Tag: Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday – Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday9 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I check out one of the more intriguing and complex upcoming fantasy novels of 2025 with the incredible sounding Katabasis by R. F. Kuang.

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Over the last few years, an intriguing rising fantasy author I have unfortunately not had the opportunity to read was the highly regarded R. F. Kuang.  A talented author whose books feature interesting references and insights into Asian culture and how it is perceived in the West, Kuang has produced an impressive and unique body of work.  This includes here acclaimed The Poppy War series, as well as the varied standalone novels Yellowface and Babel, or the Necessity of Violence.  All these books have outstanding and complex plots behind them, and I honestly wish that I had taken the time to try and read some of these novels in recent years.  Luckily it looks like I might get the opportunity to finally read one of her books later this year as Kuang has a particularly epic new novel coming out that has really grabbed my attention.

That book is Katabasis, a compelling dark academia fantasy novel that will see two rival students got to Hell to retrieve their professor’s soul.  A suitably unique and quite entertaining plot idea, Katabasis, which is set for release in August 2025, promises to bring together a lot of complex story elements into a very interesting read.  I especially love how Kuang will be apparently sending up both classic underworld stories, such as Dante or Orpheus, as well as the more maddening world of academia and post-graduate study.  Based on both the distinctive plot and Kuang’s excellent reputation for creating elaborate and clever stories, I feel that Katabasis has a ton of potential and could end up being one of the top fantasy books of the year.  As such, I am extremely eager to get my hands on Katabasis, and I think I am going to have an extremely fun time reading it.

Plot Synopsis:

Dante’s Inferno meets Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi in this all-new dark academia fantasy from R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own.

Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek:

The story of a hero’s descent to the underworld

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.

That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams….

Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.

With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like.

But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn’t always the answer, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies…or lead to their doom.

Waiting on Wednesday – The Malevolent Eight by Sebastien de Castell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday4 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  In this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I check out an extremely fun sounding fantasy novel coming out soon with The Malevolent Eight by Sebastien de Castell.

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2025 looks set to be a very big year for fantasy author Sebastien de Castell.  I have previously posted about one of his upcoming books, Our Lady of Blades, which will serve as a loosely connected sequel to Play of Shadow and Crucible of Chaos (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024 respectfully).  I truly believe that Our Lady of Blades will be one of the top books of 2025, but before we get to it, we have another treat from de Castell with The Malevolent Eight.

The Malevolent Eight is an awesome and entertaining upcoming book that will serve as a sequel to the author’s previous novel, The Malevolent Seven.  The Malevolent Seven was a great book from a couple of years ago that I had a ton of fun reading thanks to its over-the-top narrative and entertaining characters.  Following seven murderous and mismatched wizards who take on a job to kill a group of deadly mages, The Malevolent Seven was extremely good, and I loved the twist at the end that saw the protagonists simultaneously unleash heaven and hell on their own dimension.  

Ever since reading this fun book, I have been hoping that de Castell would release a sequel to The Malevolent Seven, and it looks like we finally have one upcoming with The Malevolent Eight.  Set for release in May 2025, The Malevolent Eight looks set be an amazing sequel that will see the protagonists fight back against the dark forces they unleashed upon the world.  Thanks to its exciting story and entertaining characters, I predict that The Malevolent Eight is going to be a particularly awesome read, and one that I am very keen to get my hands on.  This will probably be one of the most exciting and humorous books of 2025, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.


Plot Synopsis:

The stakes have never been higher.

The world is teetering on the brink of annihilation. The Lords Celestine and the Lords Devilish, celestial and infernal beings locked in an age-old enmity, have at last found the perfect battlefield for their apocalyptic Great Crusade: the mortal realm.

Cade Ombra, former Glorian Justiciar turned mercenary wonderist, leads a band of emotionally unstable mages in a desperate bid to prevent the impending clash of divine and diabolical titans. Failure will leave humanity to be conscripted into an eternal war, serving as foot soldiers doomed to oblivion.

