Future Favorites, 2019 Edition

It’s so very close to the end of 2018! We are packing away the year, clearing the debris, and preparing for the coming of 2019! May it be an excellent year in all things speculative fiction! We are looking ahead at the year to come, and we cannot help but get excited about what kinds of media will be coming forth for our eager consumption. Movies! Games! Books! Television! We are filled to the brim with excitement! Come, squee with us!

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Nancy O’Toole Meservier: There’s something beautiful about watching two things you love come together for the first time. I’ve been a fan of G. Willow Wilson’s comic books since I first picked up Ms. Marvel years ago. Wonder Woman is one of my top DC heroes. So, when I heard that Wilson was going to take on the writing duties for my favorite Amazonian warrior, I was pretty psyched.

This may seem like a strange thing to comment on for a list of most anticipated things of 2019, considering a few issues have been released at the end of 2018. But as a trade reader, I won’t get to experience this new run until well into the new year.

I think the thing that excites me the most about G. Willow Wilson taking on Wonder Woman is how well she has proven to handle character and worldbuilding in Ms. Marvel. Kamala Khan is a wonderful lead, managing to strike that much needed balance of flawed, relatable, and also admirable that I desire in my superheroic protagonists. The side characters are just as well crafted, managing to be memorable, humorous, and lovable. I love the little mini-corner of the Marvel universe that Wilson has created inside of Jersey City and look forward to seeing how she is going to take those strengths to the more established character of Diana of Themyscira.

I’ve experienced my fair share of strong Wonder Woman comics in the past but haven’t really fallen in love with the main comic since Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s New 52-era take. I have no doubt that Wilson’s run will be dramatically different from this, and I am excited to see what her personal stamp on the DC universe will look like.

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J.L. Gribble: Oh, J.L. is up next, you might be thinking. I might as well skip this part. She’s just going to talk about Avengers: Endgame, and how they’d better bring everyone back to life, and something gushy about conflict resolution between Cap and Tony, and then angst about how one of that pair is going to die.

And you’d be totally right, because I am anticipating that movie. But it’s not my MOST anticipated thing of 2019. Instead, it’s a close runner-up to Captain Marvel.

Because while I love all of my currently existing members of the Avengers team, I’m still feeling a little left out. I’m betting that close to half of Marvel’s audience identifies as female, but we have yet to get a female-led feature film. Iron Man came out a decade ago! It’s about damned time.

I don’t have a history with Marvel’s comics, so I’m coming into this story relatively fresh. I’ve seen a bit of speculation online, and I’ve perused some articles that break down the elements in the film’s trailers. But other than that, I’m excited for a brand-new superhero. Honestly, all I really needed was a trailer where Nick Fury and Agent Coulson say that Carol Danvers is awesome. The fact that she’s Air Force and has a pet cat is really just icing on the cake.

Besides, Captain America is totally going to be the one who dies in Endgame. Luckily, I’ll have a new captain to love and support as part of the Avengers team.

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Erin S. Bales: What is In the Valley of Gods? It’s a videogame that Campo Santo, developer and producer of the exceptional Firewatch, plan to release in 2019. What’s it about? Here’s the summary from the game site: In the Valley of Gods is a single-player first person video game set in Egypt in the 1920s. You play as an explorer and filmmaker who, along with your old partner, has traveled to the middle of the desert in the hopes of making a seemingly-impossible discovery and an incredible film.

What they don’t mention is that both protagonists are female POCs, and that Campos Santos has spent a lot of time and effort on…well, on the game in general, but they’ve gotten a fair amount of praise for specifically focusing on the appearance and texture of your partner’s—a black woman—hair. That’s a BFD. Plus, as I mentioned above, Firewatch was excellent: clever, thoughtfully written, and moving. Those are all things I dig in my videogames, and since Campos Santos seems committed to delivering more of the same, I’m in!

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Nicole Taft: While everyone can go on and on about Avengers: Endgame, we already know that’s going to have a (relatively) happy ending. Dr. Strange communicated that to us – and Tony Stark – so I’m not worried. Maybe we’ll lose a few heroes, but not that many. But forget about the Avengers. I’m ready for Finale.

