James Nicoll Reviews

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire (January 2024)

Portals and danger, and a girl who can find both in the next book in the Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Wayward Children series from Seanan McGuire. 

Antsy is the latest student to pass through the doors at Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children. 

When the school’s (literally irresistible) mean girl realizes that Antsy’s talent for finding absolutely anything may extend to doors, Antsy is forced to flee in the company of a small group of friends, looking for a way back to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go to be sure that Vineta and Hudson are keeping their promise. 

Along the way, they will travel from a world which hides painful memories that cut as sharply as its beauty, to a land that time wasn’t yet old enough to forget — and more than one student’s life will change forever. 

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is a story that reminds us that getting what you want doesn’t always mean finding what you need. 

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Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender (February 2024)

Infinity Alchemist is a spellbinding novel about a quest that leads three young alchemists toward unexpected love and unimaginable power. 

With their signature ​“prowess” (FIYAH) and ​“unbridled creativity” (New York Times Book Review), acclaimed author Kacen Callender turns their formidable skill to young adult fantasy for the first time. 

For Ash Woods, practicing alchemy is a crime. 

Only an elite few are legally permitted to study the science of magic — so when Ash is rejected by Lancaster College of Alchemic Science, he takes a job as the school’s groundskeeper instead, forced to learn alchemy in secret. When he’s discovered by the condescending and brilliant apprentice Ramsay Thorne, Ash is sure he’s about to be arrested — but instead of calling the reds, Ramsay surprises Ash by making him an offer: Ramsay will keep Ash’s secret if he helps her find the legendary Book of Source, a sacred text that gives its reader extraordinary power. 

As Ash and Ramsay work together and their feelings for each other grow, Ash discovers their mission is more dangerous than he imagined, pitting them against influential and powerful alchemists — Ash’s estranged father included. Ash’s journey takes him through the cities and wilds across New Anglia, forcing him to discover his own definition of true power and how far he and other alchemists will go to seize it. 

Featuring trans, queer, and polyamorous characters of color, Infinity Alchemist is the hugely anticipated young adult fantasy debut from the extraordinary author of Felix Ever After, King and the Dragonflies, Queen of the Conquered and more. 

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Tonight, I Burn by Katharine J. Adams (November 2023)

A thorn witch with the power to walk between the realms of Life and Death finds herself at the center of a magical rebellion — and a dangerous romance — that could destroy her coven and her soul in this dark and decadent debut. Thorns, Tides, Embers, Storms, and Ores. All five covens are bound in servitude to the tyrant High Warden of Halstett. Penny Albright is a daughter of the thorn coven, forced to patrol the veil between the realms of Life and Death. Each night, one thorn witch — and only one — must cross the veil by burning at the stake. Each morning, that witch draws on their magic to return. Failure to follow the rules risks the veil and risks them all. But one morning, Penny’s favorite sister Ella doesn’t return. And that night, determined to find her, Penny breaks the rules. She burns in secret. And she discovers that all isn’t as it seems in Life or Death. Her journey leads her to Malin, a devastating lord with too many secrets; to Alice, a mysterious captive prophet; and to a rebellion brewing in the shadows beneath the city. And as Penny’s world splits, she’ll face a devastating choice. Because it’s not just her sister’s life that hangs in the balance. It’s the fate of all magic. All it takes is one witch — and one spark — to set the world ablaze. 

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A Winter’s Rime: A Novel by Carol Dunbar (September 2023)

A harrowing and emotional novel set in rural Wisconsin — A Winter’s Rime explores the impact of generational trauma, and one woman’s journey to find peace and healing from the violence of her past. Mallory Moe is a twenty-five-year-old veteran Army mechanic, living with her girlfriend, Andrea, and working overnights at a gas station store while figuring out what’s next. Andrea’s off-grid cabin provides a perfect sanctuary for Mallory, a synesthete with a hypersensitivity to sound that can trigger flashbacks from her childhood. The getaway that’s largely abandoned during the off season starts out idyllic, until Andrea’s once-loving behavior turns controlling and abusive, and Mallory once again finds herself not wanting to go home. After a particularly disturbing altercation, Mallory escapes into the subzero night and stumbles into Shay, a teenage girl, injured and asking for help. But it isn’t long before she realizes that Shay isn’t the only one who needs saving. A story about sisterhood and second chances, A Winter’s Rime looks to nature to find what it can teach us about bearing hardship and expanding our capacity to forgive — not just others, but ourselves. 

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Another 22 works read and reviewed, despite the considerable distraction presented by dance season and other events. On the plus side, I now have a new benchmark against which to compare challenging encounters in Hagey Hall. May nobody feel a need to exceed it.

Continued thanks to those who commissioned reviews and to my legion of patrons, for whose continued support over the last nine or so years I am very grateful. Onward to what I hope will be a less exciting July.

Next big project: reboxing and properly cataloging the thousand or so books still in storage at my brother’s farm.

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June 2023

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

2023 to Date

130 works reviewed. 74 by women (57%), 54 by men (42%), 1 by a non-binary author (1%), 1 by authors whose gender is unknown (1%), and 53 by POC (41%).

Grand Total to Date

2398 works reviewed. 1341 by women (56%), 1003 by men (42%), 35 by non-binary authors (1%), 19 by authors whose gender is unknown (1%), and 729.75 by POC (30%).

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To Shape a Dragon’s Breath: The First Book of Nampeshiweisit by Moniquill Blackgoose (May 2023)

The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations — until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon’s egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit — a person in a unique relationship with a dragon. Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raising — and Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed. For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land, challenges abound — both socially and academically. But Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects. Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they’re also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing — and they might just be the ones to do it. 

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