The mission seems impossible, but Cade and the Malevolent Seven aren’t exactly pacifists, so they’re determined to bring peace no matter how many people they have to kill first. With wit as sharp as their blades and a moral compass that points only toward survival, they’re ready to cut down anyone in their path to stop the war before it begins.

Prepare for a whirlwind of dark magic, irreverent humour and relentless action in The Malevolent Eight: The Bad, The Worse and The Wicked. The fate of the humanity hangs in the balance, and only the most malevolent can hope to save it.

Waiting on Wednesday – Warhammer 40,000: Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok by Denny Flowers

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Waiting on Wednesday, Warhammer3 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this latest Waiting on Wednesday, I highlight a recently announced 2025 Warhammer 40,000 novel that I am particularly excited for with Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok by Denny Flowers

Fans of this blog will know that I am a massive sucker for all things Warhammer 40,000, and I have been having a blast reading and reviewing so many fantastic novels and audiobooks from this franchise for years.  2025 is already proving to be an interesting year for Warhammer 40,000 fiction, as not only did I just read and review Leontus: Lord Solar, but we also have the very awesome Interceptor City by Dan Abnett (the sequel to Double Eagle), coming out in a couple of days.  Well, it looks like my 2025 Warhammer experience is set to become even better, as the Black Library have just announced an excellent upcoming book that I am very excited for with Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok, from one of my favourite Warhammer authors Denny Flowers.

Denny Flowers is an author who has deeply impressed me since they started writing Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  Starting with Fire Made Flesh in 2021, Flowers did an outstanding job exploring the Necromunda setting, and Fire Made Flesh ended up being one of my favourite debuts of 2021.  Flowers followed his first book up in a big way in 2022 with the fantastic read Outgunned.  An incredibly clever and entertaining novel, Outgunned showcased a deadly fliers war through the eyes of a propaganda expert, who grows to understand the deadly reality they have been trying to sell to the rest of humanity.  Outgunned was such a good book, and it is one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels thanks to its great story and complex characters.  Flowers further impressed last year when he provided us with an exceptional sequel to Outgunned with Above and Beyond.  A powerful read that cleverly expanded on the great character arcs from Outgunned and provided readers with a nuanced take on the human heroes of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Above and Beyond was another exceptional read that ended up being one of my top books and audiobooks of 2024.

Due to how much fun I have had with Flowers in the past, you can understand that I was very excited to find that he had a new book coming out later this year.  While the details of this upcoming novel, Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok, are a tad sparse (and I only have some unfished covers at this point), the fragmented synopsis below honestly sounds pretty damn amazing, and I am already extremely keen to check it out.


Plot Synopsis:

A painboy of legendary repute, Mad Dok Grotsnik is the singular mind responsible for the towering monstrosity and numero uno Warboss of the Goff clan, Ghazghkull Thraka.* He has an entire army of thuggish orderlies who supply him with fresh meat to experiment on, and a formidable brain that harbours secrets not even the weirdest of boys could reckon at. 

So when he deigns to visit his medical “expertise” upon the beleaguered Bakum, whose faltering Waaagh! against Hive Prome is threatening to peter out, the Beastboss can’t believe his luck. But in reality, the Mad Dok is working on something monumental in his Painwagon, something that will supplant the creation of Ghazghkull as his grandest medical achievement and change the nature of ork-kind forever. 


Ok, now this sounds pretty damn awesome.  I have a special love for ork stories in Warhammer 40,000 fiction, which are so damn hilarious thanks to their over-the-top characters and crazy narratives.  Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok sounds like a particularly good example of this, and a story about a crazed ork painboy taking over a Waaagh! to create some elaborate medical experiment can only be amazing.  I have no doubts whatsoever that Flowers will do an incredible job with this premise, especially after showcasing his ability to write ork characters with his two short story entries in Da Red Gobbo Collection.