I fell in love with Stephanie Garber’s Caraval the first time I read it. When I learned there was a second book coming out, I went out of my way to find a bookstore while I was on vacation in order to pick it up. Now, in May, the final book will be released and I’m both super excited and sad the ride will be over. But I suppose all good things must come to an end, and it’s not like I’m only going to read it once and never read it again. I read my favorite books all the time, trying to pick up on little things I missed (or just stumbling across them), so reading the final book and then circling around back to the beginning – who knows what kind of interesting little nuggets I’ll discover?

Not to mention Finale‘s cover is stunning so it will make a beautiful addition to my shelves next to its counterparts. Never mind that I don’t have room for any more books – I’m sure I can magic something up.

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Kelly McCarty: There have been a few times that I’ve reviewed the first book of a series for Speculative Chic and then neglected to read the next book or passed the series off to another contributor. However, there is one series that the other contributors better not touch—Katherine Arden’s Winternight Trilogy. The final book, The Winter of the Witch, is my most anticipated release of 2019. I won’t have to wait long, as the book is being released in January. The Barnes and Noble gift card that I normally receive as a Christmas present is already earmarked for this book.

The first book in the trilogy, The Bear and the Nightingale, didn’t immediately grab my attention but wound up being one of my favorite reads of 2017.  Vasya is an independent girl living in the remote Russian wilderness during medieval times. She can see the chyerti, Russian spirits who protect the land and the people. The Bear and the Nightingale deals with the conflict between Vasya, who reveres the spirits and ancient traditions, and an ambitious young priest, Father Konstantin, who dismisses the chyerti as heresy. He leads the villagers away from their old ways, with disastrous results. In the second book, The Girl in the Tower, Vasya is accused of a being a witch and driven out of her tiny village. She disguises herself as a boy and wins a fight against a group of bandits. Her heroic act is noticed by the Grand Prince of Moscow but she is unable to reveal her true identity.

In a world where women can only be wives or nuns, Vasya is desperate to lead a life of her own choosing. No matter how many times Vasya saves the day, her family still tries to force her into an arranged marriage or a convent. Morozko, the frost demon and king of winter, understands her in a way that other people cannot. He is the villain in The Bear and the Nightingale but becomes a friend and sort of love interest in The Girl in the Tower. I’m eager to learn if Vasya can find a place for herself in the human world or if her destiny is Morozko. I hope that The Winter of the Witch gives the feisty, feminist Vasya the ending she deserves.

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Casey Price: I’m going to go ahead and just admit it: I couldn’t pick one single thing that I’m looking forward to in 2019. I am equally excited for so many things that are coming down the pike. Since J.L. already got to squeal about Captain Marvel, I’m going to focus on two specific and vaguely related things.

First up, season two of American Gods is finally going to air. I have been following the dramatic ups and downs of the production of season two with a great deal of frustration and angst. While I am saddened that Bryan Fuller and Michael Green quit the series, my biggest source of despair is that the incomparable Gillian Anderson won’t be reprising her role as Media. Despite these hiccups, I am confident that season two will be incredible. Under Neil Gaiman’s watchful eye, the show seems to be staying true to the path that it originally forged, based on the trailer:

The show has both adapted and updated the novel beautifully. It’s moody, dark, and intense but not overbearing, thanks in large part to the actors. I am especially fond of Ricky Whittle’s portrayal of Shadow Moon. Shadow was such a blank slate in the novel and Whittle has made the character his own. I am also desperately looking forward to seeing more of Mr. Nancy and Mad Sweeney.

Speaking of Gaiman and his television work, I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but a Good Omens adaptation is also coming soon to an Amazon Prime account near you!

There’s so much to love in this little teaser. The use of Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” alone makes me very pleased (if they have not procured the rights to Queen’s greatest hits, I shall be sorely disappointed — if you’re a fan of the book, you know what I’m talking about). And if there’s an actor alive who can better portray Crowley than David Tennant, they obviously haven’t been discovered yet. This series is going to be a much more lighthearted experience than American Gods promises to be, and I’m very glad of it. However, I’d be lying if I said that Good Omens has already made me cry a little, especially after reading this article where Gaiman talks about his experience making the show. The article reveals a lovely pair of Easter eggs, and if you don’t want to spoil yourself, don’t watch the video that Gaiman shared from his Instagram account. As I’m sure you’re well aware, Sir Terry Pratchett is no longer with us. The series doesn’t ignore that. Here‘s the post, if you want to skip the article and just feel like making yourself cry a bit.

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This is just a small taste of the smorgasbord of entertainment awaiting all of us in the coming year. What are you looking forward to? Did we miss something big? Talk to us!