap stories of artistic malaise and muse on the seemingly inescapable grip of market economics.
I can’t wait to see how the novel mingles these two stories. —Leah
The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente – June 6, 2017
A series of linked stories from the points of view of the wives and girlfriends of superheroes, female heroes, and anyone who’s ever been “refrigerated”: comic book women who are killed, raped, brainwashed, driven mad, disabled, or had their powers taken so that a male superhero’s storyline will progress.
Valente’s just-announced book involves a superhero universe of her own making, where the women who’ve been fridged get their say for once. Just thinking about this one gives me goosebumps. —Molly
Same here. This may be one of the most potent graphic novels of the decade.—Chris
The Stone Sky (Broken Earth Book #3) by N. K. Jemisin – August 15, 2017
There is no way that this series ends happily.
Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy is so exciting that I read the first two volumes back-to-back, barely pausing to eat and drink. Now the endgame is here and just the thought of Essun having to kill her newly extremist daughter Nassun makes my stomach knot up.
Also that whole thing where one of them, at least, has to catch an entire moon with their mind.
And that thing where the secrets of the stone-eaters and the obelisks are about to drop like a moon-sized shoe.—Chris
The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera – October 3, 2017
I barely know any more about this book than I did when we announced it months ago, but it’s at the top of my 2017-want-to-read list. Two central female characters (fated to meet because of their warrior mothers!), political intrigue, a fresh new fantasy world—it’s got everything I want right now. —Molly
Untitled Imperial Radch Novel by Ann Leckie – Fall 2017
I don’t know anything about Leckie’s next Imperial Radch novel, but I don’t care. I’ve been itching to return to her universe since Ancillary Mercy—especially since that game-changer of an ending—so I’ll just wait patiently for my proverbial gate pass to a new adventure. —Natalie
Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive Book #3 by Brandon Sanderson – November 2017
Real talk: I’ve been putting off reading Words of Radiance until this comes out. That way I can reread The Way of Kings, encounter Words as a new story, then plow right into Oathbringer.
With November’s Oathbringer creating a convenient trilogy, the Stormlight Archive’s presence as an epic fantasy doorstopper series will be cemented. AND I SHALL FEAST!—Chris
What are you looking forward to in 2017?
