James Nicoll Reviews

The Serpent & the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent (December 2023)

The Hunger Games meets vampires in this heart-wrenching, epic fantasy romance of dark magic, and bloodthirsty intrigue from bestselling author Carissa Broadbent. 

For humans and vampires, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart. 

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself. 

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival. 

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him. 

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love. 

The Serpent & the Wings of Night is the first book in the Crowns of Nyaxia series. 

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Liberty’s Daughter by Naomi Kritzer (November 2023)

Beck Garrison lives on a seastead — an archipelago of constructed platforms and old cruise ships, assembled by libertarian separatists a generation ago. She’s grown up comfortable and sheltered, but starts doing odd jobs for pocket money. 

To her surprise, she finds that she’s the only detective that a debt slave can afford to hire to track down the woman’s missing sister. When she tackles this investigation, she learns things about life on the other side of the waterline — not to mention about herself and her father — that she did not expect. And that some people will stop at nothing to keep her from talking about … 

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On this day in another age, the James Nicoll Reviews website went live!

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Grievar’s Blood by Alexander Darwin (December 2023)

In a world where single combat determines the fate of nations, the Grievar fight in the Circles so that the rest can remain at peace. But given the stakes, things are never so simple. The Daimyo govern from the shadows and plot to gain an edge by unnaturally enhancing their Grievar Knights. Cego and his team return to the world’s most prestigious combat school, The Lyceum. Though he’d like to focus on his martial studies, Cego feels the pull of his mysterious past and two missing brothers. Solara Halberd, daughter of the fighting legend, embarks on her own quest to bury the past. She must utilize every lesson her father taught her to explore unknown lands where evil lurks in the shadows

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Sorry for the delay. Had a massive attack of the no-energies.

August 2023

23 works reviewed. 12 by women (52%), 8 by men (35%), 2 by a non-binary author (9%), 1 by authors whose gender is unknown (4%), and 9 by POC (39%)

2023 to Date

174 works reviewed. 97 by women (56%), 70 by men (41%), 5 by a non-binary author (2%), 2 by authors whose gender is unknown (1%), and 69 by POC (40%)

Grand Total to Date

2442 works reviewed. 1364 by women (56%), 1019 by men (42%), 39 by non-binary authors (2%), 20 by authors whose gender is unknown (1%), and 745.75 by POC (30%).

Government Types August 2023

Total 23, Not Applicable 4 (19%), Unclear 0 (0%), Anarchy 2 (9%), Pure democracy 0 (0%), Representative democracy 8 (35%), Oligarchy 9 (39%), Autocracy 0 (0%).

Government Type 2023 TD

Total 174, Not Applicable 25 (14%), Unclear 9 (6%), Anarchy 2 (1%), Pure democracy 1 (1%), Representative democracy 59 (34%), Oligarchy 71 (41%), Autocracy 7 (5%).

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The Road to Afropantheology edited by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki & Joshua Uchenna Omenga (October 2023)

A captivating collection of original stories and essays by award-winning authors that celebrates the richness and complexity of African mysticism. 

African literary scholars struggle to reconcile African mysticism with literary labels. Between Dystopias: The Road to Afropantheology encapsulates the essence of African mysticism and dystopia through original stories. 

Afropantheology explores various aspects of African mysticism and dystopia. ​‘Mother’s Love, Father’s Place’ and ​’02 Arena’ are examples. It acknowledges Africa’s journey from its origins to the future. ​‘The Deification of Igodo’ and ​‘A Dance with the Ancestors’ are stories that showcase the complexity of African mysticism. ​‘Land of the Awaiting Birth’ explores the link between theborn and the unborn. .Between Dystopias: The Road to Afropantheology is a celebration of African mysticism. The collection highlights the richness and complexity of African culture and traditions. It is a must-read for anyone interested in African literature, culture, and history. . 

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August is over, and another 23 works read and reviewed. This month’s high points include a brief website slowdown possibly due to someone scraping the site to feed their AIs, which I will call Jean Jacket for no particular reason. Also, I finally catalogued and reboxed all my stored books. Learned an important lesson: if several hours into such a project, one’s body starts protesting, that doesn’t mean push on until the last six cases are dealt with.

Interesting (to me) bit of data: while I’ve read lots of what I consider recent SF, and a fair number of books published in 2023, only six or seven of the books published in 2023 that I read thus far this year were SF. Need to work on that.

Over at the other site, Young People Read Old SFF came in third in its Aurora Award category. I am quite pleased. If any young people would like to join the Young People, please contact me at [email protected].

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.

Patreon and donation links may be found here. Reviews may be commissioned here.

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