Look, I honestly will grab any new piece of Warhammer 40,000 fiction that Denny Flowers produces, as Flowers is an author that honestly gets better with every book he writes. However, a fantastically fun and elaborately over-the-top read about one of the canon’s most feared ork painboys is something I am extremely keen on, and there is no way that this won’t be good.  As such, Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok is one of my most anticipated Warhammer 40,000 novels coming out in 2025, and it won’t surprise me if this ends up being one of the best books I read all year.

Waiting on Wednesday – The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday6 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this latest Waiting on Wednesday, I highlight one of the top and most anticipated thrillers of 2025 with the exciting new Dan Brown book, The Secret of Secrets.

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Dan Brown is an author who leads very little introduction, having been one of the most recognisable authors of the early 21st century.  Thanks primarily to his Robert Langdon books and the resulting film adaptations, Brown received a lot of recognition for his compelling and history laden thrillers that followed the titular character, symbologist Robert Langdon, as he attempts to unwind elaborate mysteries from history.  Books and films like Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Inferno and Origin, enthralled audiences for much of the 2000s and 2010s, and I personally had fun with several of them when I first getting into thriller fiction.

After several years away, Brown is returning in 2025 with a brand-new Robert Langdon novel, The Secret of Secrets.  Needless to say, I am quite excited for The Secret of Secrets, not only because it sounds really cool, but because it’s the first Robert Langdon book released since I started seriously reading and reviewing thriller fiction for this blog.  Set for release in September 2025, The Secret of Secrets is highly intriguing, and I love the sound of the plot below.


Plot Synopsis:

The thrilling and long-awaited new Robert Langdon novel from globally bestselling author Dan Brown.

Accompanying celebrated academic, Katherine Solomon, to a lecture she’s been invited to give in Prague, Robert Langdon’s world spirals out of control when she disappears without trace from their hotel room. Far from home and well out of his comfort zone, Langdon must pit his wits against forces unknown to recover the woman he loves.

But Prague is an old and dangerous city, steeped in folklore and mystery. For over two thousand years, the tides of history have washed back and forth over it, leaving behind echoes of everything that has gone before. Little can Langdon know that he is being stalked by a spectre from that dark past. He must use all of his arcane knowledge to decipher the world around him before he too is consumed by the rings of treachery and deception that have swallowed Katherine.

Against a backdrop of vast castles, towering churches, graveyards buried twelve deep and labyrinthine underground passages, Langdon must navigate a shadow city hiding in plain sight, a city which has successfully kept its secrets for centuries and will not readily deliver them. This is a battlefield unlike any he has previously experienced, one on which he must fight not for his only life, but for the future of humanity itself.

The Secret Of Secrets is Dan Brown’s first novel for over eight years and sees the stunning return of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, this time pitting his wits against a conspiracy which will test even his considerable brainpower and take him to the edge of losing all that he holds dear…

 

It looks like Brown has pulled together an excellent and elaborate plot for The Secret of Secrets, and I am very interested in seeing Prague through Dan Brown and Robert Langdon’s eyes.  The unique history of the city is going to be a fantastic part of The Secret of Secrets, and I cannot wait to see how Brown will work them into the plot.  I have no doubt the central thriller storyline is going to be particularly awesome and having the opportunity to once again see Langdon running around a European city, solving historical clues and deciphering elaborate puzzles is going to be great.

Honestly, the moment I heard that there was a new Dan Brown novel coming out in 2025, I knew that I was going to be grabbing this book.  Brown is too iconic an author for a reviewer not to check out, and I have honestly had a lot of fun with his previous books and some of the movies based around them.  As such, The Secret of Secrets is now very high up my to-read list for the second half of 2025, and I am sure that I will have an exceptional time reading this upcoming book.  It will be really amazing to get more Dan Brown this year, and The Secret of Secrets is going to be so damn good.

