Can’t-Wait Wednesdayis a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Dream of the Jet-Black City by Pablo Valcarcel Castro!

Dream of the Jet-Black City by Pablo Valcarcel Castro
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 26th May 2026
Goodreads

Strange the Dreamer meets The Shadow of the Wind in this exciting and innovative fantasy with intricate worldbuilding, political twists and turns, a magic system based on dreams and nightmares being twisted into reality, a mythic storm overshadowing a dark and shaded city - and secrets from the past that threaten an entire nation. Perfect for fans of Brandon Sanderson, Mark Lawrence and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

All such Nightmares were born out of Dreamers' minds - angry, cruel, terrible Dreamers, yes, but still men and women. Here, in the Library, the Nightmares have sparked from dying stories, from the anguished echoes of poets and scribes carved into the crevasses of codexes.

Ash and his crew race across rooftops in pursuit of living lightning from the perpetually raging Motherstorm. This energy the jet-black city of Onyxia depends upon is all that stands between them and starvation. When a monstrous nightmare attacks, death is all but certain - until Ash dreams a shadow panther into existence to protect himself. But this new power comes with a either conscription to the harrowing Academy or indebtment to a wealthy patron.

Daerna belongs to a devout sisterhood who sing canticles to pacify the eternal storm. When she learns of a mysterious sickness spreading through the city's populace, she feels it is her duty to help, even though her order has abandoned the afflicted to their fate. With fellow rebel sisters, her search into the root cause will lead her away from the light into the dark heart of the city where danger lurks.

Geil is a creature born of Dream and bound to the Drake form she conjured to survive her Academy training. While nightmare-hunting she encounters a young girl with the dreamer gift and feels compelled to save her from enduring the same cruel fate she faced. But this means returning to the jet-black city, home to the past she has tried to outrun and navigating the political turbulence in the wake of an election.

As each pursues their own ends, they soon discover that they share common goals. But can they find a way to learn from the secrets the city has buried within its past before their whole world turns into a living nightmare?

There’s a very simple explanation for why I’m featuring this one: I am utterly ENCHANTED by how freaking WEIRD it sounds! Even knowing we shouldn’t really trust comps – Strange the Dreamer and The Shadow of the Wind?! WHAT? That is – WHAT???

It sounds like Nightmares are living beings, and they’re created by – humans? Human artists, maybe? ‘Nightmares have sparked from dying stories, from the anguished echoes of poets and scribes carved into the crevasses of codexes.’ That sounds MARVELLOUS, and I’d be interested for that alone, but we also have something called a MOTHERSTORM which is full of LIVING LIGHTNING that powers the city of our setting??? And in case you didn’t notice, THAT COVER IS COVERED IN WINGED CATS! (And one bonus shadow panther!) One of our characters is literally a living Dream, if I’m understanding that right?!

Important: Linden Lewis’ blurb for this mentions a diverse cast, and I have no idea what form that diversity’ll take, but it sure makes me even more interested in the book! (Lewis wrote The First Sister Trilogy, so if they’re calling something diverse, odds are that it really is.)

It all sounds wonderful, and I can’t find ANY more info than we have in the synopsis, and I am EXTREMELY GRABBY-HANDS!

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