Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.
Title: Or What You Will
Author: Jo Walton
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 320 Pages
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Blurb: He has been too many things to count. He has been a dragon with a boy on his back. He has been a scholar, a warrior, a lover, and a thief. He has been dream and dreamer. He has been a god.
But “he” is in fact nothing more than a spark of idea, a character in the mind of Sylvia Harrison, 73, award-winning author of thirty novels over forty years. He has played a part in most of those novels, and in the recesses of her mind, Sylvia has conversed with him for years.
But Sylvia won’t live forever, any more than any human does. And he’s trapped inside her cave of bone, her hollow of skull. When she dies, so will he.
Now Sylvia is starting a new novel, a fantasy for adult readers, set in Thalia, the Florence-resembling imaginary city that was the setting for a successful YA trilogy she published decades before. Of course he’s got a part in it. But he also has a notion. He thinks he knows how he and Sylvia can step off the wheel of mortality altogether. All he has to do is convince her.
Why I’m Excited For It: Jo Walton convinced me of her brilliance with her Thessaly series, which remains one of my favorite fantasy series to date. Her characters are flawed and human feeling, and her stories unpredictable and fresh feeling.
This book sounds no different. I feel like I’ve seen a few of the books coming to life trope in the past couple years, but couple that with the fact that this is told by an elderly woman teamed up with a YA character… I hope it will take me on a few unexpected adventures.
What new books are you excited for? Leave me a link below so I can check them out!
Hamlets & Hyperspace 
I guess this must be what she’s publishing in place of Poor Relations. It sounds like an interesting read, but it’s not the book I was hoping we’d get from her this year.
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You know i haven’t heard of Poor Relations. What is that one about?
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She described it as “Mansfield Park on Mars,” a space opera dealing with race, gender, and class. There was a cover, blurb, release date, even a blurb from N.K. Jemisin, but there was a lot of noise about the gender change element and she pulled it from publication. It’s a shame because it sounded brilliant.
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That DOES sound brilliant!! Now I’m a little sad about it and I didn’t even know it existed.
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This does sound good, and I can’t believe I haven’t read anything by Jo Walton yet! Although I’m pretty sure I have something of hers somewhere on a shelf 😁
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People seem to like Among Others a lot. Personally I’ve read The Just City and the two sequels and loved them all.
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This book sounds absolutely wild. Honestly, I haven’t heard if a plot like this one. The closest is an old Twilight Zone episode in which a writer’s characters come to life, but if the pages are destroyed, the character vanishes. I’ll be adding this one to my TBR. Thank you!
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You’re welcome!! This is probably my most anticipated release for this year. Walton’s books are so creative.
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Interesting idea! I wonder if this one will be my kind of book… it’s a bit hard to tell from the blurb sometimes, and I haven’t read anything by Jo Walton yet.
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I think it might be! I feel like Jo Walton is similar to Seanan McGuire. Maybe a little more literary than McGuire? But very good, and still accessible.
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Ooh, nice! I’ll have to pick something up of hers.
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What an intriguing premise! So far I’ve only read a couple of short stories from Jo Walton, and enjoyed them very much, so this might be the very book that will make me cross the… border between short story and full novel 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
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Which short stories have you tried Maddalena? I’d love to check them out!
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In fact it was just one (I thought there were more…): Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction.
It was part of this anthology:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9269905-the-mammoth-book-of-best-new-sf-23
Happy reading! 🙂
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Thanks! I’ll be sure to check it out!
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I need to try out the Thessaly series! But this sounds very intriguing, I love that idea.
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I love the Thessaly series. It caught me by such surprise because I just wasn’t expecting… really anything that happened in that book? It starts as one thing and kind of ends up somewhere else. It took some of my favorite things- philosophy, history, and mythology and mashed them up into one brilliant fantasy trilogy. I hope you try it!
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Sounds like my type of book! 😄
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Oh myyyyy. I hadn’t heard of this book, but it sounds awesome. ❤ Definitely adding this to my TBR. Also, my dog's name is Thalia, so that clearly means I'm meant to read this book, right? It must be a sign. 😉 Thanks for sharing it!
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Yes- definitely add it- and then when it finally gets here we can gush about it together! Lol
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