Waiting on Wednesday – Once a Villain by Vanessa Len

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday, Young Adult2 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  In this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I highlight the epic upcoming end to a particularly cool young adult fantasy series with Once a Villain by Vanessa Len.

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Over the last couple of years, one of my favourite young adult fantasy series has been the Only a Monster trilogy by Australian author Vanessa Len.  Starting in 2022 with Len’s debut novel, Only a Monster, the series followed a teenage girl who finds out that she is part monster, a being who can drain life from humans in order to time travel.  Len pulled together a fascinating narrative for this first book, as the protagonist is forced to flee through time after her crush is revealed to be a vengeful monster slayer.  This first book proved to be an excellent read, and Only a Monster was one of my favourite debuts and favourite pieces of Australian fiction in 2022.

Len kept the series going strong in 2023, with the intense follow-up Never a Hero.  An intriguing sequel, Never a Hero featured a compelling plot in an alternate timeline that cleverly mirrored the first book, as the protagonist is dragged back into the world of monsters, this time fleeing from previous allies who no longer remember her.  I deeply enjoyed this outstanding second book, especially as Len worked in some excellent twists and dark secrets, and Never a Hero was one of my favourite sequels and Australian novels of 2023.

Due to how much I enjoyed the first two books in the series, as well as the awesome and dark cliffhanger Len left Never a Hero on, I have been extremely keen to see how the Only a Monster trilogy comes to an end.  It looks like we don’t have too much longer to wait as the third and final book, Once a Villian, is set for release in August 2025.  Pitting the protagonist against a nefarious enemy who has manipulated time and brought about a monster-ruled dystopia, Once a Villain looks set to be a particularly thrilling and powerful final addition to the series.  I have no doubt that Len will bring this series to an incredible end, and I cannot wait to see what elaborate and emotionally charged adventures await her compelling protagonists in this final book, which will probably be one of the best young adult fantasy reads of 2025.

Plot Synopsis:

The finale in the contemporary fantasy Only a Monster trilogy from Vanessa Len—which New York Times bestselling authors Holly Black, Chloe Gong, and Stephanie Garber called “delightful,” “captivating,” and “unputdownable”—will take Joan into the darkest timeline in the monster world, as she fights to restore the world she remembers.

Joan has failed to stop Eleanor.

Now restored, the thirteenth family rules ruthlessly over a new London in which monsters live openly among humans, preying on them and subjugating them.

Only Joan and her friends Aaron and Nick remember that there was once a better timeline. Now, as they negotiate their fractured pasts and face wrenching emotional decisions, they must fight to survive the new world and fix the broken timeline.

But how will they defeat a whole family of monsters with power over time itself?

Waiting on Wednesday – Badlands by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday6 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this latest Waiting on Wednesday post, I check out a fun and awesome upcoming thriller that sounds like a real blast, with Badlands by Doughlas Preston and Lincoln Child.

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Last year I had the very great pleasure of reading Extinction by Douglas Preston.  An outstanding thriller set in a private nature park filled with cloned woolly mammoths and other prehistoric creatures, I was lured in by Extinction’s cool premise but came away deeply thrilled by how crazy and fun things got, as an unlikely group of antagonists caused all manner of over-the-top carnage  I loved every second I spent reading Extinction, and it was one of the more entertaining novels of 2024.  Due to this, I decided to keep an eye out on more books from Preston and was very intrigued by his next release, Badlands, which he has once again written with his long-time collaborator Lincoln Child.

While Preston and Child have both written solo books, they are better known as a highly regarded writing partnership which has produced a mass of exciting and compelling thrillers with supernatural or scientific twists.  The pair’s main body of work is the long-running Agent Pendergast series, which started back in 1995 with Relic, and has since resulted in over 20 associated books.  In addition to the Agent Pendergast books, Preston and Child have also written other series, such as the Gideon Crew books, as well as some cool standalone novels, which all sound very awesome.  Due to the various intriguing narratives contained within this series, the novels of Preston and Child have been on my radar for a while, and I think it is time I make the effort to check them out, especially after having so much fun with Extinction.

