James Nicoll Reviews

Blade of Dream by Daniel Abraham (July 2023)

From the New York Times bestselling author and co-author of The Expanse comes an ​“atmospheric and fascinating” novel that unfolds within the walls of a single great city, over the course of one tumultuous year (Joe Abercrombie, author of A Little Hatred) . Kithamar is a center of trade and wealth, an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories endure. 

This is Garreth’s.

Garreth Left is heir to one of Kithamar’s most prominent merchant families. The path of his life was paved long before he was born. Learn the family trade, marry to secure wealthy in-laws, and inherit the business when the time is right. But to Garreth, a life chosen for him is no life at all.

In one night, a chance meeting with an enigmatic stranger changes everything. He falls in love with a woman whose name he doesn’t even know, and he will do anything to find her again. His search leads him down corridors and alleys that are best left unexplored, where ancient gods hide in the shadows, and every deal made has a dangerous edge.

The path that Garreth chooses will change the course of not only those he loves, but the entire future of Kithamar’s citizens.

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian (September 2023)

From bestselling author Alex Grecian comes a folk horror epic about a ragtag posse that must track down a witch through a wild west beset by demons and ghosts―and where death is always just around the bend.

Sadie Grace is wanted for witchcraft, dead (or alive). And every hired gun in Kansas is out to collect the bounty on her head, including bonafide witch hunter Old Tom and his mysterious, mute ward Rabbit. 

On the road to Burden County, they’re joined by two vagabond cowboys with a strong sense of adventure – but no sense of purpose – and a recently widowed schoolteacher with nothing left to lose. And as their posse grows, so too does the danger. 

Racing along the drought-stricken plains in a stolen red stagecoach, they encounter monsters more wicked than witches lurking along the dusty trail. But the crew is determined to get that witch, or die trying. 

Written with the devilish cadence of Stephen Graham Jones and the pulse-pounding brutality of Nick Cutter, Red Rabbit is a supernatural adventure of luck and misfortune.

Ethera Grave by Essa Hansen (July 2023)

In the final book of this dark, dangerous, roller coaster of a space opera trilogy, stretch the limits of your imagination in this mind-bending adventure — perfect for fans of The Expanse and A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. 

Caiden has finally been reunited with his sister Leta after ten years on the run with his unique starship and managed to convince his longtime enemy — Threi — to join his side. But the multiverse isn’t safe yet. Threi’s sister is still the most powerful being in existence. And she still wants to collapse their beautiful, diverse, constellation of multiverses down to one.

Now, Caiden and his makeshift family carry the fate of all the worlds in their hands. 

Traitor of Redwinter by Ed McDonald (October 2023) 

Traitor of Redwinter is the second in Ed McDonald’s Redwinter Chronicles , full of shady politics, militant monks, ancient powers… and a young woman navigating a world in which no one is quite what they seem.

The power of the Sixth Gate grows stronger within Raine each day―to control it, she needs lessons no living Draoihn can teach her. Her fledgling friendships are tested to a breaking point as she tries to face what she has become, and her master Ulovar is struck by a mysterious sickness that slowly saps the vitality from his body, leaving Raine to face her growing darkness alone. There’s only one chance to turn the tide of power surging within her―to learn the secrets the Draoihn themselves purged from the world. 

The book can teach her. She doesn’t know where she found it, or when exactly, but its ever changing pages whisper power that has lain untouched for centuries. 

As the king’s health fails and the north suffers in the grip of famine, rebellious lords hunger for the power of the Crown, backed by powers that would see the Crowns undone. Amidst this growing threat, Raine’s former friend Ovitus brings a powerful new alliance, raising his status and power of his own. He professes support for the heir to the throne even as others would see him take it for himself, and desperately craves Raine’s forgiveness―or her submission. 

But the grandmaster has her own plans for Raine, and the deadly training she has been given has not been conducted carelessly. In Raine she seeks to craft a weapon to launch right into her enemy’s heart, as Redwinter seeks to hold onto power. 

Amidst threats old and new, Raine must learn the secrets promised by the book, magic promised by a queen with a crown of feathers. A queen to whom Raine has promised more than she can afford to give…

The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen (October 2023)

The Bell in the Fog , a dazzling historical mystery by Lev AC Rosen, asks―once you have finally found a family, how far would you go to prove yourself to them? 

San Francisco, 1952. Detective Evander ​“Andy” Mills has started a new life for himself as a private detective―but his business hasn’t exactly taken off. It turns out that word spreads fast when you have a bad reputation, and no one in the queer community trusts him enough to ask an ex-cop for help. 

When James, an old flame from the war who had mysteriously disappeared, arrives in his offices above the Ruby, Andy wants to kick him out. But the job seems to be a simple case of blackmail, and Andy’s debts are piling up. He agrees to investigate, despite everything it stirs up. 

The case will take him back to the shadowy, closeted world of the Navy, and then out into the gay bars of the city, where the past rises up to meet him, like the swell of the ocean under a warship. Missing people, violent strangers, and scandalous photos that could destroy lives are a whirlpool around him, and Andy better make sense of it all before someone pulls him under for good.

The Traitor by Anthony Ryan (July 2023)

In this ​“gritty, heart-pounding” (John Gwynne) conclusion to the New York Times bestselling fantasy trilogy, The Covenant of Steel, Alwyn must make a difficult decide between his heart and his morals as he prepares for his final battle.

It’s been a long journey for Alwyn Scribe. Born a bastard and raised an outlaw, he’s now a knight and the most trusted advisor to Lady Evadine Courlain. Together they’ve won countless battles and helped to bring order to a fractured kingdom. Yet Evadine is not the woman Alwyn once knew. As puritanical fury increasingly replaces her benevolent faith, Alwyn begins to question what her true motives really are. As the kingdom braces itself for one final battle, Alwyn’s conscience fights its own war with his heart. Now, more than ever, he must decide whose side he’s really on.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi (September 2023)

Following the bestselling The Kaiju Preservation Society , John Scalzi returns with Starter Villain , another unique sci-fi caper set in the strangest of all worlds, present-day Earth.

Inheriting your mysterious uncle’s supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine. 

Sure, there are the things you’d expect. The undersea volcano lairs. The minions. The plots to take over the world. The international networks of rivals who want you dead. 

Much harder to get used to…are the the sentient, language-using, computer-savvy cats. 

And the fact that in the overall organization, they’re management…