James Nicoll Reviews

Tonight, I Bleed by Katharine J. Adams (April 2025)

In this dark and decadent sequel to Tonight, I Burn, a witch finds herself face to face with death as she stands at the center of a magical rebellion and back to back with her enemies as she falls deeper into a seductive romance. 

Penny Albright has burned night after night to keep her soul free of Malin’s contract. Now, she’s at the stake again, and this time, it’s her freewill about to burn. As the ashes settle over the temple inferno, Halstett faces the Samhain ball and attendance is mandatory​. At midnight, when the veil between Life and Death is at its thinnest, the Warden means to destroy magic and the witches who wield it. With her family missing and her friends lost, Penny turns to the Sorcerer chained on the mysterious ninth floor of the library for aid.

He offers a deal: a legion to fight the Warden in exchange for her blood.

Just one drop into the eternal fires will end the Warden’s reign and set the Sorcerer free. But as Alice’s visions fail and Malin fights the lifeline bond Penny forged to save him, one drop of blood might destroy them all. And with the Warden using Penny’s circle of Resistance witch friends as a shield, Penny is forced to choose between the friends she loves and the covens she belongs to. 

A single night might spark a war that will tear the world — or Penny’s heart — apart. 

Slaying The Vampire Conqueror by Carissa Broadbent (March 2025)

She was commanded to kill him with a single strike to the heart. She didn’t expect her own to betray her.

Sylina has sacrificed everything for her goddess – her soul, her freedom, her eyes. Life in service to the Arachessen, a cult of the Goddess of Fate, has turned Sylina from orphaned street rat to disciplined killer, determined to overthrow Glaea’s tyrannical king.

But when a brutal vampire conqueror arrives on their shores, Sylina faces an even deadlier adversary. She’s tasked with a crucial mission: infiltrate his army, earn his trust…and kill him. 

Atrius is a terrifying warrior carving an unstoppable path through Glaea. Yet when Sylina becomes his seer, she glimpses a dark and shocking past – and a side of him that reminds her far too much of parts of herself she’d rather forget.

Sylina’s orders are clear. The conqueror cannot live. But as the blood spilled by Glaea’s tyrant king runs thicker, her connection with Atrius only grows stronger. A connection forbidden by her vows. A connection that could cost her everything. 

Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers (May 2025)

Becky Chambers’ two award-winning, bestselling, beloved, and uplifting Monk and Robot stories, A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, together in trade paperback for the first time!

Becky Chambers’ delightful, post-Utopian, Hugo Award-winning series gives us hope for the future.

It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.

One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of ​“what do people need?” is answered.

But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.

They’re going to need to ask it a lot.

Becky Chambers’ series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter? 

This book includes both A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy in paperback for the first time! 

Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf by C. L. Clark (February 2025)

Set in the blockbuster and award-winning universe of League of Legends: Arcane and written by award-winning author C. L. Clark, discover a thrilling epic fantasy novel where Ambessa Medarda truly learns what it means to be a Chosen of the Wolf.

Medarda over all.

Ambessa Medarda: Warrior, general, mother. She is a woman to be feared, and the Medardas are unrivaled in their pursuit of glory. She has led conquests and armies. She has slain legendary beasts. She has made grave sacrifices in her ascent up the ranks. And for this she was rewarded: 

She entered the realm of death and was granted a vision of herself upon the throne of the vast Noxian empire.

But before she can lead her empire, she must become head of her own clan. Yet the title is contested by her cousin and former confidante, Ta’Fik. He knows the bloody sins of Ambessa’s past. And he knows he cannot allow her to rise.

They will fight a war for the very soul of the Medardas.

But the war won’t be fought on battlefields alone. Ambessa’s daughter, Mel, can deftly break through the walls around anyone’s heart, and she’ll put her talents to use for her mother. Yet despite Mel’s strength, Ambessa sees only a child who lacks her killer instincts. Mel knows she can be the leader Ambessa wants her to be, if only she gives her time.