As such, the pair’s next book, Badlands, seems like an excellent place to start.  Part of the author’s Nora Kelly series, which follows the titular archaeologist as she becomes involved in a series of dark investigations with historical components to times, Badlands sounds really intriguing, and I love the cool plot behind it.  Based on what I have heard about Preston and Child’s novels, I should be able to start reading Badlands without too much pre-knowledge of the author’s previous books, and hopefully I can just start enjoying the awesome sounding narrative.  Set for release in July 2025, Badlands has a ton of potential, and I cannot wait to unwind Preston and Child’s new elaborate plot.  


Plot Synopsis:

In the New Mexico badlands, the skeleton of a woman is found — and the case is assigned to FBI Agent Corrie Swanson. The victim walked into the desert, shedding clothes as she went, and died in agony of heatstroke and thirst. Two rare artifacts are found clutched in her bony hands–lightning stones used by the ancient Chaco people to summon the gods.

Is it suicide or… sacrifice?

Agent Swanson brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate. When a second body is found — exactly like the other — the two realize the case runs deeper than they imagined. As Corrie and Nora pursue their investigation into remote canyons, haunted ruins, and long-lost rituals, they find themselves confronting a dark power that, disturbed from its long slumber, threatens to exact an unspeakable price.

Waiting on Wednesday – Nightshade by Michael Connelly

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Murder Mystery, Waiting on Wednesday5 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  In this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I check out the next excellent crime fiction novel from the legendary Michael Connelly with the upcoming book Nightshade.

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There are few crime fiction writers who have had the longevity and popularity of Michael Connelly, an author behind an array of cool novels and iconic series.  Featuring some impressive murder mystery and thriller storylines, I have been really getting in Connelly’s work in recent years, including such amazing books as Dark Sacred Night, The Night Fire, The Dark Hours, Desert Star, Fair Warning, The Law of Innocence and Resurrection Walk.  Due to how much fun I have had with these outstanding novels, I am always in the mood for more Connelly, and it looks like we are getting our next crime fiction instalment from the author a little early with the upcoming book Nightshade.

Nightshade, which is coming out in May 2025, looks set to be another intriguing mystery from Connelly set around a new damaged protagonist.  Featuring a compelling setting and a distinctive hook, Nightshade sounds like a fantastic and exciting book, and one loaded with potential.

 

Plot Synopsis:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly introduces a new cop relentlessly following his mission in the seemingly idyllic setting of Catalina island.

 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell has been ‘exiled’ to a low-key post, policing rustic Catalina Island, after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts that come with his new territory, Detective Stilwell gets a report of a body found wrapped in plastic and weighed down at the bottom of the harbour. Crossing all lines of protocol and jurisdiction, he starts doggedly working the case. Soon, his investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city.

 

I really like the sound of the above plot synopsis for Nightshade, and it looks like Connelly has an interesting new novel coming out this year.  The combination of the Catalina Island setting and a new cop protagonist should ensure that Nightshade stands out from some of the author’s other recent books, especially as it’s the first new main character we’ve had from the author in a few years.  I am very curious to see how Detective Stilwell will differentiate himself from some of the Connelly’s other jaded protagonists, and I am sure that the author will come up with a moving backstory for Stilwell that will get the reader even more invested in the narrative.  Throw in dark secrets around the seemingly picturesque Catalina Island, a setting I really don’t too much about, and Nightshade has a lot going for it that is making me very excited.

Honestly, based on how impressive Michael Connelly’s last several books have been, there is no way that I will not be reading Nightshade when it comes out in a few months’ time.  The author always delivers when it comes to his excellent mysteries, and I have no doubt that this new Connelly book is going to be something very special.  This is already one of my most anticipated upcoming books of 2025, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it as soon as it comes out.

