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.)
In May, 
After looking at the evidence, Vivien says that the only thing worse than the Chinese government being behind it, is if they are not. It would mean, she explains, that some clandestine element within China is calling the shots. That the President of China has lost control. And an unstable China cannot be good for anyone. 
The hunt for an assassin, an internal scandal, and a leader losing a step…
As a long-time fan of Mike Lawson‘s novels, I’m always on the look-out for his next book. I’ve already been lucky enough to read and 
Great news: Icarus 17, the fourth novel in Charles Cumming‘s Box 88 series, is due out this summer! Also, unlike many of the author’s other novels, it’ll be getting a simultaneous release in the UK and North America.
A threat to the lives of his wife and daughter in London forces elite intelligence agent Lachlan Kite to move his family to safety. Meanwhile Kite’s former girlfriend, Martha Raine, comes to him with a plea for help. Her twenty-year-old son, Max, has vanished without trace in Greece. Can Kite help to find him?
Next week, 
Next year, 
Today we have an excerpt from The Wonder Lands War, the fourth book in Peter Darbyshire‘s The Books of Cross series — readers may recall that we have shared excerpts from the three previous novels in the series, too (see below for links). It’s is out now, published by 
CHILDREN OF STRIFE (Tor UK / Orbit)
GREEN CITY WARS (Tor Books)
A high-flying financier learns he’s working for crooks. Everything goes wrong. Eventually.
Civilian Reader 