Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Devil Three Times by Rickey Fayne & The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

 

 Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

The Devil Three Times by Rickey Fayne
Publication: May 13th, 2025
Little, Brown and Company
Hardcover. 416 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"'A debut of enormous ambition' spanning eight generations of a Black family in West Tennessee as they are repeatedly visited by the Devil (Nathan Harris, New York Times bestselling author of The Sweetness of Water)

Yetunde awakens aboard a slave ship en route to the United States with the spirit of her dead sister as her only companion. Desperate to survive the hell that awaits her at their destination, Yetunde finds help in an unexpected form—the Devil himself. The Devil, seeking a way to reenter the pearly gates of heaven, decides to prove himself to an indifferent God by protecting Yetunde and granting her a piece of his supernatural power. In return, Yetunde makes an incredible sacrifice.

Their bargain extends far beyond Yetunde's mortal lifespan. Over the next 175 years, the Devil visits Yetunde's descendants in their darkest hour of need: Lucille, a conjure woman; Asa, who passes for white; Louis and Virgil, who risk becoming a twentieth-century Cain and Abel; Cassandra, who speaks to the dead; James, who struggles to make sense of the past while fighting to keep his family together; and many others. The Devil offers each of them his own version of salvation, all the while wondering: can he save himself, too?

Steeped in the spiritual traditions and oral history of the Black diaspora, The Devil Three Times is a baptism by fire and water, heralding a new voice in American fiction."

I'm so intrigued by this premise, and I'm always excited for debut authors who really seem to be going big with their first book--can't wait to check this one out. 

The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
Publication: May 13th, 2025
Tor Books
Hardcover. 432 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"'Look at you, eating magic like you're one of us.'

Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions.

Walden is good at her job―no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from―is herself."

I liked Silver in the Wood, but didn't care for Some Desperate, so I'm hoping that means it's time for me to like a new Emily Tesh book and I'm really excited for this one. Of course I'm always up for an academic setting!