Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  For this Top Ten Tuesday, participants need to list the top releases that they are looking forward to reading this winter (or summer for us down here in Australia).  This is a fun exercise that I have done for each of the preceding seasons, and it is always interesting to highlight the various cool-sounding books and comics that are coming out in the next few months.

For this list I have come up with 10 of the best novels that are coming out between 1 December 2020 and 28 February 2021.  I have decided to exclude novels that I have already read, or I am currently reading, so that took a couple of key books off the list.  Still, this left me with a rather substantial pool of cool upcoming novels that I am excited for, which I was eventually able to whittle down into a great Top Ten list (with a few honourable mentions).  I have previously discussed a number of these books before a number of my Waiting on Wednesday articles and I think all of them will turn out to be some really impressive and enjoyable reads.

Honourable Mentions:

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Vol. 1 – Fortune and Fate by Alyssa Wong and Marika Cresta – 26/01/2021

 

Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson – 1/02/2021

 

Serpentine by Jonathan Kellerman – 2/02/2021

 

City of Vengeance by D. V. Bishop – 9/02/2021

 

Top Ten List:

A Fool’s Hope by Mike Shackle – 3/12/2020

The first entry on this list is A Fool’s Hope by Mike Shackle, the sequel to Shackle’s epic debut, We are the Dead.  I have been hearing some great things about his book already and I am really looking forward to checking it out.  The trade paperback version of this novel is apparently not available down here in Australia until February 2021, but the audiobook version is already out, so I might grab that instead.

Colonyside by Michael Mammay – 29/12/2020

Colonyside is the third book in the amazing Planetside series by impressive science fiction author Michael Mammay.  I have really enjoyed the first two novels in this series, Planetside and Spaceside, both of which were among my favourite books of 2018 and 2019 respectfully, and I cannot wait to see how the third entry in this excellent science fiction thriller series turns out.

Star Trek: Picard: The Dark Veil by James Swallow – 5/01/2021

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to read the first Star Trek: Picard novel, The Last Best Hope, which did an awesome job of bridging the gap between The Next Generation and Picard television series.  Now acclaimed tie-in fiction author James Swallow presents the second Picard book, The Dark Veil, which will follow Captain William Riker and his crew as he gets drawn into the chaotic events the precede the Picard series.  I had an amazing time reading the previous Picard novel and I have high hopes that this new upcoming book is going to be just as enjoyable.

Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule – 5/01/2021

Now what would a Top Ten List on this book be without a Star Wars tie-in novel featured somewhere.  Luckily there are several great upcoming Star Wars novels set for release in the next three months that I am quite excited to check out.  Most of these novels are part of The High Republic range of Star Wars novels and comics, which are going to be set 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace.  Of these, the one I am most interested in reading is Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule.  Light of the Jedi is set to be the main introductory novel to this new range of Star Wars fiction, and I am very curious to see what happens in this new period of the expanded universe.  This new novel is written by one of the top authors of Star Wars fiction, Charles Soule, whose work on Star Wars comics such as the Dark Lord of the Sith comics (check out my review for Volume 2: Legacy’s End and Volume 3: The Burning Seas), has been rather incredible, and I am very excited to see what happens in this new book.

A Prince and a Spy by Rory Clements – 21/01/2021

The fifth book in Clement’s exciting Tom Wilde historical thriller series, A Prince and A Spy looks set to be an excellent novel to start off 2021 with.  I have really enjoyed the previous entries in the Tom Wilde series, including Nucleus, Nemesis and Hitler’s Secret, and this upcoming book sounds particularly exciting as it contains a conspiracy set around the death of the Queen’s uncle during World War II.

Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz – 2/02/2021

I am particularly looking forward to checking out Prodigal Son, the upcoming sixth book in Hurwitz’s Orphan X series.  The Orphan X book are an awesome and wildly thrilling series that sets an elite and incredibly deadly former government assassin go up against a series of dangerous opponents across America.  I have really enjoyed the last two novels in the series, Out of the Dark and Into the Fire, and I cannot wait to see how Prodigal Son turns out.

The Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick – 27/01/2021

The Mask of Mirrors is an intriguing upcoming fantasy debut that I think has a lot of potential and should make for a compelling and entertaining read.

The Three Paradises by Robert Fabbri – 1/02/2021

One of my favourite historical fiction authors, Robert Fabbri, returns with the second entry in his Alexander’s Legacy series, The Three Paradises.  The first book in this series, To the Strongest, was a lot of fun and I am very keen to see where this crazy historical story goes next.

Relentless by Mark Greaney – 23/02/2021

Top thriller author Mark Greaney returns with the 10^th novel in his Gray Man series, Relentless, that sees his protagonist, assassin Court Gentry, investigate a new conspiracy around the world.  Greaney has been killing it over the last couple of years, especially with the previous two entries in the Gray Man series, Mission Critical and One Minute Out, and this upcoming book looks set to be another fantastic and captivating novel.

The Kaiser’s Web by Steve Berry – 23/02/2021

The final entry on this list is The Kaiser’s Web, the 16^th upcoming entry in the long-running Cotton Malone series.  The Cotton Malone books are an exciting and interesting collection of novels that feature a series of fascinating history-based conspiracies.  I have been really getting into this series over the last couple of years, and the last two novels, The Malta Exchange and The Warsaw Protocol, have contains some excellent and intriguing adventures.  The Kaiser’s Web features another cool sounding plot and I cannot wait to dive into this latest adventure.

 

Well that is the end of my Top Ten list.  I think it turned out pretty well and it does a good job of capturing all my most anticipated books for the next three months.  All of the above books should be pretty epic, and I cannot wait to read them soon.  Let me know which of the above you are most excited for and stay tuned for reviews of them in the next few months.