It’s somehow October already, and time to look at what’s being published in the next three months. As ever, there are lots of wonderful books to look forward to, and these are just a few of the ones that I’m particularly excited about. You can see my posts from earlier in the year through these links: Q1, Q2, and Q3.
Publication dates are correct at time of writing.
Night Side of the River by Jeanette Winterson (Jonathan Cape, 5 Oct)
Our lives are digital, exposed and always-on. We track our friends and family wherever they go. We have millennia of knowledge at our fingertips.
We know everything about our world. But we know nothing about theirs.
We have changed, but our ghosts have not. They’ve simply adapted and innovated, found new channels to reach us. They inhabit our apps and wander the metaverse just as they haunt our homes and our memories, always seeking new ways to connect.
To live amongst us.
To remind us.
To tempt us.
To take their revenge.
These stories are not ours to tell. They are the stories of the dead – of those we’ve lost, loved, forgotten… and feared. Some are fiction. But some may not be.
A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 10 Oct)
Far away and long ago, when dragons still existed and the only arcade game was ping-pong in black and white, a wizard cautiously entered a smoky tavern in the evil, ancient, foggy city of Morpork…
Twenty early short stories by one of the world’s best loved authors, each accompanied by exquisite original woodcut illustrations.
These are rediscovered tales that Pratchett wrote under a pseudonym for newspapers during the 1970s and 1980s. Whilst none are set in the Discworld, they hint towards the world he would go on to create, containing all of his trademark wit, satirical wisdom and fantastic imagination.
Meet Og the inventor, the first caveman to cultivate fire, as he discovers the highs and lows of progress; haunt the Ministry of Nuisances with the defiant evicted ghosts of Pilgarlic Towers; visit Blackbury, a small market town with weird weather and an otherworldly visitor; and go on a dangerous quest through time and space with hero Kron, which begins in the ancient city of Morpork…
Julia by Sandra Newman (Granta Books, 19 Oct)
London, chief city of Airstrip One, the third most populous province of Oceania. It’s 1984 and Julia Worthing works as a mechanic fixing the novel-writing machines in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. Under the ideology of IngSoc and the rule of the Party and its leader Big Brother, Julia is a model citizen – cheerfully cynical, believing in nothing and caring not at all about politics. She knows how to survive in a world of constant surveillance, Thought Police, Newspeak, Doublethink, child spies and the black markets of the prole neighbourhoods. She’s very good at staying alive.
But Julia becomes intrigued by a colleague from the Records Department – a mid-level worker of the Outer Party called Winston Smith, she comes to realise that she’s losing her grip and can no longer safely navigate her world.
Seventy-five years after Orwell finished writing his iconic novel, Sandra Newman has tackled the world of Big Brother in a truly convincing way, offering a dramatically different, feminist narrative that is true to and stands alongside the original. For the millions of readers who have been brought up with Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, here, finally, is a provocative, vital and utterly satisfying companion novel.
The Future by Naomi Alderman (Fourth Estate, 7 Nov)
The new novel from the Women’s Prize-winning, bestselling author of The Power, The Future is a white-knuckle tour de force and dazzling exploration of the world we have made and where we are going.
The Future — as the richest people on the planet have discovered — is where the money is.
The Future is a few billionaires leading the world to destruction while safeguarding their own survival with secret lavish bunkers.
The Future is private weather, technological prophecy and highly deniable weapons.
The Future is a handful of friends — the daughter of a cult leader, a non-binary hacker, an ousted Silicon Valley visionary, the concerned wife of a dangerous CEO, and an internet-famous survivalist — hatching a daring plan. It could be the greatest heist ever. Or the cataclysmic end of civilization.
The Future is what you see if you don’t look behind you.
The Future is the only reason to do anything, the only object of desire.
The Future is here.
The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss (Gollancz, 14 Nov)
The Number One New York Times-bestselling phenomenon Patrick Rothfuss returns to the wildly popular Kingkiller Chronicle universe with a stunning reimagining of ‘The Lightning Tree’. Expanded to twice its previous length and lavishly illustrated by Nathan Taylor, this touching stand-alone story is sure to please new readers and veteran Rothfuss fans alike.
Bast knows how to bargain. The give-and-take of a negotiation is as familiar to him as the in-and-out of breathing; to watch him trade is to watch an artist at work. But even a master’s brush can slip. When he accepts a gift, taking something for nothing, Bast’s whole world is knocked askew, for he knows how to bargain – but not how to owe.
From dawn to midnight over the course of a single day, follow the Kingkiller Chronicle’s most charming fae as he schemes and sneaks, dancing into trouble and back out again with uncanny grace.
The Narrow Road Between Desires is Bast’s story. In it he traces the old ways of making and breaking, following his heart even when doing so goes against his better judgement.
After all, what good is caution if it keeps him from danger and delight?
The Watchmaker’s Hand by Jeffery Deaver (HarperCollins, 23 Nov)
Lincoln Rhyme is back, and this time he’s in danger, in the brand new crime thriller from Jeffery Deaver, bestselling author of The Final Twist
A CITY IN TURMOIL
Looming over the Manhattan skyline, a lone crane comes crashing down into the city, sending panic radiating across New York City.
A DEADLY CONSPIRACY
The NYPD believes a political group is behind the sabotage and turns to Lincoln Rhyme for help. He knows this is just the beginning.
A RACE AGAINST TIME
Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs must race to stop further attacks before more chaos is unleashed upon the city. Watching Rhyme from the shadows is the elusive assassin The Watchmaker, and he’s preparing to strike…
These are just a few of the wonderful books coming out in the next few months that I’m really excited about. Anything here take your fancy? Anything you’re particularly looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!
Jo's Book Blog 
That is a fab selection Jo! Still.spoilt for choice even though we are at the tail end of the year!
Thank you! And yes – plenty of excellent books to look forward to! x
Ooh Partick Rothfuss book! I must let my husband and son know as they loved his series and like everyone else have been waiting for something new from him! x
Ha ha – it has indeed been a while! Hope your husband and son enjoy it x