Top Five Predicted Five Star Reads

It’s time for another Top Five Tuesday!  This week, Bionic Book Worm would like to know which books on our TBR are among our predicted five star reads!  I’ve decided to do a mix of upcoming releases and backlist books from my TBR.

As always, covers link to Goodreads.

    

JADE CITY by Fonda Lee
I have seen a LOT of love for this book, especially given that the sequel is coming out in just a few months.  The magic system is fueled by the use of jade, and the story itself is about warring families trying to control the jade market. This is supposed to have amazing fight sequences and I am really looking forward to reading this!  I’ve put this on my TBR for May’s fantasy blogathon Wyrd and Wonder to make sure I get to it soon.

THE CITY WE BECAME by N. K. Jemisin
I’ve only read THE FIFTH SEASON by Jemisin so far, but that has absolutely sold me on her as an author.  This upcoming release will begin a new series, a contemporary fantasy set in New York City, that will explore race and power.

THE COLLAPSING EMPIRE by John Scalzi
This space opera is set in far flung future, when an extradimensional force called The Flow allows for hyperspace travel.  The catch is that The Flow can shift about the galaxy like a river, and it’s become clear The Flow is in the midst of a move, leaving dozens of planets cut off from the rest of the galaxy.  This story follows three humans who are trying to salvage what’s left of the empire from falling apart completely.

   

EMPRESS OF FOREVER by Max Gladstone
“Feminist Guardians of the Galaxy.”  That’s the opening line of the pitch, and really, do you need to say anymore?  I love rag tag teams and this promises to be another excellent entry in the subgenre. A regular (though incredibly smart) human is accidentally flung far into the future, where everything is ruled by an all powerful Empress. This regular human is going to have to find a way to pull together a band of aliens to overthrow the Empress and find a way home.

KINGS OF THE WYLD by Nicholas Eames
I’ve heard nothing but love for this book, which seems like a love letter to fantasy and the D&D genre as a whole.  A band of mercenaries who used to be “the best of the best” have drifted apart, but are called back into action when the daughter of one of the members is trapped in a besieged city, and the member enlists the aid of his former comrades to launch a rescue.