James Nicoll Reviews

September 2021

22 works reviewed. 12 by women (55%), 9 by men (41%), 1 by a non-binary author (5%), 0 by authors whose genders are unknown (0%), and 8 by POC (36%).

Year to Date

194 works reviewed. 105.5 by women (54%), 80.5 by men (42%), 5 by non-binary authors (3%), 3 by authors whose gender is unknown (2%), and 78 by POC (40%).

Grand Total to Date

1942 works reviewed. 1088 by women (56%), 810 by men (42%), 26 by non-binary authors (1%), 18 by authors whose genders are unknown (1%), and 557.75 by POC (29%).

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Autonomy by Victoria Hetherington

In a near future ravaged by illness, one woman and her AI companion enter a dangerous bubble of the superrich.In 2035, a fledging synthetic consciousness ​“wakes up” in a lab. Jenny, the lead developer, determined to nurture this synthetic being like a child, trains it for work with people at the border of the American Protectorate of Canada. She names it Julian. Two years later, Slaton, a therapist at a university, is framed by a student for arranging an illegal abortion. She follows the student to America and is detained at the border, where she meets Julian in virtual space. After a week of interviewing, he decides to stay with her, learning about the world, the human condition, and what it means to fall in love. Meanwhile, a mysterious plague is spreading across the world. Only the far-seeing and well-connected Julian can protect Slaton from the impending societal collapse. Autonomy is an ambitious, philosophical novel about the possibilities for love in a world in which human bodies are either threatened or irrelevant.

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The Liar’s Knot by M. A. Carrick

Trust is the thread that binds us … and the rope that hangs us. In Nadezra, peace is as tenuous as a single thread. The ruthless House Indestor has been destroyed, but darkness still weaves through the city’s filthy back alleys and jewel-bright gardens, seen by those who know where to look. Derossi Vargo has always known. He has sacrificed more than anyone imagines to carve himself a position of power among the nobility, hiding a will of steel behind a velvet smile. He’ll be damned if he lets anyone threaten what he’s built. Grey Serrado knows all too well. Bent under the yoke of too many burdens, he fights to protect the city’s most vulnerable. Sooner or later, that fight will demand more than he can give. And Ren, daughter of no clan, knows best of all. Caught in a knot of lies, torn between her heritage and her aristocratic masquerade, she relies on her gift for reading pattern to survive. And it shows her the web of corruption that traps her city. But all three have yet to discover just how far that web stretches. And in the end, it will take more than knives to cut themselves free… 

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On this day, seven years and 1,928 reviews ago, James Nicoll Reviews went live. Thank you, Adrienne, for creating it, Karen for editing, all my patrons for funding it, and my readers for reading my reviews. 

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Giving the Devil His Due by Rebecca Brewer

Edited by Rebecca Brewer, formerly of Ace/Roc (Penguin Random House), this anthology will feature major names and rising stars in Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror today including Angela Yuriko Smith, Christina Henry, Dana Cameron, Errick Nunnally, Hillary Monahan, Jason Sanford, Kaaron Warren, Kelley Armstrong, Kenesha Williams, Leanna Renee Hieber, Lee Murray, Linda D. Addison, Nicholas Kaufmann, Nisi Shawl, Peter Tieryas, and Stephen Graham Jones.

These sixteen authors will take readers on an unforgettable journey to alternative worlds where men who abuse and murder women and girls meet their comeuppance in uncanny ways. These sixteen stories will make you think about the importance of justice for the victims of gender-based violence, how rare this justice is in our own world, and why we need to end violence against women once and for all. 

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The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2021): Volume One edited by Oghenchovwe Donald Ekpeki

The first ever Year’s Best African speculative fiction anthology with works from some of the most exciting voices in Africa and the diaspora, published in 2020. 

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