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I feel like that despite my best efforts I always manage to start reading a series that isn't quite finished yet. Every year I tell myself that from now on I will only read something that is completely done yet inevitably I end up reading a half done series and waiting years for a new book to come out. Some authors, and I don't want to name names *cough* George R. R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss *cough* really need to get off their lazy asses and put out a book more than once every 5 years. I mean, if you aren't going to put out a book at least have the decency to keep people updated on the progress... but enough ranting about that. Luckily there are a number of books coming out in 2017 that I really am looking forward to, so without further ado..

Assassins Fate- by Robin Hobb (due out May 9th 2017)

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Assassins Fate is book 3 in the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. To get to this point in the story however you need a little background on the writer and the story so far.

 Robin Hobb is the pen name of the author Megan Lindholm. She is probably the most well known female fantasy author out there after J.K Rowling. Some people make the case that her success, and even that of Rowling, has to do with the fact that they both use ambiguous names that could be either male or female. Fantasy is a male heavy genre and female authors generally have a harder time breaking in and gaining mainstream acceptance. Personally, I don't care what name she chooses to write under so long as she keeps putting out books like this current series.

Assassins Fate is set in Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings series, which started back in 1995 with the Farseer trilogy. That trilogy was critically acclaimed by most in the fantasy industry and set the table for the rest of the series to come. Following her success with the Farseer trilogy Hobb released the 3 book Liveship traders series, the 3 book Tawny Man trilogy, and the 4 book Rain Wild Chronicles all set in her now familiar fantasy world. 

In 2012 she started work on the Fitz and the Fool trilogy, releasing Fools Assassin in 2014 and Fools quest in 2015. With the release of Assassins fate this year we are finally going to get some resolution for a few characters that have been the main focus of her writing for over 20 years now. I can't be too upset with her pace, Robin Hobb tends to write faster than a lot of authors and doesn't really leave her readers in suspense for years and years. After this book comes out in May, the next book I will be looking forward to is..

Deadhouse Landing- by Ian C. Esslemont (due out August 8th 2017)

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Now you may be wondering why I am showing you a picture of a different book by a different author so let me explain. Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont were a couple of buddies who loved to play tabletop role playing games and in the early 1980's they got together and created a fantasy world for their gaming. Steven Erikson eventually ended up fleshing out the world more fully and wrote an epic fantasy series called Malazan book of the fallen. The original series is 10 books long and the story spans thousands of years and a ton of point of view characters. 

Once that 10 book series was finished Steven Erikson had his friend and co-creator of the Malazan universe, Ian Esslemont, step up and write his own series that serves as a companion to the original. His first foray into this was a 6 book series called novels of the malazan empire. Each book in that series takes place during the same time as the original 10 book series and focuses on specific characters/groups, giving you a lot of background info and answering questions you might have had.

His current series is called Path to Ascendancy and it is a prequel to all the books that have been written thus far. Deadhouse landing is the 2nd book in that series and will hopefully be out later this year. It gives you the backstory of 2 characters who are basically the catalyst for everything that happens going forward. I am trying to write these as non spoliery as possible and I feel like that makes these descriptions come out mildly confusing, but hey, it's my blog and I don't want to risk ruining anything for someone who might eventually read these. So if you are looking for a 10+ book fantasy series that is already done then Malazan is the one to choose, just don't start with this book. 

Finally, the book I am most looking forward to reading in 2017 is...

Oathbringer- by Brandon Sanderson (due out November 14th 2017)

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Oathbringer is the 3rd installment in the Stormlight Archives series. One of my first posts on steemit 7 months ago was about looking forward to this book. To quote a slightly younger yet equally handsome version of myself from this post-

 If you haven't read the first two books in the series, The Way of  Kings and Words of Radiance, I highly recommend them. This is his first foray into epic fantasy, up until this point his series have mainly been trilogies and stand alone novels. The world building in the first two novels is simply fantastic and I can't wait to see where the story goes from here. All signs are tentatively pointing to this book being released some time in 2017. 

Well fast forward 7 months and Brandon has indicated on his website that it should be a November release for this book. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article I really am trying avoid reading series that aren't done yet but this is an exception to that rule. The first book of the series is a little heavy on world building but you need a solid base when you are planning on writing a 10 book epic. If you do decide to check this one out I recommend reading along with the guys over at The Legendarium Podcast. Their podcast series is pretty informative and its an extra pair of eyes going over some of the things you may have missed. 

So those are the new books I am waiting for this year, what about you fine folk? What is your literary pleasure for 2017?