With her family betraying her, enemies closing in on
all sides, and unseen forces moving in the shadows, every day proves more dangerous than the last. But Ambessa will not bow. She will burn the world down to claim her place in it.

The Radiant King by David Dalglish (March 2025)

Six immortal siblings. Five sworn to peace. One demands a throne.

Radiance, the mysterious power of life and creation, is theirs to command. Death cannot claim them. For hundreds of years, the ever-living ruled with ease. Yet when the world is nearly broken beneath their reign, the humbled six swear a vow: They will sit upon no thrones, wear no crowns, and no longer teach humanity the gifts of radiance.

But after centuries of peace, Eder rejects their vow, anoints himself Voice of Father, and spreads a new, cruel faith across the land. 

Faron cannot allow such indiscretion. Returning from a self-imposed exile, he swears to crush Eder’s kingdom, and he will not do so alone — Sariel, their cold and calculating brother, knows all too well that an ever-living’s dominion is bound for brutality and destruction. But to overthrow a nation, they will need more than each other. They will need an army and a ruler who can take the throne their own vow forbids. And so, they pledge themselves to the fanatical Bastard Princess, a woman with incredible powers she insists were given to her by the goddess Leliel.

But Eder’s conquest is not what it seems, and it will take more than a holy war to stop an immortal who has heard the desperate plea of a god. 

Advocate by Daniel M. Ford (April 2025)

Aelis de Lenti is back on her home turf, but it’s not quite as welcoming as she remembered.…

Recalled from Lone Pine to investigate claims of murder by magic against her mentor — legendary Warden Bardun Jacques — Aelis takes to the streets of the grand city of Lascenise, and plumbs the deepest secrets of the Lyceum to clear his name. Certain of her success, she doesn’t count on thieves, subterranean labyrinths, or the assassins that dog her steps from the moment she leaves her tower.

Behind all of it lurks a ring of unknown wizards who can seemingly reach anyone with their magic. Without knowing who she can trust, Aelis must gather what allies she can to unravel the web of intrigue, murder, smuggling, and theft originating in the halls of magic power. With an old friend from her college days, a war-haunted gnome thief-catcher, and the advice of her imprisoned advisor, Aelis races to save lives and expose a conspiracy that seeks to change the face of the world. 

Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon (July 2025)

This is How You Lose the Time War meets Ex Machina: Seth Haddon’s science fiction debut, Volatile Memory, is a sapphic sci-fi action adventure novella.

With nothing but a limping ship and an outdated mask to her name, Wylla needs a big pay day. When the call goes out that a lucrative piece of tech is waiting on a nearby planet, she relies on all the swiftness of her prey-animal instincts to beat other hunters to it.

What you found wasn’t your ticket out — it was my corpse wearing an AI mask. When you touched the mask, you heard my voice. A consciousness spinning through metal and circuits, a bodiless mind, spun to life in the HAWK’s temporary storage. I crystallized and realized: I was alive.

Masks aren’t supposed to retain memory, much less identity, but the woman inside the MARK I HAWK is real, and she sees Wylla in a way no one ever has. Sees her, and doesn’t find her wanting or unwhole.

Armed with military-grade tech and a lifetime of staying one step ahead of the hunters, Wylla and HAWK set off to get answers from the man who discarded HAWK once before: her ex-husband. 

The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw (July 2025)

A deeply dark academia novel from USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw, perfect for fans of A Deadly Education and An Education in Malice who are hungry for something more diabolical.

The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously powerful: the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers.

Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance, and a normal life after graduation. At least, that’s what Alessa Li is told after she’s kidnapped and forcibly enrolled.

But the Institute is more than just a haven for monsters. On graduation day, the faculty embark on a ravenous rampage, feasting on their students. Trapped in the school’s cavernous library, Alessa and her surviving classmates must do something they were never taught: work together.

