James Nicoll Reviews

The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 9 by Natsu Hyuuga (October 2023)

Maomao has effectively become Jinshi’s personal physician, but she’s just a simple apothecary. If she’s going to give him proper medical treatment, she’ll need more than her meager surgical skills. When she turns to her father for help, he says he’ll only teach her if she can pass a test he sets for her. Even if she succeeds at his mysterious request, however, the truth behind the practice of surgery at court may be more than she cares to know. And only once she has the knowledge she needs will she be able to accompany Jinshi on what could be his most dangerous journey yet. 

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(stolen from Andrew Wheeler… from back in 2006)

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Another year is upon us and with it the obligatory awards eligibility posts. I am never really sure into which categories my works fall. Here are my best guesses.

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I had an epiphany about these posts, which is that if I do the summary posts on the final day of the month and the Patreon boosts on the first, the pile of month end (or month beginning) posts won’t be so overwhelming and I will be able to put more thought into them¹. Let’s see if I remember that in a month’s time.

A sad note on my image: Fig, the demanding tuxedo cat pictured above, became very ill in mid-December, sick enough I didn’t expect him to last the next 24 hours. Since then, Fig has apparently decided to power through on the strength of pain meds, appetite stimulants and prodigious quantities of determination. I am reminded of my cat Hillary, who decided trifles like a near complete lack of kidney function wasn’t going to slow her down. I expect Fig’s condition will catch up with him sooner rather than later but he seems determined to enjoy what time he has in the manner to which he has become accustomed. 

1: Well, except not this month, because I need to put the effort into a New Year’s post. And a complete list of my review categories.

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Welcome to 2024! I am sure you’re all as curious as I am to see whether total climate collapse can save us from the rising tide of fascism before or after we’re annihilated by World War Three. Until then, thanks go out to my legions of supporters without whom this site would not exist.

Last year I managed to review one more book than in 2022¹. I am not sure how. I clicked past 2500 reviews. There I do know how: by posting a little under one review per day for almost a decade. I finished the Ace Specials reviews, following them up with Judith Merril’s The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy reviews (almost completed). My Brunner reread is well in hand, and I expect to continue it for another year.

Young People Read Old SFF was nominated for another Aurora, losing once again. 

I don’t have any grand projects for 2024 in mind, aside from reviewing all of my Phyllis Eisenstein books (minus the ones already reviewed). 2024 might be a year where my new projects are numerous but small. Or maybe I will hit post and think of a new all-consuming obsession. For example, I might while typing suddenly realize that I could follow Judith Merril’s venerable Best S‑F series with Donna Scott’s 21^st century Best of British Science Fiction.

Many of you may wonder about the review categories down the right-hand side of the site. Have what I hope is a complete listing, as well as brief explanations. 

While updating the list, I rediscovered two whose existence I’d totally forgot despite having only created them in the last year, one of them less than two months ago. Maybe you readers are not the only people who benefit from this list. 

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I will be sad to lose the Vermeer but I have an equally enticing header photo selected for 2024.

James Nicoll Reviews ended the year one review up over previous years. Not really sure why. Once again the number of books by non-binary authors is dismal. Something to work on.

On the political front, representative democracy made an unexpectedly strong finish but still came in second to oligarchy. I am sure there is no real-world relevance there. I am on the bubble about continuing tracking government types, as it adds just enough extra effort to the stats to make me worry about a repeat of the 2016 situation. 

December 2023

22 works reviewed. 13 by women (59%), 8 by men (36%), 0 by a non-binary author (0%), 1 by authors whose gender is unknown (5%), and 9 by POC (41%).

2023 to Date

261 works reviewed. 145 by women (54%), 106 by men (41%), 6 by a non-binary author (2%), 4 by authors whose gender is unknown (2%), and 104 by POC (40%).

Grand Total to Date

2529 works reviewed. 1412 by women (56%), 1055 by men (42%), 40 by non-binary authors (2%), 22 by authors whose gender is unknown (1%), and 771.75 by POC (30%).

Government Types December 2023

Total 22, Not Applicable 4 (84%), Unclear 0 (0%), Anarchy 0 (0%), Pure democracy 0 (0%), Representative democracy 11 (50%), Oligarchy 6 (27%), Autocracy 1 (5%).

Government Type 2023 TD

Total 261, Not Applicable 39 (15%), Unclear 12 (5%), Anarchy 4 (2%), Pure democracy 4 (2%), Representative democracy 96 (37%), Oligarchy 98 (38%), Autocracy 8 (3%).

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Season’s greetings!

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The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond (May 2024)

Kill the dragon. Find the blade. Reclaim her honor. 

It’s that, or end up like countless knights before her, as a puddle of gore and molten armor. 

Maddileh is a knight. There aren’t many women in her line of work, and it often feels like the sneering and contempt from her peers is harder to stomach than the actual dragon slaying. But she’s a knight, and made of sterner stuff. 

A minor infraction forces her to redeem her honor in the most dramatic way possible, she must retrieve the fabled Fireborne Blade from its keeper, legendary dragon the White Lady, or die trying. If history tells us anything, it’s that ​“die trying” is where to wager your coin. 

Maddileh’s tale contains a rich history of dragons, ill-fated knights, scheming squires, and sapphic love, with deceptions and double-crosses that will keep you guessing right up to its dramatic conclusion. Ultimately, The Fireborne Blade is about the roles we refuse to accept, and of the place we make for ourselves in the world. 

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Fall of the Iron Gods by Olivia Chadha (April 2024)

The compelling conclusion to the Colorado Book Award winning Rise of the Red Hand, perfect for fans of Marie Lu and Zoe Hana Mikuta’s Gearbreakers. The sequel to Rise of the Red Hand, a searing portrayal of the future of climate change in South Asia. After inflicting a devastating blow on the autocratic provincial government, Ashiva, Synch, and their remaining allies must infiltrate the planetary government before it can exterminate the Red Hand and everything they stand for. Despite hard-won victories, the revolutionary forces known as the Red Hand are more endangered than ever: the Planetary Alliance Commission — the PAC — has branded them public enemy number one, ramping up their efforts to eliminate the Red Hand’s remaining members even as the pandemic rages on. In order to protect the progress they have made, the team must adopt new tactics. Ashiva, armed with a new bionic upgrade, leads a team back into the fray on a dangerous mission across a toxic wasteland wracked by storms. Synch sets out to fortify their hidden Himalayan stronghold, but his presence may hurt their cause more than the Red Hand knows. And Taru, determined to prove herself, punches deep into the heart of governmental research facilities in a desperate gamble to bring down the regime from the inside. Greedy and unyielding, the PAC is all too willing to sacrifice the people of a province to achieve their optimal results, leaving Ashiva, Synch, and Taru to save their homeland from a government claiming to act for the greater planetary good. 

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Lyorn by Steven Brust (April 2024)

All The World’s A Happy Stage. Until the knives come out… Lyorn is the next adventure in Steven Brust’s bestselling Vlad Taltos series

Another Opening…Another Cataclysm?

Vlad Taltos is on the run. Again. This time from one of the most powerful forces in his world, the Left Hand, who are intent on ending his very lucrative career. Permanently. 

He finds a hidey-hole in a theatre where the players are putting on a show that was banned centuries ago…and is trying to be shut down by the House that once literally killed to keep it from being played. 

Vlad will take on a number of roles to save his own skin. And the skins of those he loves. 

And along the way, he might find a part that was tailor-made for him. 

One that he might not want…but was always his destiny. 

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