What to Expect in 2016, or, Why the Magic 8 Ball says it's for 'Entertainment Purposes Only'

     Yesterday I posted a glimpse forward into new releases for the first quarter of 2015, but what about further out? And what about those books that you're really waiting for? 'The Winds of Winter', 'The Doors of Stone', and 'The Thorn of Emberlain'? I pulled out my trusty Magic 8 Ball, and I attempted to part the veil of time and see into 2016. Sadly, I failed totally, and you're stuck with what I could scour from the internet.
       The good news is that Scott Lynch feels confident that 'The Thorn of Emberlain' will have a 2015 release date, most likely in the fall. I know, we've heard it from Lynch before, and life has gotten in the way (I don't judge him much myself, cause I am perpetually late on things).
       And while Pat Rothfuss still has a long way to go before he'll be happy with 'The Doors of Stone', at his signing in Portland for 'The Slow Regard of Silent Things', he said that he was at least a year out on finishing he rewrites, so a 2016 release date seems likeliest. As an added bonus, the short novel about Laniel Young Again will likely not take much longer than 'The Doors of Stone', so it's possible we could get both the doorstopper and the shorter novel in 2016.
         As there always is, there's tons of rumors on the Internet, and a thousand confident people with theories on how soon 'The Winds of Winter' will be done. I admit to being surprised it's taken this long, but after seeing the amount of writing that went into 'The World of Ice and Fire', I'm both impressed and willing to give him some space to finish the book. Will we see it in 2015? Well, if he can finish it by June, yes, we will. Will he finish it by June? I asked my Magic 8 Ball, and it says 'the future looks cloudy', to be fair, I live in Portland Oregon, so that might have been a weather report.
        However, there are some 2016 releases I am surly confident we'll see. Sanderson, of course, has announced his second 'Wax and Wayne' book from his Mistborn world, and as a bonus, wrote the third book as well. Plus, we will no doubt get 'Skybreaker', the third of his Stormlight Archives, and the 'Calamity' the final Reckoners novel as well. Plus 3 or 4 additional books that he wrote while bored on some Saturday morning.
        We'll also finally get to return to Osten Ard with Tad Williams for the first of his new trilogy (with a no-doubt gorgeous Michael Whelan cover) which will be called 'The Witchwood Crown' and will be followed by 'The Empire of Grass' and 'The Navigators Children'.
         In other expected 2016 releases, Joe Abercrombie has a short story collection that will likely drop in 2016, as well as Jim Butcher will likely deliver 'Brief Cases', the second Dresden short story collection. Butcher will likely also deliver 'Peace Talks' for a 2016 release date as well. Mary Robinette Kowal's Ghosttalkers should arrive in late 2015 or 2016, and Bear, Elizabeth's 'Ancestral Night'. Kevin Hearn's  'Staked' and Seanan McGuire's 'Once Broken Faith', both seem to be fairly certain arrivals as well.

         Now onto the realm of speculation!
        Jacqueline Carey is keeping the nature of her work in progress under wraps. As her urban fantasy series finished up this fall, and she's already stated the new book won't be a return to Terre D'Ange, and it's highly unlikely that either 'The Sundering' duology, or the 'Santa Olivia' books are getting a new chapter, this means something new. I look forward to whatever she writes next, and the Milieu she selects. Maybe a flintlock high fantasy, cause shut up and take my money! I suspect that we wont see the new book until 2016, though a late 2015 might be possible, if she is further along than I assume.
        Brent Weeks seems to be on a every two years schedule with the Lightbringer novels, and I expect that the final book 'The Blood Mirror' will likely arrive in 2016 as well.
        I also suspect we'll see a return to the a world of Harry Potter for JK Rowling. She is already signed up to write scripts for the three 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' movies, that take place long before the events of the Potter novels.  And as a novelist, I suspect she will want to expand the story more fully than just a movie script, plus the opportunity to satisfy the devout fans who have wanted a return to the world of Potter may prove irresistible to her.
       Another long gestating novel that may see the light of day in 2016 is Melanie Rawn's long-awaited conclusion to the Exiles trilogy. I can hardly believe I just wrote that sentence, to be honest. 'The Ruins of Ambrai' and it's follow-up 'The Mageborn Traitor' were huge bestsellers in the 1990s before events in Rawn's personal life forced her to suspend her writing career for many years.  With the conclusion of her current Glass Thorns series on the horizon, Rawn will likely finally finish 'The Captal's Tower', the concluding novel in the Exiles trilogy, and put to rest the fans near endless wait for it.
      Janny Wurts has been at work on 'Destiny's Conflict' the latest in her 'War of Light and Shadow' series for quite some time, so it is likely drawing close soon, and I wouldn't be surprised at a late 2015 or early 2016 release for it as well.

       What 2016 releases are did I miss that you are excited about?

Addendum the first:
       Saladin Ahmed apparently announced on his Tumblr a couple of days ago that he will be finally expects to be publishing 'A Thousand and One' in early 2016, after a serious bout with depression.

"Revolution has come to the Crescent Moon Kingdoms, and ancient terrors roam the deserts and alleyways. Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, the last real ghul hunter in the city of Dhamsawaat, stubbornly ignores the turmoil around him — until his long-awaited wedding is interrupted by the enigmatic Queen of the Djenn. Meanwhile, the tribeswoman Zamia Badawi, haunted by dead kinsmen and forbidden love, becomes an unlikely general in a brutal civil war. And holy warrior Raseed bas Raseed undertakes a deadly journey back to the Lodge of God, hoping to purify himself of religious doubts and his troubling attraction to Zamia. Once again, Adoulla and his friends set out to make things right in a world gone wrong — but the greatest threat may be the one they can’t see."

      You can read more about this from Saladin here at his Tumblr.