If not, this school will eat them alive… 

My Father’s Sword by Andreas Lundström et al (January 2025)

Take a trip down memory lane with My Father’s Sword! An exciting 

pick-up-and-play fantasy RPG leaning heavily on clichés from the 80’s.

Iron Wolf by Siri Pettersen (February 2025)

In Pettersen’s new series opener set in the same universe as her Raven Rings trilogy, a young wolf hunter is drawn into an ancient struggle to which her family holds the key.

Born into a leading family of blood readers, Juva, 19, left home to hunt wolves rather than read blood samples and craft fake fortunes for the vulnerable, like the desperate blood users whose addiction will kill them.

Hunting’s a messy but vital job; wolf blood fuels the city of Náklav’s magical stone gates that serve as travel gateways. Her hunting companions are Juva’s chosen family now, but confused images from her father’s death haunt her. Did the devil kill him? Was the devil a wolf? Why did her mother insist Juva saw nothing, then demand she tell no one? What impels Juva to sketch wolves, then burn her drawings?

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Juva, the Might, a long-banished magical force, is returning to upend the powers of the vardari, shadowy immortals like Nafraím, who supplies readers with blood and bribes Juva’s blood-addicted ex-boyfriend to inform on her family. Taut and suspenseful, the intricate plot unwinds and repeatedly resets as Juva (and readers) uncover truths buried in ancient lies and traumatic memories.

More human than superhero, anxious, ethical, passionate Juva’s an apt heroine for hard times. The masterful worldbuilding and vivid Nordic setting populated with compelling secondary characters (most read as blond, Scandinavian analogs) are well served by the stirring prose. 

Fehu by Malene Solvsten (October 2024)

Part thriller, part fantasy, this book will appeal to anyone interested in the supernatural, murder mysteries, or Norse mythology.

For fans of The Raven Boys and American Gods.

Following up on the cliffhanger ending of Book 1, where Anna has learned who is responsible for the series of bestial murders taking place in her hometown and learns that they are connected with an ancient prophecy about the end of the world.

Book 2 sets off with Anna reaching Hrafnheim, an unknown parallel world full of gods, demigods and creatures. There she is picked up by soldiers of the ruler Ragnara, but a renegade officer of the army, Rorik, frees her. Together, they set out to free her twin sister, Serén, who has been captured by Ragnara. The road to the capital of Sént is fraught with deadly dangers, and the vision of her own murder plagues Anna ceaselessly. She begins to understand more and more that Ragnarok, the downfall of the world, is directly linked to her own fate … 

What Lies Beyond the Veil by Harper L. Woods (February 2025)

From indie darling Harper L. Woods comes WHAT LIES BEYOND THE VEIL, the first book in the Of Flesh and Bone series, where the heated fae romance of A Court of Thorns and Roses meets The Witcher.

Once, we’d worshipped them as Gods.

For nearly 400 years, the Veil has protected us from the Fae of Alfheimr. In their absence, our lives have shifted from decadence and sin to survival and virtue under the guidance of the New Gods. I’ve spent my entire life tending to the gardens next to the boundary between our worlds, drawn to the shimmering magic like a moth to the flame. 

Then, we died on their swords.

All of that changes the day the Veil shatters, unleashing the fae upon our world once again. The magic of faerie marks those of us they mean to take, but the Mist Guard protecting Nothrek will kill us all before they let the fae have us. There’s no choice but to flee everything I’ve ever known, not if I want to live to see my twenty-first birthday as a free woman.

Now, they’ll claim what’s theirs.

But before they capture me, Caelum saves me from the Wild Hunt. Fae-marked and on the run, he is able to fight back in ways I only dream of. From tentative alliance to all-consuming passion, our bond strengthens as the fae close in and evil lurks ever nearer. With my life on the line, he is everything I shouldn’t dare to want and a distraction I can’t afford. I can’t seem to stay away, not even with something greater on the line.

My heart.