Waiting on Wednesday – Tyrant by Conn Iggulden

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Waiting on Wednesday4 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this latest Waiting on Wednesday, I look at Tyrant, the new novel from acclaimed historical fiction author, Conn Iggulden, which continues to follow the dark rise of Emperor Nero.

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2025 is shaping up to be a great year for historical fiction, and one of the books that I am looking forward to the most is the next fun novel from awesome author Conn Iggulden, Tyrant.  Iggulden is an outstanding author who has produced some amazing and complex historical reads throughout his career.  This includes his epic Emperor series, which covered the complete life of Julius Caesar, as the Conqueror series that was set around Genghis Khan, and the outstanding War of the Roses books.  I also have had a lot of fun reading and reviewing some of his more recent books, including The Falcon of Sparta and his Athenian series, made up of The Gates of Athens and Protector.

The historical fiction fun continued last year as Iggulden started off a cool new series that revolved around the life of the infamous Emperor Nero.  This first book, Nero, was set around the birth and early childhood of the titular future emperor, and examined how his mother, the manipulative Agrippina, outlasted her husband and survived the dark attention of her crazed brother Caligula, all while scheming to enhance her position and ensure her son becomes emperor.  Nero proved to be a highly captivating read that provided both excitement and a fascinating look at the tumultuous events leading up to Nero’s adoption.  I had a great time with this latest Iggulden novel, and I have been keen to see how the author would follow it up.

Well, it looks like I will be able to explore more of Nero’s contentious life in a few months’ time as a sequel to Nero is coming out in May 2025.  This sequel, Tyrant, will continue to follow the early life of Nero, this time focusing on his time as Emperor Claudius’ adopted son and his mother’s twisted attempts to remove his new brother and current heir to the throne.  This should be another amazing book filled with cool historical detail, deadly intrigue and complex figures fighting for power, which should result in an epic and memorable narrative.  I have no doubt Tyrant will be one of the better historical fiction reads of 2025 and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.

Plot Synopsis:

The latest gripping instalment in the bestselling Nero trilogy follows empress Agrippina’s ceaseless pursuit of absolute power for her son to rule over the Roman Empire

Ancient Rome, AD 50

The boy Nero lives. His mother Agrippina has married her way to power, tangling the Emperor Claudius in her skirts.

The emperor may have a son and heir of his own, but Agrippina sees no obstacles to her ambition.

Rome is a path through a marsh, lit by torches. Those who walk it are always one step from disaster – and the road itself is treacherous, slippery with blood.

Claudius may have the world at his feet, but he has Agrippina in his bed.

Waiting on Wednesday – Our Lady of Blades by Sebastien de Castell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday7 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  In this latest Waiting on Wednesday post, I look ahead to the end of this year and focus on an outstanding upcoming fantasy novel that will likely be one of the top books of 2025 with Our Lady of Blades by Sebastien de Castell.

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I just put to bed two posts covering my most anticipated upcoming books for the first half of 2025, including one for fantasy and science fiction books, and another list covering thrillers, crime fiction, historical fiction and more.  As such, I am keen to go beyond the first half of 2025 with this post, which is why I am looking ahead to November 2025 and the release of a cool new entry in a series I really grew to love last year.  This book is Our Lady of Blades by veteran fantasy author Sebastien de Castell, which will serve as the second book in the Court of Shadows series.

