James Nicoll Reviews

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan (July 2024)

Her fictional crush is the villain. And he’s about to meet his match… Rae is a bookworm who prefers fictional men over real life boyfriends. But her life takes a strange turn when she is trapped by magic inside her favourite fantasy series, and she finds herself pitted against her suddenly living and breathing crush, the ​‘Once and Forever Emperor’. In a palace on the brink of war, she has become the villainess in his tale, and she needs to take control of the narrative before it, and the Emperor, take control of her… fatally. This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villainess’s shoes, for an adventure that is both ​‘supremely satisfying’ (Leigh Bardugo) and ​‘brilliant’ (Holly Black): expect a cast of dilettante aristocrats, knights-in-armour, magic-wielding warriors, sarcastic servants and one particularly murderous, if annoyingly handsome, bodyguard. 

The Throne of Thorns I published by Free League Publishing (TBR)

Perilous expeditions into the dark depths of Davokar Forest; deadly encounters with murderous cultists, hostile elves, and warriors of the Beast Clan; intense faction play and political maneuvering – you will experience all this and more when the epic quest for the legendary Throne of Thorns begins! This hardcover, full-color book presents the first two episodes of the acclaimed adventure chronicle The Throne of Thorns, adapted for play with the 5^e ruleset and the Ruins of Symbaroum
setting books. Expect the stakes to be high, the competitors
relentless, and the darkness ever present, for the forest of Davokar is about to awaken.

The World of Symbaroum published by Free League Publishing (TBR)

Welcome to a world of mystery and adventure, of clashing cultures and ideals, a world constantly under threat from the darkness of the Eternal Night. This book expands on the lore and setting information presented in the Ruins of Symbaroum Gamemaster’s Guide. It delves deep into the ancient history of the game world, and aside from general descriptions of people, places, and historical events, it provides the Gamemaster with lots of plot hooks and secrets, along with no less than seven detailed adventure landscapes centered around ruins in the forest of Davokar.

Circles of Steel by Alex Greene (June 2020)

Can a robot be murdered?

The detectives in the Daneel Bureau believes so. Join their interplanetary investigations of disassembled robots and deactivated androids, to pin down the perpetrators.

Or follow the Bunsen Burners as they unravel the virtual traces left by a corrupt elite. Their investigative journalistic work will get you into more danger than you ever wanted. In the digital age, information kills.

Circles of Steel contains 13 organisations for robots and cyborgs. Tailored for use with M‑SPACE Companion and easy to drop into any scenario or campaign. Use them as patrons or enemies to the player 

characters, and embolden NPC’s with new agendas.

The Triton Incident by Michael Larrimore (July 2019)

Eye in the Sky

In the outer reaches of the solar system, Farsight Station watches the depths of space for signs of life.

But as new data arrives on a newfound world, a brilliant scientist is murdered on the station. When the player characters investigate, nothing turns out to be quite as it seems.

Then, the real trouble starts.

The Triton Incident is an introductory scenario for the Elevation campaign and sourcebook. It is a freestanding adventure but works best when connected to the continued story in Elevation.

Kelcie Murphy and the Race for the Reaper’s Key by Erika Lewis (September 2024)

The epic and action-packed conclusion to the Kelcie Murphy series. 

Monsters Rise. Enemies Gather. The Never-ending War rages on. 

Kelcie Murphy and her friends are determined to stop the war, once and for all. But with monsters attacking the Lands of Summer and Winter, peace seems more out of reach than ever.
And deep in the Abyss, an ancient evil, once thought defeated, is preparing an apocalyptic attack.
There is only one person who can stop him: his heir, Kelcie herself.

Reflux by Clarence Redd (May 2017)

The Constellate never fell. It faded.

The year is Y3260. The Ocath subsector is free, after many years under The Constellate’s brutal rule.

Free, but in turmoil.

This scenario for M‑SPACE introduces The Weaver setting, telling an epic story about a dying empire, collapsing under a baroque cornucopia of empty gestures and brutality.

A starship fleeing from the The Constellate’s armed forces disappeared 170 years ago. Now the characters must go to the Qioria system to search for it. But time is short. The planet is on a slow course for destruction and the hell holes of ignited gas grow every day.

Their only hope seems to emanate from the long forgotten teachings of the Weavers.

Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker (September 2024)

On the set of a kitschy reality TV show, staged scares transform into unnerving reality in this spooky ghost story from multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Sarah Pinsker. 

“Don’t talk to day about what we do at night.”When aimless twenty-something Mara lands a job as the night-shift production assistant on her cousin’s ghost hunting/home makeover reality TV show Haunt Sweet Home, she quickly determines her new role will require a healthy attitude toward duplicity. But as she hides fog machines in the woods and improvises scares to spook new homeowners, a series of unnerving incidents on set and a creepy new coworker force Mara to confront whether the person she’s truly been deceiving and hiding from all along — is herself. 

Eerie and empathetic, Haunt Sweet Home is a multifaceted, supernatural exploration of finding your own way into adulthood, and into yourself.