Most Anticipated Books: January 2021

Most Anticipated Books is a monthly series in which I discuss the releases I’m most excited for in the coming month. In January, there are six books coming out that I’m excited to read.

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Persephone Station by Stina Leicht

Summary: Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has largely been ignored by the United Republic of Worlds becomes the focus for the Serrao-Orlov Corporation as the planet has a few secrets the corporation tenaciously wants to exploit.

Rosie— owner of Monk’s Bar, in the corporate town of West Brynner— caters to wannabe criminals and rich Earther tourists, of a sort, at the front bar. However, exactly two types of people drank at Monk’s back bar: members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who sought to employ them.

Angel— ex-marine and head of a semi-organized band of beneficent criminals, wayward assassins, and washed up mercenaries with a penchant for doing the honorable thing— is asked to perform a job for Rosie. What this job reveals will affect Persephone and put Angel and her squad up against an army. Despite the odds, they are rearing for a fight with the Serrao-Orlov Corporation. For Angel, she knows that once honor is lost, there is no regaining it. That doesn’t mean she can’t damned well try.

Release Date: January 5

My Impression: Well, well, well, if it isn’t more proof that space is gay. This reminds me of places like Mos Eisley from Star Wars and I love the idea of stories about the sort of people who would congregate there. I am so excited to give this book a try. 

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The Witchling’s Girl by Helena Coggan

Summary: In a quiet street far from the river, with an ancient tree growing through its walls and floors, is the House of the Dead. There lives the witchling: healer, midwife and conduit between the world of the living and the world below. A witchling must give up her family and friends and spend her life alone, tending to the sick and carrying the dead down dark tunnels to the underworld.

Haley was born with the gift of death-magic, and at the age of seven her mother abandons her to the witchling to be raised as her successor. But as Haley grows older and learns her craft— as invading armies pass through her town, people are born and die on her floor, and loyalties shift and dissolve around her— she finds it harder and harder to keep her vows and be the perfect and impassive healer.

But if she can’t, it will be her downfall— and that of everyone she’s not supposed to love…

Release Date: January 7

My Impression: I have a vague memory of adding this book because it has a F/F romance, but now I’m not sure. Even if it’s not, death magic is my jam. This sounds like it could be an underrated gem.

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The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

Summary: Hard-drinking petty thief Dellaria Wells is down on her luck in the city of Leiscourt— again. Then she sees a want ad for a female bodyguard, and she fast-talks her way into the high-paying job. Along with a team of other women, she’s meant to protect a rich young lady from mysterious assassins.

At first Delly thinks the danger is exaggerated, but a series of attacks shows there’s much to fear. Then she begins to fall for Winn, one of the other bodyguards, and the women team up against a mysterious, magical foe who seems to have allies everywhere.

Release Date: January 12

My Impression: A rough-around-the-edges petty thief? A F/F romance? Mysterious assassins? This book was clearly written specifically for me, and C.M. Waggoner, I thank you.

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Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore

Summary: Four years after Bitterblue left off, a new land has been discovered to the east: Torla; and the closest nation to Monsea is Winterkeep. Winterkeep is a land of miracles, a democratic republic run by people who like each other, where people speak to telepathic sea creatures, adopt telepathic foxes as pets, and fly across the sky in ships attached to balloons.

But when Bitterblue’s envoys to Winterkeep drown under suspicious circumstances, she and Giddon and her half sister, Hava, set off to discover the truth–putting both Bitterblue’s life and Giddon’s heart to the test when Bitterbue is kidnapped. Giddon believes she has drowned, leaving him and Hava to solve the mystery of what’s wrong in Winterkeep.

Lovisa Cavenda is the teenage daughter of a powerful Scholar and Industrialist (the opposing governing parties) with a fire inside her that is always hungry, always just nearly about to make something happen. She is the key to everything, but only if she can figure out what’s going on before anyone else, and only if she’s willing to transcend the person she’s been all her life.

Release Date: January 19

My Impression: I love the Graceling Realm series, so I’m cautiously excited about a new installment. I’m definitely going to have to do a series reread first though, because it’s been a while.

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The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick

Summary: Ren is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadežra with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house, securing her fortune and her sister’s future.

But as she’s drawn into the elite world of House Traementis, she realizes her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as nightmare magic begins to weave its way through the City of Dreams, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled… with Ren at their heart.

Release Date: January 19

My Impression: I’m all about political fantasies and I’ve heard this book is queer as hell. Plus, the main character’s name is Ren. That’s my name! I gotta show up for a fellow Ren!

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Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 1: Fortunate and Fate by Alyssa Wong & illustrated by Marika Cresta

Summary: The rogue archaeologist returns— with a new crew and a new mission! With the Rebel Alliance on the run after their defeat at the Battle of Hoth, it’s never been a more dangerous time for outlaws and scoundrels. But after a string of bad luck and near escapes, Doctor Aphra is back on the job— hunting the score of a lifetime that’s too good to pass up. To find the cursed Rings of Vaale, Aphra will need a crew of treasure hunters the likes of which the galaxy has never seen before! But Ronen Tagge, heir to the powerful Tagge family, also has his eyes on the prize. Do Aphra and her team stand a chance at fortune and glory? Or could there be a traitor in their midst?

Release Date: January 26

My Impression: Aphra is one of my favorite Star Wars characters, so I’m super excited for this relaunch. I can’t wait for my favorite chaos lesbian to come back into my life.

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What January releases are you excited for? Let me know in the comments!