James Nicoll Reviews

Jane Hawkins lives on a floating space port where she tries to help her mothers run a failing inn. Every day she watches starships land from far-off places, bound for exotic adventures.

But a new occupant under their roof is about to change everything. His name is Villem Osteonides. More machine than man, he’s crewed aboard ships that sail through the universe faster than light.

And he has a secret that will change Jane’s life forever.

A slacker super-spy is possessed by an alien, and thrown into an ancient war which will decide the fate of humanity, in the complete Tao series of witty and action-laced SF thrillers.Collects The Lives of Tao, The Deaths of Tao and The Rebirths of Tao in a single volume.When out-of-shape IT technician Roen Tan woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it. He wasn’t. He now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions – the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix – the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that’s going to end up well…The war between the Prophus and the Genjix escalates as the battle to leave Earth enters a deadly new heights. The end is now in sight, and both factions have plans to leave the Earth, but the Genjix method will mean the destruction of the human race. That’s a price they’re willing to pay.The world splits into pro-Prophus and pro-Genjix factions, and is poised on the edge of a devastating new World War; the Prophus are hiding; and Roen has a family to take care of. A Genjix scientist who defects to the other side holds the key to preventing bloodshed on an almost unimaginable scale. With the might of the Genjix in active pursuit, Roen is the only person who can help him save the world, and the Quasing race, too. And you thought you were having a stressful day.

Kou Ichinomiya, a young man born with a silver spoon in his mouth and raised with the mantra ​“never owe anyone” suddenly finds himself deeply indebted to a young homeless woman, Nino, who lives on the Arakawa river bank and claims to originally be from the planet Venus. When Nino rejects all of Kou’s mundane offers of money or housing, Kou is at a loss for how to repay his debt, until Nino suddenly asks him to teach her about love. A daunting task, but the over-achieving Kou is determined to return Nino’s favor. And so begins Kou’s life under the bridge, along with a band of eccentric characters who have formed their own little community outside the boundaries of typical Tokyoite life…

Murder, revolution and secrets of a lost past threaten a vast underground city, in the complete collection of the Recoletta novels.Collects The Buried Life, Cities and Thrones, and The Song of the Dead in a single volume.The gaslight and shadows of the underground city of Recoletta hide secrets and lies. When Inspector Liesl Malone investigates the murder of a renowned historian, she finds herself stonewalled by Recoletta’s top-secret historical research facility. When a second high-profile murder threatens the very fabric of city society, Malone and her rookie partner must tread carefully, lest they fall victim to not only the criminals they seek, but the government which purports to protect them. Knowledge is power, and power must be preserved at all costs… The dark, forbidden knowledge of how the city came to be founded has been released into the world for all to read, and now someone must pay. Inspector Liesl Malone is on her toes, trying to keep the peace, and Arnault’s spy ring is more active than ever. Has the city’s increased access to knowledge put the citizens in even more danger? Allegiances change, long-held beliefs are adjusted, and things are about to get messy. The Library Accord has finally been signed by Recoletta and its neighbours, but the fight for power continues. A desperate attempt to save the spymaster Arnault from execution leads to Malone’s arrest and Jane’s escape. They must pursue each other across the sea to discover a culture that has held together over the centuries. There they will finally learn the truths about the Catastrophe that drove their civilization underground.

Heroes may rise, but all will fall, in the devastating post-apocalyptic SF action series by the author of Outriders.Collects Three, Morningside Fall and Dawnbreaker.The world has collapsed, and there are no heroes any more. The cyber-dead Weir have overwhelmed civilisation, and its survivors cling to fragile oases. A traveling gun for hire, named Three, agrees to protect a sick woman on the run with her young son. When they set out to discover a mythical safe zone, they must survive the forces that pursue them, and the creatures of the dark, and uncover something truly remarkable…In the devastated settlement of Morningside, its governor, Wren, is forced to flee the turmoil engulfing the city. He and his retinue seek refuge at a border outpost, only to find that it has been infested with a vast number of Weir. But these creatures harbour a terrible secret, one that has consequences – not just for Wren – but for the future of the world.The remainder of humanity believe they can do nothing but wait to be overwhelmed by the Weir and their mysterious leader, Asher. And yet, the arrival of a man named Haiku, seeking the mercenary Three, heralds the return of hope, and that a new hero will rise.

Mikako Nagamine is recruited as a pilot to fight in the interstellar war against a force of alien invaders, leaving behind her one true love. Mikako’s only connection to Noboru Terao, who continues living the life of an ordinary student, is through cell phone text messages. As Mikako travels light years away, it takes longer and longer for Noboru to receive her messages, until finally one arrives eight years and seven months after she sent it…

When college student Emery Driscoll is blackmailed into being a courier for a clandestine organisation, she’s cut off from the neural implant community which binds the domed city of New Worth together. Her new employers exploit her rare condition which allows her to carry encoded data in her blood, and train her to transport secrets throughout the troubled city. New Worth is on the brink of Emergence — freedom from the dome — but not everyone wants to leave. Then a data drop goes bad, and Emery is caught between factions: those who want her blood, and those who just want her dead.