American War
Author: Omar El Akkad
Publication date: 6 April 2017

Goodreads summary: Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, and that unmanned drones fill the sky. When her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she begins to grow up shaped by her particular time and place. But not everyone at Camp Patience is who they claim to be.

Eventually Sarat is befriended by a mysterious functionary, under whose influence she is turned into a deadly instrument of war. The decisions that she makes will have tremendous consequences not just for Sarat but for her family and her country, rippling through generations of strangers and kin alike.

Why I’m excited: It’s a dystopian world that’s been described as frighteningly realistic, given the political developments of 2016. I haven’t read a good dystopian book since Justin Cronin’s The Passage series, so hoping this is as good as the critics have made it sound.

City of Circles
Author: Jess Richards
Publication date: 10 August 2017

Amazon summary: Danu is a tightrope walker who is mourning her parents after a disease has ravaged the circus where she grew up. Her mother has entrusted her with a locket that hides a secret.

She begins a high-wire act with Morrie, a charismatic hunchback who wants to marry her. When the circus returns to Danu’s birthplace, the magical city of Matryoshka, she discovers the name of a stranger who may hold the answer to her past. When the circus leaves she stays behind.

Will she and Morrie ever be reunited, or will something unexpected be waiting for her in the mysterious heart of the city of circles?

Why I’m excited: I loved Snake Ropes, Jess Richards’ first novel. Her writing is beautiful and dream-like. This has also been billed as one for fans of the Night Circus, which I also loved.

The Ice
Author: Laline Paull
Publication date: 4 May 2017

Goodreads summary: It’s the day after tomorrow and the Arctic sea ice has melted. While global business carves up the new frontier, cruise ships race each other to ever-rarer wildlife sightings. The passengers of the Vanir have come seeking a polar bear. What they find is even more astonishing: a dead body.

It is Tom Harding, lost in an accident three years ago and now revealed by the melting ice of Midgard glacier. Tom had come to Midgard to help launch the new venture of his best friend of thirty years, Sean Cawson, a man whose business relies on discretion and powerful connections – and who was the last person to see him alive.

Why I’m excited: It’s been billed as ‘An electrifying story of friendship, power and betrayal’. The focus on character development in a changing world is right up my street. I haven’t read the author’s previous novel, The Bees, but I’m expecting good things.

A Court of Wings and Ruin
Author: Sarah J Maas
Publication date: 2 May 2017

Goodreads summary: Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

Why I’m excited: A Court of Mist and Fury was one of my favourite reads of 2016, and I’ve been waiting for this for months. 

The Year of the Locust
Author: Terry Hayes
Publication date: 28 December 2017

Goodreads summary: Luke Truman is a junior officer on board the USS Leviathan, the most advanced and powerful warship ever built. It is an eight-hundred-foot-long submarine which, among its vast array of weaponry and secret systems, boasts a top secret “cloaking technology.” Bending light around objects to render them invisible, it is the hottest military research innovation not just in the US but throughout the world.

Now the time has come for the first large-scale trial of its effectiveness. But neither Luke nor the United States government realize the astonishing forces this experiment will unleash. What Luke discovers on board the Leviathan is that the future of our world is at a deadly tipping point and that only he will be able to stop the cascade of events which are leading them all inexorably towards doom.

Why I’m excited: There’s been a thriller shaped hole in my reading list ever since I read ‘I am Pilgrim’ – which is one of the best I’ve ever read. I’ve tried to get into others but they’ve failed to grab me. After a long wait, I’m expecting Hayes latest to be just as great.