Earlier today, Del Rey unveiled the cover and synopsis for Chuck Wendig‘s next novel, The Calamities. That stunning cover was the first thing to catch my attention — it’s giving off Devil’s Advocate vibes, maybe? The synopsis, which promises a mix of occult magic and family drama, only increased my interest. Check out the synopsis:
The heir to one of the world’s most influential families reckons with the demonic secret to their power…
Mourning Mayne knows he’ll one day bear the duty of managing his family’s vast empire of wealth and power. But the feckless Mourning has always struggled to accept this legacy, which is one of cruelty, domination, and exploitation… and something even darker.
Because the Maynes are no ordinary family: Hidden in our world are the fiends—half-human, half-demon, and possessed of dark magic born from buying human souls—and the Maynes are one of the oldest and most influential fiendish families.
But when Mourning’s estranged father, the formidable and terrifying Hadrian Mayne, demands that he return to the fold, Mourning has to make a decision whether to accept his legacy and embrace his role in the family, or to forge his own destiny, and with it, change the course of the world.
Because along the way home, he will meet Key, a black-market seller of human souls, and Quinn, an artist who may hold the dark truth behind the fate of the fiends. Alone, they have all struggled with the darkness of their fiendish nature… but together, they might find a path out of the shadows.
It’s been a little while since I read one of Wendig’s novels (not for lack of interest, there are just so many books on my TBR mountain, I sometimes forget what I have on the pile…); but this one has shot onto my Most Anticipated of 2026 list. Can’t wait to read it.
Chuck Wendig’s The Calamities is due to be published by Del Rey in North America and in the UK, on August 18th. (No cover for the UK edition, at the time of writing.)
Civilian Reader 