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What does the future hold? If you ask me, that’s a mystery perfectly suited to the realm of fiction. Novels and short stories can plumb the depths of the unknown through fortune-telling, astrology, or the dark arts to dazzling effect. I might be a skeptic who doesn’t read horoscopes in my daily life but hand me a work of fiction about astrology or psychics, and I’m captivated. In these six novels (and a bonus story collection), you’ll find a variety of ways to explore the mysteries of the universe and to catch a glimpse of what’s written in the stars.
Featured Image: @ihatedust/Twenty20
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We Ride Upon Sticks
Quan Barry
In this witty, whip-smart portrayal of a 1989 high school field hockey team whose members turn to the dark arts in pursuit of a championship, the hair is high and the stakes are higher. Full of witchy rituals and delightful ’80s reference, this novel is a wild, page-turning ride.
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The Immortalists
Chloe Benjamin
When four siblings visit a traveling psychic, they each learn the date of their respective deaths—predictions that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. This is an expansive novel that addresses no less than fate, free will, and the bounds of destiny.
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The Pisces
Melissa Broder
If a dark, lusty literary novel sounds appealing, The Pisces will get its hooks into you for sure. Lucy is floundering personally and professionally and turning to psychics for help when she meets an irresistible stranger at the beach—a stranger who may not be fully human.
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Exhalation
Ted Chiang
This story collection explores the risks and rewards of peering into the future. From a machine that demonstrates the limits of free will to characters who visit their past, future, or alternate-timeline selves, Chiang’s stories often reflect the dark side of our desire to know what will come.
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Star-Crossed
Minnie Darke
This novel is entirely structured around astrology to offer light-hearted astrological manipulation carried out in the name of love. When Justine begins making strategic “edits” to a horoscope section before it publishes each month, she hopes to use the stars to get closer to Nick, an old friend and an astrology devotee.
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Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune
Roselle Lim
If a gentle, feel-good tale full of delicious recipes sounds appetizing, tuck into this heartwarming story about Natalie, who uses a family cookbook to work through her own grief while improving her community. The meals she makes just might have a bit of magic in them to help alter the recipient’s fortune.
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Body of Stars
Laura Maylene Walter
Finally, in my debut novel, the future is revealed through the patterns of birthmarks and moles on women’s bodies. When Celeste discovers a devastating prediction about her family, she navigates the limits of fate and free will by setting out to create a future that is truly her own.
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