James Nicoll Reviews

Enter into the world of the future where human potential is fulfilled to hitherto unexpected and unexplored dimensions.

Here are nine fantastic stories that run the gamut of ultimate imagination: A young woman whose mental condition makes her think the world is all wonderful; a time when space travelers from Earth are all female and cloned; the decision to destroy Ana; a fairy tale of tomorrow, of the Sidhe, beyond death under the waters of the lake.

Also included are marvelous tales of the dynamic directions that ​“thought experiments” have taken; the discovery of a new home for the human race – after the holocaust, a time when electronic secrets must be traded for food; the search for the beginning of the world; and a society where test-tube babies have three mothers who can be female or male.

Contributors include Raccoona Sheldon, James Tiptree, Jr., Dave Skal, Mildred Downey Broxon, Ursule K. Le Guin, Joanna Russ, P. J. Plauger, Craig Strete, and Marge Piercy.

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This is just a tad late.

21 books read. 11.5 by women (55%), 8.5 by men (40%), 1 by unknown (5%)

Works by POC: 8 (38%)

Year to Date

62 books read. 34.25 by women (55%). 25.75 by men (42%). 2 by an author whose gender is unknown (3%).

Works by POC: 25.75 (42%)

And now the meaningless chart.

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In the follow-up to the ​“delightful” Regency fantasy novel (NPR.org) Sorcerer to the Crown, a young woman with no memories of her past finds herself embroiled in dangerous politics in England and the land of the fae. 

**When sisters Muna and Sakti wake up on the peaceful beach of the island of Janda Baik, they can’t remember anything, except that they are bound as only sisters can be. They have been cursed by an unknown enchanter, and slowly Sakti starts to fade away. The only hope of saving her is to go to distant Britain, where the Sorceress Royal has established an academy to train women in magic. If Muna is to save her sister, she must learn to navigate high society, and trick the English magicians into believing she is a magical prodigy. As she’s drawn into their intrigues, she must uncover the secrets of her past, and journey into a world with more magic than she had ever dreamed. 

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The 2019 Hugo Finalists and 1944 Retro Hugo Finalists are as follows:

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Colonists from Earth wanted the perfect home, but they’ll have to survive on the one they found. They don’t realize another life form watches…and waits… 

Only mutual communication can forge an alliance with the planet’s sentient species and prove that humans are more than tools. 

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Captain Marta Ramos, the most notorious pirate in the Duchy of Denver, has her hands full between fascinating murder mysteries, the delectable and devious Deliah Nimowitz, Colonel Geoffrey Douglas (the Duke of Denver’s new head of security), a spot of airship engineering and her usual activities: piracy, banditry and burglary. Not to mention the horror of high society tea parties. In contrast, Simms, her second in command, longs only for a quiet life, filled with tasty sausages and fewer explosions. Or does he? Join Captain Ramos, Simms and their crew as they negotiate the perils of air, land and drawing room in a series of fast-paced adventures in a North America that never was. 

Murder on the Titania and Other Steam-Powered Adventures includes 4 novellas and a short story about piracy, banditry, burglary, jail-breaking, several brilliant bits of detective work and all manner of otherwise lawless hijinks performed by the valiant Captain Ramos and her crew. 

Murder on the Titania: Colonel Geoffrey Douglas, the Duke of Denver’s new head of security, is drawn into a high society murder mystery on the Airship Titania. None of the passengers are quite what they seem, including the mysterious young woman who always turns up where she is least expected. 

The Curious Case of Clementine Nimowitz (and Her Exceedingly Tiny Dog): A simple burglary goes horribly awry when Captain Ramos and Simms stumble across a dead body, a small dog and the deceased’s heirs, the noisome Morris and the rather too interesting Deliah. 

The Jade Tiger: a mysterious woman enlists Captain Ramos’s aid in getting her revenge on her former employer and Captain Ramos finds herself doing an unintentional good deed. 

The Ugly Tin Orrery: Captain Ramos and her crew embark on what appears to be a perfectly ordinary train robbery, only to be drawn into the Duke of Denver’s political machinations via a strange metal artifact. Throw in a spot of jail breaking and an encounter with the lovely Deliah, and it’s all in a day’s work for Captain Ramos and Simms. 

The Flying Turk: The Airship Titania is entering a new era and welcoming its first automaton pilot. Or, perhaps not. Captain Ramos and Simms are back aboard the Titania for a heady mix of murder, robbery, peeved scientists and oblivious peers, with a spot of engineering thrown in. 

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During the time of the Crusades, an unlikely trio — a Christian princess, her affianced prince, and a Muslim assassin — embarks on a quest to the court of the most fearsome warrior the world has ever known, Genghis Khan. 

A rousing tale of adventure and romance about three young people who must grapple with fundamental issues of loyalty, friendship, faith, honor, and courage against the backdrop of conflicts that still resonate today. 

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February

21 books read. 12 by women (57%), 8 by men (38%), 1 by unknown (5%)

Works by POC: 8 (38%)

Year to Date 

41 books read. 22.75 by women (55%). 17.25 by men (42%). 1 by an author whose gender is unknown (2%).

Works by POC: 17.75 (23%)

And installment two of my year long slog up the meaningless table.

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Like updating my list of Tor pieces more than once six months…

13 Stories About Surviving a Nuclear War — At Least Briefly

Recent Interstellar Asteroid May Have Been Alien Artifact, Speculates New Paper

Get Out of My Head: SFF Stories About Sharing Brain-Space With Somebody Else

World States and Mega Empires in SF

Six SF Novels (and One Song) Built Around Space Travel and Time Dilation

Welcome to the New Golden Age of Interplanetary Adventure Stories

Good News, Everyone! Barnard’s Star Has Been Hiding a Secret Planet

SF Novels That Get Special Relativity All Wrong

The Trouble with Terraforming

Five Works of Hard Science Fiction That Bypass the Gatekeepers

Five Classic SF Novels of Anthropogenic Climate Change

100 SF/F Books You Should Consider Reading in the New Year

Classic SF Works Set on Thrilling Space Habitats

Saturn’s Rings are Doomed, so Enjoy Them While You Can!

SF Stories Featuring Abandoned Earths

5 SFF Stories About Surviving the Dangers of Boarding School

Stay Frosty: 5 SF Narratives About Global Cooling

Mapping the Stars for Fun and Profit

SF Stories That Cut the Vastness of Space Down to Size

There’s a Fine Line Between Theatre and Fantasy

Move Over, Westeros: Six SFF Series That Would Rule the TV Landscape

Fun With Ancient, Squishy Complex Life Forms

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Cairo, 1912: The case started as a simple one for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities — handling a possessed tram car. 

Soon, however, Agent Hamed Nasr and his new partner Agent Onsi Youssef are exposed to a new side of Cairo stirring with suffragettes, secret societies, and sentient automatons in a race against time to protect the city from an encroaching danger that crosses the line between the magical and the mundane. 

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