James Nicoll Reviews

August 2021

22 works reviewed. 11 by women (50%), 10 by men (45%), 1 by a non-binary author (5%), 0 by authors whose gender is unknown (0%), and 9 by POC (41%)

Year to Date

172 works reviewed. 93.5 by women (54%), 71.5 by men (42%), 4 by non-binary authors (2%), 3 by authors whose gender is unknown (2%), and 70 by POC (41%).

Grand Total to Date

1920 works reviewed. 1076 by women (56%), 801 by men (42%), 25 by non-binary authors (1%), 18 by authors whose genders are unknown (1%), and 549.75 by POC (29%).

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Glimmer by Marjorie B. Kellogg

This new cli-fi epic chronicles a future NYC wracked by climate change and follows the individuals who must make the most of what remains to survive. It’s 2110, the Earth’s glaciers have melted, and there’s no climate fix in sight. As refugees stream inland from the inundated coasts, social structures and national economies are stressed to the point of fracture. Food production falters. Pandemics rage. Rising sea level and devastating superstorms have flooded much of Manhattan and wrecked its infrastructure. Its residents have mostly fled, but a few die-hards have bet their survival on the hope that digging in and staying local is a safer strategy. As the weather worsens, can a damaged population of poor folk, artists, misfits, and loners work out their differences in time to create a sustainable long-term society? In a lawless city, where the well-armed rich have appropriated the high ground, can an ex-priest find a middle road between non-violence and all-out war? The lives of his downtown band of leftovers will depend on it. Sheltering among them, a young girl named Glimmer struggles to regain a past lost to trauma. As her memory returns, she finds she must choose who and how to be, and who and what to believe in, even if it means giving up a love she has only recently found herself able to embrace. 

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Trudvang Chronicles draws on Norse and Celtic myth. My interest in it has to do with the game’s lineage, which I understand to reach back to Drakar och Demoner. Drakar och Demoner began as the Swedish version of Basic Roleplaying, a system in which I have a great interest. Trudvang Chronicles is the English translation of the 7^th edition, Drakar och Demoner Trudvang. I gather the changes over the seven editions have been … dramatic. No idea how much, if any, relation the current edition has to BRP roots but it could be fun finding out.

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The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft

The incredible final book in the word of mouth phenomenon fantasy series that began with Senlin Ascends. ​“The ​“Books of Babel” are something you hope to see perhaps once a decade — future classics, which may be remembered long after the series concludes.” (Los Angeles Times) As Marat’s siege engine bores through the Tower, erupting inside ringdoms and leaving chaos in its wake, Senlin can do nothing but observe the mayhem from inside the belly of the beast. Caught in a charade, Senlin desperately tries to sabotage the rampaging Hod King, even as Marat’s objective grows increasingly clear. The leader of the zealots is bound for the Sphinx’s lair and the unimaginable power it contains. In the city under glass at the Tower’s summit, Adam discovers a utopia where everyone inexplicably knows the details of his past. As Adam unravels the mystery of his fame, he soon discovers the crowning ringdom conceals a much darker secret. Aboard the State of Art, Edith and her crew adjust to the reality that Voleta has awoken from death changed. She seems to share more in common with the Red Hand now than her former self. While Edith wars for the soul of the young woman, a greater crisis looms: They will have to face Marat on unequal footing and with Senlin caught in the crossfire. And when the Bridge of Babel is finally opened, and the Brick Layer’s true ambition revealed, neither they nor the Tower will ever be the same again. 

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The Beholden by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Orphaned as young women, Celestia and Izara De Malena find themselves land rich but destitute, with only a failing rainforest acreage, Celestia’s perfect manners, and Izara’s nascent magic to their aristocratic names. With the last of their money running out, they enact a dangerous plan — using a spell she doesn’t fully understand, Izara summons the Lady of the Seraphine and demands a favor: a husband for Celestia, one rich enough to enable the De Malena sisters to keep their land. But a favor from the river goddess always comes at a cost … Now, five years later, rumors of war and disease are spreading, Celestia’s husband has been called away on a secret mission for the Emperor, and the Lady of the Seraphine is back to collect her due. Izara will be forced to leave the academy where she has been studying to become a mage; Celestia will be pulled from her now-flourishing farm while newly pregnant with her first child. Together, they must repay their debt to the Lady — embarking on a mission that will put them on a collision course with Celestia’s husband, the Emperor, and a god even more powerful than the Lady of the Seraphine. Gorgeous, compelling, and utterly captivating, The Beholden follows Celestia and Izara as they journey from the lush rainforest to a frozen desert on an impossible quest to find a god who doesn’t want to be found and prevent the end of the world. 

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A perk of having bought into Fria Ligan’s Twilight 2000 project was a discount on other Fria Ligan games. Consequently, I picked up a number of their core rule sets¹, of which Coriolis was one. 

Coriolis is an SFRPG, apparently inspired by the Arabian Nights. The game mechanics are similar enough to FL’s Alien that having read one gives a huge boost to learning this version of the rules. It’s a game of comparatively low-powered, fragile people in a setting filled with intrigue and forgotten mysteries which if examined correctly will reduce one’s PC to pink mist.

As one would expect from FL, the rulebook is an impressive-looking tome. The illustrations are a giant step up from what was considered acceptable when I got into RPGs 40 years ago. My only gripe²would be that white print on a black background is hard for me to read. 

1: And discovered DHL’s delightful habit of charging exorbitant administration fees for paying small amounts of duty. 

2: Plus DHL’s delightful habit of charging exorbitant administration fees for paying small amounts of duty. 

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The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie

Some say that to change the world you must first burn it down. Now that belief will be tested in the crucible of revolution: the Breakers and Burners have seized the levers of power, the smoke of riots has replaced the smog of industry, and all must submit to the wisdom of crowds.

With nothing left to lose, Citizen Brock is determined to become a new hero for the new age, while Citizeness Savine must turn her talents from profit to survival before she can claw her way to redemption. Orso will find that when the world is turned upside down, no one is lower than a monarch. And in the bloody North, Rikke and her fragile Protectorate are running out of allies … while Black Calder gathers his forces and plots his vengeance.

The banks have fallen, the sun of the Union has been torn down, and in the darkness behind the scenes, the threads of the Weaver’s ruthless plan are slowly being drawn together …

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