12 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2017

12. Empress of a Thousand Skies

Let’s start things off with a bit of YA sci-fi. Empress of a Thousand Skies marks Rhoda Belleza’s debut, but early reviews seem pretty positive. Amazon’s page for the book lists a positive review from Kiersten White of And I Darken fame. Since White’s also on this list, yours truly is inclined to give Belleza the benefit of the doubt. (The mention of X-Files fanfiction doesn’t hurt, either.)

Our heroine is Rhee, the Crown Princess of a mysterious dynasty. Our hero is Aly, a former refugee and now a star of a DroneVision (the description’s words, not mine) show, though he’s accused of killing Rhee, who is not actually dead. Together, they have to confront some evil — presumably the same that also framed Aly. Amazon promises vengeance and fighting, so I’m inclined to put this in something like the space opera category, which means it seems like a good way to help us get to the release of Star Wars: Episode VIII at the end of the year.

The initial Goodreads reviews talk about the book’s rapid-fire pace, which should make its moderate length of 320 pages an easy weekend read for someone who’s ready to sit back and enjoy the book.

Razorbill will release this on Feb. 7, 2017.