New 'Divergent', Dungeon Crawler Carl and dizzying crowds mark BookCon's 2026 return
Clare MulroyNEW YORK – The booklovers in your life are probably in need of a little sleep.
Whether they braved the crowds at BookCon or kept up from afar, it was a big weekend for readers. Over two days, 25,000 gathered at the Javits Center in New York City for the first time in seven years to attend panels, meet authors, buy merch and mingle.
The weekend got off to a very sweaty start, with lines wrapping the block. There was a general eyes-glazed-over, overwhelmed frenzy in the air as readers booked it to the first panel featuring “Heated Rivalry” author Rachel Reid and show creator Jacob Tierney. Down indie alley, we muscled past each other and endured a flow of traffic limited to a single escalator. If you wanted to get an advanced reader copy (ARC), a coveted panel or meet an author, you better be ready with a reservation and willpower.
From the front row of the “Heated Rivalry” panel to the whispers and the comments section, here are the biggest things that happened at BookCon.
Veronica Roth announces new ‘Divergent’ book
In a spotlight session moderated by Elle’s Lauren Puckett-Pope, “Divergent” author Veronica Roth announced she is publishing a new alternate universe book in the series Oct. 6. She also unveiled the cover of “The Sixth Faction” live.
“Not a prequel, not a sequel, not a spinoff, not a different POV but an alternate universe of ‘Divergent’ where Tris chooses a different faction,” Roth told USA TODAY in an interview before BookCon. “I think the question of ‘who is Tris without Dauntless’ is an interesting one.”
Rather than leaving Abnegation for Dauntless, tragedy strikes at Tris’ Choosing Ceremony and everything changes. The decision she makes thrusts her into an underground rebellion, where she meets a boy hiding his own secrets. This boy? He’s described only as having a number for a name. We can guess who that is – Tobias “Four” Eaton, Tris’ love interest.
Wild lines, ARC drop drama on day one
Even friends of mine outside of the book world have heard about the crowds.
When I arrived at 9 a.m., the line to enter wrapped around the block and a major crowd queued in the center. Day one was sunny. Everyone was sweating. Even before the 10 a.m. general admission start, it was overstimulating trying to wiggle my way through the crowds from floor to floor. On the exhibition floor, crowds and lines into publisher booths snaked well outside of their designated zone. I saw multiple TikTok videos edited with horror movie music showing just how overwhelming the crowds were when publishers released ARCs.
Many users took to Threads and Twitter to share their disappointment at crowd etiquette, some calling it a "mob," and the event’s organization.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Kristina Rogers, vice president of BookCon at ReedPop said the frustration of the weekend "tells us how much our community cares."
"We heard the feedback clearly on the reservation system, ARC drops, and crowd flow. Some of it was demand outpacing our projections; some of it was decisions we'll make differently next year. A community that shows up with this much passion is one we can grow alongside, and we're grateful for it," Rogers wrote. "We're reviewing every piece of the weekend and will be working closely with our publishers and brand partners to improve how ARC drops, signings, and exclusives are handled on the floor, and will share more with our BookCon community directly in the months ahead."
Sorry, loons: No Hudson Williams or Connor Storrie at BookCon
The whispers began even before BookCon started. Storrie was in New York City for a Tiffany Blue Book Gala. Even BookCon’s official account got in on the gossip, replying “I mean…” on Threads when fans theorized about a surprise appearance. The fervor only increased when the emcee warned audiences that “professional actors” were coming onto the stage, where five chairs were laid out for a three-person panel.
But there would be no “HudCon” at BookCon. The extra chairs were simply the default setup for the weekend, BookCon organizers told USA TODAY. But the stars did send in questions for Reid and Tierney. Storrie’s was a voice memo recording played for the crowd.
Jacob Tierney, Rachel Reid tease ‘Heated Rivalry’ Season 2 details
But despite the disappointment, fans did get some Season 2 insight.
“Heated Rivalry” Season 2 will largely be based on “The Long Game,” set 10 years later. But, like Scott and Kip’s “Game Changer” storyline in Season 1, another couple will also get airtime. Reid and Tierney teased that the second season will also include “Role Model,” a grumpy-sunshine romance between Troy Barrett, a recently traded player, and Harris Drover, the team’s chipper social media manager.
“Troy's a really damaged guy, and Troy is quite damaged on the show. I would say we're digging into that harder, because that's what's interesting and that's all there in those books,” Tierney said. “That's why it's such a fertile playground for me as a creator to have fun.”
He added, “But Ilya and Shane are the heartbeat of this series, of my show. It's always going to be about Ilya and Shane.”
Matt Dinniman and Jeff Hays read from ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ Book Eight
The “Dungeon Crawler Carl” panel hosted by Audible was another hot ticket item, with fans lining up outside the door begging for a standby spot or even just a glimpse of author Matt Dinniman and audiobook narrator Jeff Hays. Inside, fans donned cat ears and listened intently to a conversation about the LitRPG genre and the recent explosion of “Carl” fandom.
Hays also read a passage from “A Parade of Horribles,” the upcoming eighth book which comes out May 12.
During a quick backstage interview with USA TODAY, Dinniman shared three words to describe the upcoming book: "'Dungeon Crawler Carl' Eight is chaos, focused and explosive," he said.
R.F. Kuang teases a potential ‘Babel’ sequel
“Katabasis” author R.F. Kuang told readers that she’s thought about writing a sequel to her bestselling novel “Babel” “for a long time.” If she does write it, it’ll focus on two characters that she wasn’t as impressed by when she first wrote them into “Babel.”
“The natural direction of the ‘Babel’ sequel is like a ‘Godfather 2’-type structure where it’s Griffin during the Burmese wars of independence and Victoire in the future fighting the American Civil War and they’re speaking to each other across time,” Kuang teased.
She also said that she told herself she wouldn’t work on a “Babel” sequel until she became fluent in French.
“Now my French is pretty good,” Kuang said. “I just am not an expert in the American Civil War yet, so I have to master that.”
Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at [email protected].