Back in early 2024, I was lucky enough to receive a copy of de Castell’s new book, Play of Shadows.  While I loved the sound of Play of Shadows’ cool plot, I was initially hesitant to read it, mainly because I was unfamiliar with the author’s Greatcoat universe, of which this book was a part of.  However, due to how fun it sounded, and because I really enjoyed de Castell’s book The Malevolent Seven, I decided to give Play of Shadows a try and boy was I glad that I did.  Featuring an epic and really clever narrative about a theatre actor in a troubled fantasy city in the realm of Tristia, who suddenly manifest the ability to summon the spirits of the dead while on stage, de Castell wove together a really compelling and intense narrative, especially when the protagonist’s new ability summons the spirit of his city’s most hated historical villain who brings new revelations about the city’s past and the dark powers trying to control it.  I really loved this fantastic book, and de Castell featured an epic blend of humour, fun fantasy elements and a gripping tale of intrigue and mystery, that effortlessly grabbed my attention and refused to let go.  Play of Shadows was a five-star read that ended up being one of my favourite books of 2024, and it also led me to read another amazing book in the same series with Crucible of Chaos.

Crucible of Chaos was another exceptional novel that was released shortly before Play of Shadows and serves as a loosely connected prequel to it.  Following an unlikely member of the legendary Greatcoats, Tristia’s royal guards and travelling magistrates and duellists, as he investigates a murder in an important monastery, Crucible of Chaos was a gripping read with some great humour and an excellent whodunnit edge to it.  Featuring its own exceptional story that ties the Court of Shadows series into the larger Greatcoat universe, while also hinting at the larger conspiracy featured in Play of Shadows, Crucible of Chaos was another incredible five-star read that I ended up listing as one of my favourite audiobooks of 2024, and I deeply enjoyed its larger-than-life protagonist and brilliant story.

As you can no doubt tell from the above two paragraphs, I got hooked on the Court of Shadows books last year, and I am naturally keen to see how the series continues.  As such, the second official entry in the series, Our Lady of Blades, is very high on my to-read list, and I am eagerly looking forward to grabbing it in November.  Featuring another standalone narrative, Our Lady of Blades will follow a new protagonist as they become embroiled in fresh conspiracies with a similar source as those featured in the previous novels.


Plot Synopsis:

Blood Week may have been banned in Rijou, but the streets still run red – and now murder is being sanctioned by the courts. Only a reckless fool would believe they can beat the system. But then, the Greatcoats have always been more than a little reckless . . .

Rijou’s notorious Court of Blades is as corrupt as it is cutthroat, destroying lives with impunity. Now the city’s all-powerful Ascendant Houses have started buying and selling verdicts to enslave and even execute those who oppose them.

Into this depraved world of licensed death comes a mysterious duellist who dares to foil the intrigues of the city’s elite. They call her Lady Consequence, but years ago she had a different name, until her family was slaughtered and she was consigned to the hellish prison known as the House of Tears.

Lady Consequence means to rescue her idealistic younger brother, restore their House and wreak vengeance upon those who betrayed them. But a far more dangerous game is unfolding in the shadows, one which threatens the freedom of the entire nation.


I am very, very excited about the above plot synopsis, and it seems like we are going to be in for an exceptional time with Our Lady of Blades later this year.  De Castell is setting up a very fun, revenge-focussed narrative in this second Court of Shadows book, and I am getting some cool The Count of Monte Cristo vibes from this plot as the protagonist returns in disguise to get revenge and rebuild her house.  It should prove to be quite compelling and fun to follow Lady Consequence (which is an awesome alias btw), as she fights back against those who wronged her, utilising her skills with the sword and her mysterious past.  I imagine that de Castell will load this story with intrigue, adventure and a ton of fun swordplay, while also diving into the no-doubt troubled history of the protagonist to give the book a more powerful dramatic edge.  Throw in a cool new background setting, as the protagonist fights against the corruption of the city of Rijou, and this story sounds so damn epic and exciting.

In addition to its own cool story, I am also very keen to see how Our Lady of Blades tie into the larger Court of Shadows series.  Crucible of Chaos and Play of Shadows both worked well as standalone novels, with the underlying conspiracy of the series only coming to light towards the end of the plot.  I am anticipating that de Castell will examine the shadowy players attempting to destabilise Tristia in a bit more detail in Our Lady of Blades, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we encounter the main antagonist of the series.  I am also expecting that some of the protagonists of the previous books could show up here, as well as some cameo appearances from the wider Greatcoats universe, which should result in a very fun read, especially for established de Castell fans.

