Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly series that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. In this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, we need to list the top ten upcoming books on our to-read list that we think will be five-star reads. To that end, I have scoured through those upcoming books that I want to read for those exceptional sounding entries that I think I will end up awarding a full five stars rating to.

There are actually quite a few novels I am planning to read that I think have the potential to get a five-star rating from me. I have already identified several of these books in my Waiting on Wednesday posts, as well as in my prior Top Ten Most Anticipated Book Releases for the First Half of 2020 list. Not only do all of these books have amazing-sounding plots, but quite a few of them are either written by an author I really like or part of a series that contains entries that I have previously awarded five-star reviews to.

There were quite a few upcoming books that I felt could have been included this list, but I ended up culling it down to my top ten favourites (in addition to my usual honourable mentions section). I decided to only include those books whose titles and plot synopsis have been officially revealed, as that made it easier to determine whether I am likely to award it a five-star rating. This does mean that I had to exclude several books that are coming out in the next year which have not been officially announced or which we know very little detail about. This includes sequels to some of my favourite books of 2019, include Rage, The Bone Ships, Starsight and A Little Hatred, which, while I know nothing about them now, I am extremely confident that they are going to be incredibly awesome. In the end, I was able to come up with a great list of books that I am happy with, so let us get to it.

Honourable Mentions:

The God Game by Danney Tobey – 14 January 2020

The only book on this list that I currently have a copy of, The God Game sounds like an amazing read, and I have heard some great things about it from some other reviewers. I am planning to read this book next, and based on its cool plot, I think this book has a real shot of getting a full five stars from me.

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett – 21 April 2020

The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell – 7 May 2020

Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson – 25 June 2020

Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s debut book, Blood & Sugar, was an outstanding piece of historical crime fiction that got a full five stars from me and was one of my favourite debuts of 2019. This second book is set to explore another intriguing murder in 18^th century London, and I am hopeful that the author’s second novel will be just as good as her first.

Top Ten List (By Release Date):

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch – 20 February 2020

Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn – 7 May 2020

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – 19 May 2020

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso – 2 June 2020

Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio – 9 July 2020

Queen of Storms by Raymond E. Feist – 14 July 2020

This is the sequel to 2018’s excellent King of Ashes, which is written by one of my favourite authors, Raymond E. Feist. I am a huge Feist fan and I have been looking forward to this book for a long time. I really enjoyed the intriguing new story that Feist came up with in his previous novel and I cannot wait to see where the story goes from here.

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It by K. J. Parker (cover not yet released) – 25 August 2020

One of my favourite books of 2019 was Parker’s exceptional fantasy novel, Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, which featured a desperate attempt to save a besieged city by a bunch of engineers and their duplicitous commander. This new novel, How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It, appears to contain a similar story, except that this time the book will focus on a playwright whose talents are utilised to win a siege. Based on how incredible his previous novel with, I am really excited for this upcoming book, and I fully expect it to be another funny and compelling five-star read.

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett – 15 September 2020

There is absolutely no way that the new epic novel from Ken Follett is not going to get a full five stars from me when it comes out later this year. Follett is another one of my favourite authors, and he has produced some incredible pieces of historical fiction over the years. The Evening and the Morning is the prequel to Follett’s iconic The Pillars of the Earth, and is set over 100 before during the Dark Ages. This is sure to be another captivating examination of history that explores the lives of several great characters over a period of years, producing a truly compelling story. This is going to be a massive read, but I am sure I will deeply enjoy every single page of it.
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff – 17 September 2020

The next book on my list is an incredible-sounding novel from Australian author Jay Kristoff. Kristoff, who is best known for his young adult fiction, is working on an adult fantasy novel which focuses on a world where vampires rule after the sun failed to rise one day. This book will apparently chronicle the life of the last vampire hunter, who attempted to save the world but is now imprisoned by the vampires and awaiting his execution. I have to admit that I really like the sound of this upcoming book, and I think that Kristoff is onto a real winner with this intriguing story.

Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke – 1 December 2020

Hawke’s debut novel, City of Lies, was a fantastic story about a family of poison experts as they tried to win a siege and keep their king safe from treachery, which was easily one of my favourite books of 2018. I have been looking forward to Hawke’s sequel for a while now, and Hollow Empire is currently set for release later this year. I have really high hopes for this sequel, especially as Hawke is apparently branching out into witchcraft and war in this new book.

Well, that’s it for this week’s list. I truly think all of the above books have the potential to be five-star reads, and I cannot wait to get my hands on all of them. Let me know what you think of the above books in the comments below, and tell me which upcoming pieces of fiction you think have the potential to be five-star reads.