Top Five Tuesday – Most Anticipated 2019 Sequels

A lot of people this week are focusing on their most anticipated releases and reads for 2019.  I thought I had talked my anticipation to death, when I realized that my focus was primarily on debuts for 2019, and not new entries in series I have long loved.  In the list below, I tried to focus on books I haven’t mentioned yet, so rest assured, my love goes far beyond the handful of books discussed!

HOLLOW EMPIRE by Sam Hawke (POISON WARS, Book 2)
Honestly, the only reason this hasn’t been on earlier lists is because I was primarily focused on books coming out in the first half of 2019. CITY OF LIES was one of my favorite reads of 2018, a fantasy murder mystery set almost entirely in one besieged city.  CITY OF LIES is a standalone novel but HOLLOW EMPIRE will be set in the same world.  This time, our heroes will have to venture outside the walls of Silasta to investigate the new magic that nearly destroyed their home.

STORM CURSED by Patricia Briggs (MERCY THOMPSON, Book 11)
I owe much of my sanity to this series, as I was saved from boredom on a 90 minute + commute by the audiobooks.  Mercy Thompson is a coyote shapeshifter living in the Tri-Cities, a mechanic who has long-accepted that her ties to the area’s werewolf pack and the interest of trickster god Coyote means she’ll never have a quiet life.  A few books ago, events forced Mercy to declare to the world that any magical creature seeking shelter in the Tri-Cities area was under her protection.  With tensions rising between humans and the fae Gray Lords, Mercy finds herself in the tenuous position of trying to keep the peace.  The book’s synopsis ends with these ominous words: “But we are pack, and we have given our word. We will die to keep it.”

THE PRINCESS AND THE FANGIRL by Ashley Poston (ONCE UPON A CON, Book 2)
GEEKERELLA was a charming discovery I made a few years ago, a spin on the YOU’VE GOT MAIL/SHOP AROUND THE CORNER style of rom-com where two people who hate each other in person are unknowingly anonymous pen-pals.  GEEKERELLA was set in the fictional fandom surrounding the equally fictional STARFIELD, and THE PRINCESS AND THE FANGIRL focuses on new characters in the same world. Jessica Stone, actress behind Princess Imogen, wants nothing more than to quit the STARFIELD scene, but she finds her plans upended by superfan Imogen Lovelace, who desperately wants to keep the character alive and well on the show.  Events lead the two women to trade places, and each gets a look at the sides of fandom they were never exposed to.

THRAWN: TREASON by Timothy Zahn (THRAWN, Book 3)
I am a die-hard reader of all things STAR WARS by Timothy Zahn, and couldn’t be happier that he’s been allowed to write new canon books for his creation, Grand Admiral Thrawn.  While the first book in the new series was a delightful return to form, THRAWN: ALLIANCES wasn’t quite what I hoped it would be.  That in part was because I felt that Thrawn was allowed to have his cake and eat it too, and never was pushed to truly commit to one loyalty over another.  I’m curious to see if Thrawn will finally be backed into a corner, and how this book will tie-in with the final events of the STAR WARS REBELS show, where Thrawn was a frequent villain.

STORM OF LOCUSTS by Rebecca Roanhorse (THE SIXTH WORLD, Book 2)
I’ve mentioned this book before on other lists, but I had to return to it again as I am DEFINITELY excited for this sequel.  TRAIL OF LIGHTNING was my favorite read of 2018, and left the fate of one character unresolved.  This time out, Maggie Hoskins will be drawn into investigating a cult that has recently appeared on the Navajo reservation lands.  As she digs deeper, Maggie will be forced to go outside the Wall, the magical barrier that keeps most of the post-apocalyptic America away from the protected reservation. My only real complaint of TRAIL OF LIGHTNING was that I wanted to know more about the world, and this installment sounds like it will deliver!

BONUS ENTRY
STARSIGHT by Brandon Sanderson (SKYWARD, Book 2)
I almost ended this list without mentioning the sequel to one of my other favorite reads of 2018, SKYWARD.  Book one followed Spensa, a teenager determined to join the fighter pilot program that defends the last remnants of humanity from alien attack on the planet of Detritus.  In typical fashion, Sanderson ended SKYWARD with a few jaw-dropping revelations; in un-typical fashion, we’ve been promised that the sequel will be published within a year of the first!  Very little has been revealed about STARSIGHT, but this will definitely be a pre-order for me.

How about the rest of you?  Is there a series with new entries coming out this year?  Give me your recs!