What Hunts Inside the Shadows by Harper L. Woods (March 2025)

From indie darling Harper L. Woods comes WHAT HUNTS INSIDE THE SHADOWS, the second book in the Of Flesh and Bone series, where the heated fae romance of A Court of Thorns and Roses meets The Witcher.

Once, I fell in love with a man who deceived me.

For weeks, he stood by my side, twisting his words into pretty half-truths. He enraptured me with his smooth temptation, leaving no corner of my being untouched. He consumed my mind and my body, then finally claimed my heart for himself. But Caelum’s true identity is terrifying enough to bring me to my knees.

Then, I discovered the truth of who he is.

Caldris is whispered in the Nothrek wind. The legend we only speak of with hushed words, in shuttered rooms, for fear of drawing his wrath once again. His intentions are a mystery, his desires impure, and he seeks to shackle me to his side for all eternity. With the Wild Hunt as our guard, he points us back to where it all began: the village of Mistfell and the boundary where the Veil once shimmered in the wind.

Now, another secret crouches, poised to change everything.

The Mist Guard have been sworn to keep us from crossing into Alfheimr, and from treading Faerie soil, even if innocents must pay with their lives. They have orders to resurrect Mistfell’s shimmering barrier, but, once again, there’s a greater cost than what has been revealed. Once, the people of Northrek blamed me when the Veil fell. 

Soon, they’ll want me to pay the price the magic requires. 

What Lurks Between the Fates by Harper L. Woods (April 2025)

From indie darling Harper L. Woods comes WHAT LURKS BEYOND THE FATES, the third book of the Of Flesh and Bone series, where the heated fae romance of A Court of Thorns and Roses meets The Witcher.

Once, I’d chosen my mate instead of freedom.

For weeks, we retraced our steps back to Mistfell and the lingering shadow of the Veil at the boundary between realms. Traveling through the kingdom, I denied the evidence in front of me, unable to fathom that I wasn’t the lost princess of Faerie. Instead, it is Fallon who must fear the consequences of her heritage. Which leaves me with a single, unanswered question. 

Then, I awoke, caged high above the throne of the Queen of Air & Darkness.

Mab is the Queen who keeps all of Alfheimr held squirming within her clawed grasp. She uses the children of Faerie to sustain the magic granted to her by the cursed gem atop her crown, which has carved her from the girl she once was into a dark vessel, obsessed with power. She thrives on cruelty, and wields our love as an instrument for pain. 

Now, I’ll play the games of the Fae.

I’m a curiosity, my presence an enigma that was never foreseen. I may not be Mab’s daughter, yet she still keeps me close, as she forges me into a weapon against humans and Fae alike. Mab may not own me yet, but she controls the life of the man I love. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to see him freed.

Even if I have to become the villain to do it. 

What Sleeps Within the Cove by Harper L. Woods (May 2025)

From the New York Times bestseller, Harper L. Woods comes a brand new, highly anticipated novel in her Of Flesh and Bone series, What Sleeps Within the Cove.

Once, I bartered my soul for my mate.

Offering Mab my bound allegiance was the only way to save Caldris’s life — the only bargain I could make to keep us both from the Void. After cruelly murdering the King of Summer, her own brother, Mab became unhinged and there was no telling what she would do. Caldris is safe for now because of my sacrifice, but at a cost. Queen Mab only wants one thing from me.

Then, I was banished to Tartarus, from where few ever return.

Mab has demanded a tribute — a snake from the crown of Medusa. Navigating through the horrors of Tartarus, I must pass the Trials of the Five Rivers to prove my worth to the primordials and steal the unthinkable. All without my magic.

Now, I must embrace my darkness, my past.

To survive, I must discover who I am — who I’m fated to be. Human, and Fae, and something… other. Embracing all the sides of magic, light and dark, is the only way to escape Tartarus and get back to Caldris. I will save him, the Fae, and the humans from Mab.

Even if it kills me.