James Nicoll Reviews

Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes (April 2025)

Cold Eternity, the newest space horror novel from the author of Dead Silence and Ghost Station, blends the dystopian dread of Severance with the catastrophic approach to AI from M3gan.

Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads for what seems like the perfect place to lay low: a gigantic space barge housing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth’s most wealthy citizens.

The ship and its cryo program are long defunct, but Halley starts to think she sees figures crawling in the hallways, and there’s a constant scraping, slithering, and rattling echoing in the vents.

It’s not long before Halley realizes she may have gotten herself trapped in an even more dangerous situation than the one she was running from…. 

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Among my many review categories, I have a category for SFF from the 1980s and one for SFF from the 1990s. It seems unfair I don’t have one for the 2000s. So here one is.

The category takes its name from a famous declaration from an unnamed official in the George W. Bush administration¹:

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The Devils by Joe Abercrombie (May 2025)

Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.

Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.

Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it’s a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side. 

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The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison (March 2025)

In The Tomb of Dragons, Katherine Addison returns to the award-winning world of The Goblin Emperor, deftly wrapping up The Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy.

Thara Celehar has lost his ability to speak with the dead. When that title of Witness for the Dead is gone, what defines him?

While his title may be gone, his duties are not. Celehar contends with a municipal cemetery with fifty years of secrets, the damage of a revethavar he’s terrified to remember, and a group of miners who are more than willing to trade Celehar’s life for a chance at what they feel they’re owed.

Celehar does not have to face these impossible tasks alone. Joining him are his mentee Velhiro Tomasaran, still finding her footing with the investigative nature of their job; Iäna Pel-Thenhior, his beloved opera director friend and avid supporter; Anora Chanavar, his stalwart friend and fellow prelate of Ulis; and the valiant guard captain Hanu Olgarezh.

Amidst the backdrop of a murder and a brewing political uprising, Celehar must seek justice for those who cannot find it themselves under a tense political system. The repercussions of his quest are never as simple they seem, and Celehar’s own life and happiness hang in the balance. 

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On this day in 2014, James Nicoll Reviews (the site) went live. Thousands of reviews later, three Hugo nominations¹ later, the site is still going strong. I am as surprised as you are! 

_{1: I am aware nomination is no longer the preferred word.}

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The Dark Issue 112 published by The Dark Magazine (September 2024)

The magazine of dark fantasy.

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How is it fall term already? Ah, the sunny optimism of incoming students, before embittered malaise sets in. That usually takes at least two weeks.

I only just now realize I forgot to mention something important in my August In Review: on August 11 I lost both the Hugo and the Aurora awards back to back. In both cases, the process was painless, even enjoyable.

James Nicoll Reviews is supported in part by Patreon subscribers, to whom I am very grateful. You can join my Patreon here. You too can have ongoing say in which books I review! 

For more immediate gratification, consider commissioning a review. Please see my guidelines here. Note that The Number of the Beast (under both titles) is a special case. 

Spontaneous donations can be done via my Paypal.

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[Added at 10 PM]

I only just now realize I forgot to mention something important in my August In Review: on August 11 I lost both the Hugo and the Aurora awards back to back. In both cases, the process was painless, even enjoyable. 

August 2024

22 works reviewed. 12 by women (55%), 10 by men (45%), 0 by non-binary authors (0%), 0 by authors whose gender is unknown (0%), and 9.5 by POC (43%).

2024 to Date

175 works reviewed. 98 by women (56%), 74 by men (42%), 2 by non-binary authors (1%), 1 by authors whose gender is unknown (1%), and 70.5 by POC (40%).

Grand Total to Date

2704 works reviewed. 1510 by women (56%), 1129 by men (42%), 42 by non-binary authors (2%), 23 by authors whose gender is unknown (1%), and 842.25 by POC (31%).

Government Types August 2024

Total 22, Not Applicable 1 (5%), Unclear 3 (14%), Anarchy 0 (0%), Pure democracy 0 (%), Representative democracy 7 (32%), Oligarchy 10 (45%), Autocracy 1 (5%).

Government Type 2024 TD

Total 175, Not Applicable 20 (11%), Unclear 12 (7%), Anarchy 6 (3%), Pure democracy 1 (0.6%), Representative democracy 56 (32%), Oligarchy 74 (42%), Autocracy 6 (3%).

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Proceedings of the Institute for Twenty-First Century Studies edited by Theodore R. Cogswell (December 1992)

In 1959 the late Ted Cogswell started a ​”fanzine for pros” with the mock-pompous title [i]Publications of the Institute of Twenty-First Century Studies,[/i] soon to be known as PITFCS. Its circulation was limited to science fiction writers and editors, and its contents were mostly their letters discussing their own and each other’s work. PITFCS quickly became [i]the[/i] place where s‑f professionals talked to each other about the problems of the field, both literary and economic.

The discussions were frank, discerning, insightful, humorous, occasionally a little insulting, and even a bit bawdy. PITFCS was where the pros could let their hair down. It lasted only a few years — Cogswell had to give it up in order to write his doctoral dissertation. Then the Science Fiction Writers of America was organized, and SFWA’s publications began filling the niche that PITFCS had occupied. PITFCS was short-lived, but has been remembered with joy all these years, and Advent is proud to reprint it now.

(How is the acronym PITFCS pronounced? Don’t ask. But if you insist, Tony Boucher tells you in a limerick.)

This volume reprints PITFCS from first issue to last, and adds an index which is perhaps more comprehensive than it needs to be. However, we have omitted most of the typos for which Ted Cogswell was famous. (His motto was ​”PITFCS are [i]never[/i] proofread.”)

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The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2023) edited by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki & Chinaza Eziaghighala (November 2024)

This is the third volume in this highly praised series (the first won the World Fantasy Award). Previous works been praised for their eclectic mix of stories, offering a panorama of themes and styles. For instance, the 2021 edition included a story about a woman struggling with her identity and relationship in the face of a thought-recording device, a tale of a man fostering a rapidly evolving robot, and an adventurous narrative about a sentient robot dog engaging in space piracy. These stories not only explored advanced technologies and speculative scenarios but also delved deep into human emotions, relationships, and societal issues.

Themes of personal struggles, such as dealing with depression, anxiety, and feelings of alienation, were also prominent. These were manifested through unique and powerful metaphors, like a woman whose detachable body parts symbolized her sense of disintegration and invisibility, or a story that portrayed the torment of self-contempt through the constant barrage of negative thoughts from imaginary entities.

The anthology also ventured into mythic dimensions, echoing the voices and histories of entire cultures through concise yet profound storytelling. For example, flash fiction pieces in the collection reached the heights of epic poetry, encapsulating the journey of human life and cultural evolution.

With such a backdrop, the 2023 volume can be expected to continue this tradition of blending speculative elements with deep human experiences and cultural narratives. It’s likely to feature stories that push the boundaries of imagination while staying grounded in the complexities of the human condition. Readers can anticipate a collection that not only entertains but also provokes thought and offers new perspectives on both the future and the present. The anthology is not just a showcase of speculative fiction; it’s a celebration of African storytelling, creativity, and the endless possibilities within the realm of speculative fiction. 

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