Can't-Wait Wednesday: Star Eater by Kerstin Hall, The Ice Lion by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, & The Coward by Stephen Aryan

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

 

June is, like May, packed with releases, which means we are once again going to be featuring three books each week for Can't-Wait Wednesday because one or two are simply not enough. :)

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

Star Eater by Kerstin Hall
Publication: June 22nd, 2021

Tordotcom

Hardcover. 448 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"All martyrdoms are difficult.

 

Elfreda Raughn will avoid pregnancy if it kills her, and one way or another, it will kill her. Though she’s able to stomach her gruesome day-to-day duties, the reality of preserving the Sisterhood of Aytrium’s magical bloodline horrifies her. She wants out, whatever the cost.

 

So when a shadowy cabal approaches Elfreda with an offer of escape, she leaps at the opportunity. As their spy, she gains access to the highest reaches of the Sisterhood, and enters a glittering world of opulent parties, subtle deceptions, and unexpected bloodshed.

 

A phantasmagorical indictment of hereditary power, Star Eater takes readers deep into a perilous and uncanny world where even the most powerful women are forced to choose what sacrifices they will make, so that they might have any choice at all."

I heard some describe this book as being "for people who are intrigued byt he sound of 'cannibalistic nuns,'" and well, that's me! The concept of this book sounds fascinating, so I'm really looking forward to checking it out.

and...

The Ice Lion by Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Publication: June 15, 2021

DAW Books

Hardcover. 304 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"This cli-fi novel from a notable archaeologist and anthropologist explores a frozen future where archaic species struggle to survive an apocalyptic Ice Age

 

One thousand years in the future, the zyme, a thick blanket of luminous green slime, covers the oceans. Glaciers three-miles-high rise over the continents. The old stories say that when the Jemen, godlike beings from the past, realized their efforts to halt global warming had gone terribly wrong, they made a desperate gamble to save life on earth and recreated species that had survived the worst of the earth's Ice Ages.

 

Sixteen-summers-old Lynx and his best friend Quiller are members of the Sealion People--archaic humans known as Denisovans. They live in a world growing colder, a world filled with monstrous predators that hunt them for food. When they flee to a new land, they meet a strange old man who impossibly seems to be the last of the Jemen. He tells Lynx the only way he can save his world is by sacrificing himself to the last true god, a quantum computer named Quancee."

This sounds like such a fascinating premise and I really enjoy books of this "cli-fi" nature--despite the fact that they can be a bit terrifying in relation to real life, haha. Hope to check this one out soon!

and...

The Coward by Stephen Aryan

Publication: June 8th, 2021

Angry Robot

Paperback. 400 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"Kell Kressia is a legend, a celebrity, a hero. Aged just seventeen he set out on an epic quest with a band of grizzled fighters to slay the Ice Lich and save the world, but only he returned victorious. The Lich was dead, the ice receded and the Five Kingdoms were safe.

 

Ten years have passed Kell lives a quiet farmer's life, while stories about his heroism are told in every tavern across the length and breadth of the land. But now a new terror has arisen in the north. Beyond the frozen circle, north of the Frostrunner clans, something has taken up residence in the Lich's abandoned castle. And the ice is beginning to creep south once more.

 

For the second time, Kell is called upon to take up his famous sword, Slayer, and battle the forces of darkness. But he has a terrible secret that nobody knows. He's not a hero - he was just lucky. Everyone puts their faith in Kell the Legend, but he's a coward who has no intention of risking his life for anyone..."

I wasn't overly sold on Aryan's Age of Dead Trilogy, but I'm really loving the sound of The Coward and I've seen some pretty great reviews already, so I'm excited to check it out sometime!

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?