Hello!

Today for #WyrdandWonder I thought that I would share 5 of my most anticipated reads for the rest of 2020. I’ve listed them purely in order of UK release dates (so I don’t have to try and choose between them). Four are the final books in series that I have enjoyed immensely and the other is the first in new trilogy from one of my favourite authors.

1. From Cold Ashes Risen (The War Eternal #3) – Rob J. Hayes

Release Date: 26th May 2020

The Corpse Queen Comes.

Eskara has lost everything. The War Eternal has cost her everything she loves, and the Iron Legion has taken the rest. Yet there is something that is still hers, something that kept her warm during her time in the Pit. Anger and a lust for vengeance. First on the list of those who must pay, the Emperor of Terrelan.

Her friends counsel peace, but her inner demons push for war, and Eska finds herself caught in the middle. Will she find a way to reap her vengeance? Or will the enemies of her past catch up to her first?

One thing is certain. The world will soon know fear when the Corpse Queen ascends her throne.

*****

1. Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy #3) – S.A. Chakraborty

Release Date: 11th June 2020

Daevabad has fallen.

After a brutal conquest stripped the city of its magic, Nahid leader Banu Manizheh and her resurrected commander, Dara, must try to repair their fraying alliance and stabilize a fractious, warring people.

But the death of his people and loss of his beloved Nahri have unleashed the worst demons of Dara’s dark past. To vanquish them, he must face some ugly truths about his history and put himself at the mercy of those he once considered enemies.

Having narrowly escaped their murderous families and Daevabad’s deadly politics, Nahri and Ali, now safe in Cairo, face difficult choices of their own. Though Nahri is finding peace in the rhythms of her old home, she is haunted by the knowledge that the loved ones she left behind and the people who considered her a savior, are at the mercy of a new tyrant.

Ali, too, cannot help but look back, and is determined to return to rescue his city and the family that remains.

As peace grows more elusive and old players return, Nahri, Ali, and Dara come to understand that in order to remake the world, they may need to fight those they once loved…and take a stand for those they once hurt.

*****

3) The Black Song (The Raven’s Blade #2) – Anthony Ryan

Release Date: 30th July 2020

(N.B. This is the US cover, the UK cover has yet to be released)

The Steel Horde has laid waste to the Venerable Kingdom, unleashing a storm of fire and blood. Now the leader of this mighty host – Kehlbrand, the warlord who thinks himself a god – turns his eyes to the other merchant kingdoms. No one can stop his divine conquest.

No one, perhaps, except Vaelin Al Sorna.

Yet Vaelin is on the run, his own army in disarray. Worse, the new blood song he has acquired is as much a curse as a blessing, and seeks to guide him down a path far darker than he could have imagined . . .

*****

4.  The Stone Knife (Songs of the Drowned #1) – Anna Stephens

Release Date: 12th November 2020

In the humid jungles of Ixatal, a war has been raging for fifty years as the Pecha, by order of their supreme ruler the Singer, conquer their neighbouring tribes and bring them into the glory of the Empire of Songs. Only the Yalotl and their neighbours, the Toko of the hills, remain.

Meanwhile, the Toko fight a second war – against the Drowned. Clawed and fanged humanoid predators who dwell in water, luring unwary victims to their deaths.

As the Pecha army advances ever closer, conquering Yalotl land and taking its people as slaves to the glory of the Singer and their gods, the Toko must find a way to survive the war and the waters both. But within their home, the Cloud City, not everyone is who they seem, and one people’s gods are another’s monsters.

*****

5) The Burning God (The Poppy War #3) – R.F.Kuang

Release Date: 19th November 2020

After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead. Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much – the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges – and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation. Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it?

**

What are some books that you’re looking forward to this year or next? Anything I should be adding to the towering tbr?

Rowena