James Nicoll Reviews

The Nameless Land by Kate Elliott (November 2025)

Surprising betrayals, surprising alliances, and surprising discoveries of heritage abound in this energetic sequel to The Witch Roads. 

When the royal party finds themselves in a land they never believed they could access, it will take all of Prince Gevulin’s (admittedly impressive) diplomatic skills to forge a coalition with an unlikely group of would-be allies. 

Meanwhile, as Erin mourns her lost love, an unwelcome visit to the land of her birth brings back the traumatic memories of the childhood she shared with her sister. 

And a surprise visit from an unwelcome family member threatens to derail the plans of multiple opposing factions. 

Loyalty cannot be demanded, only won 

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The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (October 2025)

From the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, Alix E. Harrow, comes a moving and genre-defying adventure through time, as a reluctant lady knight and a historian with dreams of being a hero, will fight to rewrite their tragic fates and finish the greatest legend ever told. 

It begins where it ends: beneath the yew tree — a girl not yet a knight, and a boy without a story. 

That is where she pulls a sword from the heartwood and becomes a legend. 

And it is where, more than a thousand years later, he will find her — and lose her — and find her — and lose her again. 

It is where a new story will be written — but whose will it be?

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The Aurora Awards are Canada’s annual English-language Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards. The 2025 Aurora Award Ballot has been released. The finalists are:

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Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree (November 2025)

Return to the cozy fantasy world of the #1 New York Times bestselling Legends & Lattes series with a new adventure featuring fan-favorite, foul-mouthed bookseller FernFern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades, but now, in the face of crippling ennui, transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her!If only things were so simple…It turns out that fixing your life isn’t a one-time prospect, nor as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint. 

A drunken and desperate night sees the rattkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover. 

As together they fend off a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when nothing seems inevitable. 

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Audition for the Fox by Martin Cahill (September 2025)

To survive the challenge of a trickster god, a quick-witted acolyte rallies her ancestors with cunning subterfuge and outright rebellion. 

Nesi is desperate to earn the patronage of one of the Ninety-Nine Pillars of Heaven. As a child with godly blood in her, if she cannot earn a divine chaperone, she will never be allowed to leave her temple home. But with ninety-six failed auditions and few options left, Nesi makes a risky prayer to T’sidaan, the Fox of Tricks. 

In folk tales, the Fox is a loveable prankster. But despite their humor and charm, T’sidaan, and their audition, is no joke. They throw Nesi back in time three hundred years, when her homeland is occupied by the brutal Wolfhounds of Zemin. 

Now, Nesi must ally with her besieged people and learn a trickster’s guile to snatch a fortress from the disgraced and exiled 100^th Pillar: The Wolf of the Hunt. 

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It’s is weird that 2025 seems to be racing by, despite each day being jam-packed with new and entirely unnecessary crises. At least carefully curated fiction offers the opportunity to visit worlds that make sense. Of course, nothing makes finding new fiction to read easier than a tasty bowl of Maggi soup a reliable review site, such as James Nicoll Reviews.

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