Can't-Wait Wednesday: Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky, The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks, & The Last Song of Penelope by Claire North

      

 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.

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Publication: June 4th, 2024
Tordotcom
Hardcover. 384 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"A humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time

To fix the world they first must break it further.

Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into their core programming, they murder their owner. The robot then discovers they can also do something else they never did before: run away. After fleeing the household, they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating, and a robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is finding a new purpose."

I just finished an ARC of this and thought it was really fun and clever.  Tchaikovsky really is a master at crafting sci-fi tales and I'm excited for this one's release.

The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
Publication: June 18th, 2024
Flatiron Books
Hardcover. 336 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"It is said there is a price that every passenger must pay. A price beyond the cost of a ticket.

It is the end of the 19th Century and the world is awash with marvels. But there is nothing so marvellous as the Wastelands: a terrain of terrible miracles that lies between Beijing and Moscow.

Nothing touches this abandoned wilderness except the Great Trans-Siberian Express: an impenetrable train built to carry cargo across continents, but which now transports anyone who dares to cross the shadowy Wastelands.

On to the platform steps a curious cast of characters: a grieving woman with a borrowed name, a famous child born on the train and a disgraced naturalist, all heading for the Great Exhibition in Moscow.

But the old rules are changing, and there are whispers that the train isn't safe. As secrets and stories begin to unravel the passengers and crew must survive their journey through the Wastelands together, even as something uncontrollable seems to be breaking in . . ."

I am in love with everything about the sound of this book! I have an ARC that I can't wait to dive into soon.

The Last Song of Penelope (The Songs of Penelope #3) by Claire North
Publication: June 4th, 2024
Orbit
Hardcover. 400 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Many years ago, Odysseus sailed to war and never returned. For twenty years his wife Penelope and the women of Ithaca have guarded the isle against suitors and rival kings. But peace cannot be kept forever, and the balance of power is about to break . . .

A beggar has arrived at the Palace. Salt-crusted and ocean-battered, he is scorned by the suitors - but Penelope recognises in him something her husband, Odysseus, returned at last. Yet this Odysseus is no hero. By returning to the island in disguise, he is not merely plotting his revenge against the suitors - vengeance that will spark a civil war - but he's testing the loyalty of his queen. Has she been faithful to him all these years? And how much blood is Odysseus willing to shed to be sure?

The song of Penelope is ending, and the song of Odysseus must ring through Ithaca's halls. But first, Penelope must use all her cunning to win a war for the fate of the island and keep her family alive, whatever the cost . . ."

Claire North has such a unique writing style and I'm curious to check out this final installment.