Can't-Wait Wednesday: Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Gilded by Marissa Meyer, & Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

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: 

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Publication: November 16th, 2021

Tordotcom

Paperback. 176 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"In Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race, a junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to study to save a planet from an unbeatable foe. 

Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way. 

But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she’s an adult (albeit barely) and although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it). 

But Elder Nyr isn’t a sorcerer, and he is forbidden to help, for his knowledge of science tells him the threat cannot possibly be a demon…"

Tchaikovsky has a lot of books out that I need to catch up on... so why not go ahead and add another to my list? I'm surprised how short this one is, but I'm certainly curious to check it out!

and...

Gilded by Marissa Meyer

Publication: November 2nd, 2021

Feiwel & Friends

Hardcover. 512 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue. 

Or so everyone believes. 

When one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn't meant to be part of the bargain. 

Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever."

This premise sounds very similar to a book I read recently, but I'm still a big fan of retellings and I'm curious to see a different take on a similar idea!

and...

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

Publication: November 9th, 2021

DAW Books

Hardcover. 224 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"From Africanfuturist luminary Okorafor comes a new science fiction novel of intense action and thoughtful rumination on biotechnology, destiny, and humanity in a near-future Nigeria. 

Anwuli Okwudili prefers to be called AO. To her, these initials have always stood for Artificial Organism. AO has never really felt...natural, and that's putting it lightly. Her parents spent most of the days before she was born praying for her peaceful passing because even in-utero she was wrong. But she lived. Then came the car accident years later that disabled her even further. Yet instead of viewing her strange body the way the world views it, as freakish, unnatural, even the work of the devil, AO embraces all that she is: A woman with a ton of major and necessary body augmentations. And then one day she goes to her local market and everything goes wrong. 

Once on the run, she meets a Fulani herdsman named DNA and the race against time across the deserts of Northern Nigeria begins. In a world where all things are streamed, everyone is watching the reckoning of the murderess and the terrorist and the saga of the wicked woman and mad man unfold. This fast-paced, relentless journey of tribe, destiny, body, and the wonderland of technology revels in the fact that the future sometimes isn't so predictable. Expect the unaccepted."

I've been really curious to try out more of Nnedi Okorafor's work because I'm always hearing so many amazing things about it. I wasn't a fan of her book Akata Witch, but I have a feeling these books are pretty different from one another. I'm excited to check this one out sometime!

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

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long, Lore by Alexandra Bracken, & Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

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: 

Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long
Publication: January 19th, 2021

Titan Books

Paperback. 432 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"Hessa is an Eangi: a warrior priestess of the Goddess of War, with the power to turn an enemy's bones to dust with a scream. Banished for disobeying her goddess's command to murder a traveller, she prays for forgiveness alone on a mountainside.

 

While she is gone, raiders raze her village and obliterate the Eangi priesthood. Grieving and alone, Hessa - the last Eangi - must find the traveller, atone for her weakness and secure her place with her loved ones in the High Halls. As clans from the north and legionaries from the south tear through her homeland, slaughtering everyone in their path, Hessa strives to win back her goddess' favour.

 

Beset by zealot soldiers, deceitful gods, and newly-awakened demons at every turn, Hessa burns her path towards redemption and revenge. But her journey reveals a harrowing truth: the gods are dying and the High Halls of the afterlife are fading. Soon Hessa's trust in her goddess weakens with every unheeded prayer.

 

Thrust into a battle between the gods of the Old World and the New, Hessa realizes there is far more on the line than securing a life beyond her own death. Bigger, older powers slumber beneath the surface of her world. And they're about to wake up."

I'm always ready for a new fantasy world to dive into, and I am really loving the sound of this one.

and...

Lore by Alexandra Bracken

Publication: January 5th, 2021

Disney-Hyperion

Hardcover. 480 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family's sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt's promises of eternal glory. For years she's pushed away any thought of revenge against the man--now a god--responsible for their deaths.

 

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

 

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore's decision to bind her fate to Athena's and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost--and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees. "

Of course I'm always drawn to anything with the Greek gods, so I'm curious to see what spin Bracken brings to these classic mythical figures.

and...

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

Publication: January 19th, 2021

Tor

Hardcover. 160 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"'She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.'

 

The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa­­--a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.

 

Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks--alone, except for her fox companion--searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?"

This sounds like a really interesting concept and I'm not sure what to expect from this book, but I'm really looking forward to it!

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