I think it is very clear that I am extremely excited to read Our Lady of Blades later this year.  Thanks to how awesome the first two books in Sebastien de Castell’s Court of Shadows series turned out to be, I am extremely confident that I am going to love Our Lady of Blades, and the awesome sounding plot synopsis above only seems to reinforce this.  I honestly believe that Our Lady of Blades will end up being one of the top fantasy books of 2025, and I cannot wait to continue de Castell’s exceptional Court of Shadows series later this year.

Waiting on Wednesday – When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comedy/Satire, Science Fiction, Waiting on Wednesday8 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  This week to celebrate the new year I am doing two Waiting on Wednesday posts to really highlight some awesome upcoming books.  I have already looked at the upcoming Usagi Yojimbo volume by Stan Sakai, The Crow, and in this post I want to talk about a cool and hilarious upcoming science fiction novel, When the Moon Hits Your Eye by the always entertaining John Scalzi.

Amazon

Scalzi is a fantastic author whose career is defined by an array of intriguing and inventive science fiction novels.  Best known for his Old Man’s War series, Scalzi has produced some impressive and fun series and standalone novels over the years, including the hilarious Redshirts, the compelling monster focused The Kaiju Preservation Society, and the outstanding 2023 release, Starter Villain.  All these novels were really fun and entertaining in their own unique ways, and I have resolved to try and grab all of Scalzi’s new books whenever they come out.

To that end, I really want to highlight Scalzi’s next upcoming novel because it sounds so damn outrageous and distinctive.  This book, When the Moon Hits Your Eye, is currently set for release in March 2025 and features a unique and memorable plot that is very Scalzi.  I honestly laughed myself silly the first time I saw what this book was going be based around, although I must admit it has a lot of potential.

Plot Synopsis:

One day, without explanation, the moon turns into a ball of cheese.

For some, it’s an opportunity. For others, it’s time to question their life choices. How can the world stay the same in the face of such absurdity and uncertainty?

Astronauts and billionaires, comedians and bank executives, professors and presidents, teenagers and patients at the end of their lives – over the length of a lunar cycle, each gets their moment in the moonlight. To panic, to plan, to wonder and to hope, to laugh and to grieve. All in a story that goes all the places you’d expect, and to many others you could never anticipate. For the people of the earth, this could be the end – or the beginning of a whole new world.

From the Hugo and Locus Award-winning author John Scalzi, When the Moon Hits Your Eye is an entirely serious take on an entirely unserious subject.

So yeah, this is going to be a book about the moon turning into a big ball of cheese, and if that isn’t a Scalzi story than I don’t know what is.  While When the Moon Hits Your Eye sounds a bit weird, I personally am really excited for it.  Scalzi has a great track record of turning unlikely stories into outstanding books and I think this could be one of his better ones.  I am very interested in seeing how Scalzi envisions this massive lunar change impacting the entire world, and it should result in some very fun and unique scenarios.

Based on the synopsis above, it seems like Scalzi is going for a wide-spread character-focussed plot with When the Moon Hits Your Eye as he examines multiple people impacted by this phenomenon across the world.  Setting this over the length of a lunar cycle and seeing all the different ways characters react has some real potential, and I am sure Scalzi will fit in his usual clever humour and great character work.

While I was already planning to grab the new Scalzi before I knew anything about it, When the Moon Hits Your Eye is now very high on my to-read list thanks to the crazy synopsis above.  I am so damn curious to see what sort of outrageous and fun narrative John Scalzi will weave around the moon turning into a ball of cheese, and it is clear we are in for a wild ride.  When the Moon Hits Your Eye will easily be one of the more distinctive science fiction novels of 2025 and I cannot wait to power through this unlikely story the first chance I can.