I have a notoriously tall To Be Read pile. If you look at my Goodreads account, you’ll see that I consistently have 10 or more books shelved in Currently Reading, and right now my To Read list is almost at 500!

…but that doesn’t mean I don’t always have an eye out for even more books to read, especially ones from authors I’m really excited about. Here are a few of my most anticipated new releases for Summer 2016, in order of their release date.

June 2016 Releases

League of Dragons by Naomi Novik
(Del Ray, June 14)

Summary: The ninth and final book in Naomi Novik’s alternate history Temeraire series follows (human) Lawrence and (dragon) Temeraire in what might be their last adventure: to save Temeraire’s offspring, stolen by the retreating French forces, and to end the war with Napoleon Bonaparte — for good.

Get Excited: Novik is fresh Nebula Award-winner for her most recent novel, Uprooted, published last fall. If you love dragons or alternate history, you may want to add this series to your summer epic fantasy binge reading list.

July 2016 Releases

Necessity by Jo Walton
(Tor Books, July 12)

Summary: Generations after Pallas Athena founded a city based on Plato’s Republic, the city thrives on a distant planet, trading with alien species — and faced with the approach of a space ship sent from Earth.

Get Excited: Necessity will conclude the Thessaly series, which begins with The Just City. Read the Girls in Capes review of The Just City here. You can also discuss Jo Walton’s My Real Children with us here.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling & Jack Thorne
(Little Brown, July 31)

Summary: In the bound script edition of the upcoming stage play, a middle-aged Harry Potter and his youngest son, Albus, face the ongoing presence of Harry’s legacy and a darkness that creeps into their lives.

Get Excited: It’s a sequel to the Harry Potter series. Do we need any other reasons?

August 2016 Releases

Behind the Throne by K.B. Wagers
(Orbit Books US, August 2)

Summary: Hail Bristol wakes up face-first in a pile of someone else’s guts after putting down a mutiny on her ship — only to be discovered, to her great displeasure, by a pair of Trackers bearing bad news: Hail’s older sister and niece have been killed, and she is the last remaining heir to the Indranan empire. Becoming the next empress is the opposite of what Hail wants, but duty has called, and soon she finds herself back “home” and faced with a rapidly degenerating mother, an oppressively restrictive palace, and a series of attempts on her life.

Get Excited: Not your average rags-to-riches princess story. I loved the action of the story, the way Hail refuses to allow her political advisers to prevent her from protecting herself, and the fact that she starts as Han Solo and ends as Leia Organa. You can look forward to the official Girls in Capes review in July.

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
(Tor Books, August 16)

Summary: Ginger Stuyvesant is a medium for Britain’s Spirit Corps during World War I and engaged to fellow intelligence officer Benjamin Hartshorne. Yet with her fiance away on the front lines, Ginger’s superiors think her discovery of a traitor is all in her imagination, and with Germany beginning to target the Spirit Corps directly, Ginger must find a way to stop them on her own.

Get Excited: Another alternate history fantasy out this summer, Ghost Talkers is currently a complete story, making it a good read for the series-fatigued. As a fan of Kowal’s alternate history fantasy Shades of Milk and Honey, I look forward to seeing her writing in a different period while addressing similar themes of women finding workarounds to survive in eras in which they’re limited by laws and social conventions.

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
(Orbit Books, August 16)

Summary: In the second book in the Broken Earth series, civilization is entering another Fifth Season — possibly the last. Essun’s search for her daughter has led her to someone else entirely. And that someone wants her to do something almost impossible.

Get Excited: The Fifth Season was one of our favorite books in 2015 and was nominated for both the Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Hugo Award for Best Novel. Jemisin’s use of voice in this series is absolutely stunning, and The Obelisk Gate maintains that beauty. If you haven’t checked out The Fifth Season yet, you can read my review here, and you can look forward to the official Girls in Capes review of The Obelisk Gate in August.

Breath of Earth by Beth Cato
(Harper Voyager, August 23)

Summary: In alternate 1906 San Francisco, Ingrid Charmichael is the secretary to a group of geomancers called the Wardens, but she hasn’t mentioned she herself is a geomancer as well, with power that far surpasses theirs. When the Wardens are assassinated, Ingrid’s power is enough to save herself — but it’s not the last danger that she’ll face.

Get Excited: First off: that cover, though. In that link, the cover reveal on Tor.com, the author discusses how her input affected the final cover design as well as her concern (rather, lack of concern) about the cover to this multicultural fantasy getting a whitewashing treatment. We’re looking forward to checking out Cato’s vision of an alternate-history San Francisco.

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