Can't-Wait Wednesday: A Far Better Thing by H.G. Parry & Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

   

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

A Far Better Thing by H.G. Parry
Publication: June 17th, 2025
Tor Books
Paperback. 416 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell meets A Tale of Two Cities in H. G. Parry’s A Far Better Thing, a heart-rending fantasy of faery revenge set during the French Revolution.

I feared this was the best of times; I hoped it could not get any worse.

The faeries stole Sydney Carton as a child, and made him a mortal servant of the Faery Realm. Now, he has a rare opportunity for revenge against the fae and Charles Darnay, the changeling left in his stead.

It will take magic and cunning―cold iron and Realm silver―to hide his intentions from humans and fae and bring his plans to fruition.

Shuttling between London and Paris during the Reign of Terror, generations of violence-begetting-violence lead him to a heartbreaking choice in the shadow of the guillotine."

I will read everything H.G. Parry writes, and especially when it features her utterly enchanting fae. Really looking forward to this one!

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel
Publication: June 3rd, 2025
Scholastic Press
Hardcover. 256 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"From award-winning author Kenneth Oppel a startling, can't-wait-to-talk-about-it-with-someone novel that defies genre to create a survival thriller unlike any you've read before. For fans of Leave the World Behind, A.S. King, M.T. Anderson, and Margaret Atwood.

Xavier Oaks doesn't particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad's pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it's only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only... one morning he wakes up and the house isn’t where it was before. It's like it's been lifted and placed... somewhere else.

When Xavier, his dad, and Nia go explore, they find they are inside a dome, trapped. And there's no one else around...

Until, three years later, another family arrives.

Is there any escape? Is there a reason they are stuck where they are? Different people have different answers -- and those different answers inexorably lead to tension, strife, and sacrifice.

In this masterpiece, award-winning author Kenneth Oppel builds to a heart-stopping pitch in drawing a story that feels very much of our moment, where our very human choices collectively lead to humanity’s eventual fate."

Kenneth Oppel always works with some really interesting ideas, and this sounds like no exception. I'm so curious about this one!

Can't-Wait Wednesday: One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig & Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel

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.

 

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Publication: September 27th, 2022
Orbit
Paperback. 432 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. 

But nothing comes for free, especially magic. 

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason. 

Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him."

This premise sounds fantastic and like it will hopefully have some great characters. Plus, I always love a good monster! Orbit did an amazing job with the cover, as well.

and...

Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel
Publication: September 6th, 2022
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Hardcover. 400 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Rebecca Strand was just sixteen when she and her father fell to their deaths from the top of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse in 1839. Just how they fell--or were they pushed?--remains a mystery. And their ghosts haunt the lighthouse to this day. . . . 

Gabe tells this story every day when he gives the ghost tour on Toronto Island. He tries to make it scary enough to satisfy the tourists, but he doesn't actually believe in ghosts--until he finds himself face to face with Rebecca Strand. 

The true story of her death is far more terrifying than any ghost tale Gabe has told. Rebecca reveals that her father was a member of the Order, a secret society devoted to protecting the world from "the wakeful and wicked dead"--malevolent spirits like Viker, the ghost responsible for their deaths. But the Order has disappeared, and Viker's ghost is growing ever stronger. 

Now Gabe and his friends must find a way to stop Viker before they all become lost souls. . . ."

I had a lot of fun with Oppel's The Boundless when I read it a few years back and I've been meaning to read more from him ever since. I think Ghostlight sounds like it'll be a good one to dive back into his work with!

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