James Nicoll Reviews

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story. 

As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison. 

Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming…human or demon. Princess or monster. 

The sequel to the New York Times bestselling epic Dread Nation is an unforgettable journey of revenge and salvation across a divided America. After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother. But nothing is easy when you’re a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodemus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880s America. What’s more, this safe haven is not what it appears — as Jane discovers when she sees familiar faces from Summerland amid this new society. Caught between mysteries and lies, the undead, and her own inner demons, Jane soon finds herself on a dark path of blood and violence that threatens to consume her. But she won’t be in it alone. Katherine Deveraux never expected to be allied with Jane McKeene. But after the hell she has endured, she knows friends are hard to come by — and that Jane needs her too, whether Jane wants to admit it or not. Watching Jane’s back, however, is more than she bargained for, and when they both reach a breaking point, it’s up to Katherine to keep hope alive — even as she begins to fear that there is no happily-ever-after for girls like her. 

THE ULTIMATE HEIST 

Belisarius is a Homo quantus, engineered with impossible insight. But his gift is also a curse — an uncontrollable, even suicidal drive to know, to understand. Genetically flawed, he leaves his people to find a different life, and ends up becoming the galaxy’s greatest con man and thief. 

But the jobs are getting too easy and his extraordinary brain is chafing at the neglect. When a client offers him untold wealth to move a squadron of secret warships across an enemy wormhole, Belisarius jumps at it. Now he must embrace his true nature to pull off the job, alongside a crew of extraordinary men and women. 

If he succeeds, he could trigger an interstellar war… or the next step in human evolution. 

All the women in New Stepford are AI…

…even a corrupt cop named Maggie.

Can anyone stop the uprising?

In the near future, artificial intelligence will be in every home. She will be whatever you want her to be. That’s right. You can have a charming womanoid do all your cooking and cleaning for you. Just think. No more chores! She can be your wife, a nanny to your kids, or just the housekeeper. It’s all up to you.

Just set your user preferences.

But first, this amazing technology has to pass alpha testing.

One robot woman, Cookie Rifkin, keeps failing. She needs to figure out how to control her anxiety, but her husband set his user preferences too low for her to learn. He just wants a pleasure robot, but she keeps fighting her programming.

Will Cookie ever fulfill her potential?

Or will her story end in another fatal error? 

ANTASY ROLEPLAYING IN WORLDS OF EPIC ADVENTURE Enter a world of fantastic adventure, where your destiny is limited only by your imagination. Where powerful sorcerers manipulate the very essence of reality, and where warriors decide the fate of kingdoms with blade and spear. A world of magic, myth, and menace… A MAGIC WORLD! Magic World is a self-contained fantasy roleplaying game using the classic Basic Roleplaying system. The game allows you to play characters in a world of fantasy, adventure, and excitement. The rules of Magic World are simple to grasp, while having enough options and complexity to suit any gaming style. Characters grow in experience organically, without relying on artificial constructs such as classes, levels, etc. Any sort of fantasy character you can imagine, you can play. Magic World contains: * Full rules for creating characters in a world of magic and fantasy. * A robust magic system with nearly one hundred spells. Any character may become a spell caster with the right combination of raw talent, and training! * Detailed, yet streamlined skills and combat rules. * Complete rules for nautical adventures. * A bestiary of more than sixty creatures to use as foes for the characters, or as the characters themselves! Play as any species imaginable: Human, Elf, Orc, Centaur, Troll, Talking Beast, and more! * Gamemaster advice, and resources. * A gallery of enchanted items which might be found in your characters adventures. * A complete sample campaign setting, ​“the Southlands”, to jump start your adventures. * And more!

Demons, Necromancy & High-Level Magic The worlds of fantasy are vast and diverse. Whether steeped in philosophy and existentialism, or action and carnage, the one commonality to all tales of fantasy is the influence of the supernatural on the natural world. Mages, wizards and sorcerers force the world to bend to their will. They grab the the fundamental essence of the universe and force it to do their bidding. Advanced Sorcery adds new options to players of the Magic World game, as well as other Basic Roleplaying ‑based roleplaying games. The magic systems in this book may be used alongside the Sorcery rules from Magic World , or replace them. As with all rules additions, the Chronicler and players are the final arbiters of the need for new material. If you do add these new systems to an existing campaign world, consider how they can be introduced. Perhaps different cultures in your world are the lorekeepers of individual magic systems. Possibly a great network of mages share these secrets amongst themselves. But in the end, remember that it s magic; it requires logic as a roaring fire needs dousing with water: not at all. Within this book are seven chapters: * Advanced Sorcery: over two dozen new powerful sorcery spells to add to your sorceror s repertoire. * Deep Magic: Mages learn to pull and re-weave the threads that form the web of reality, rather than learning magic by rote and formula. * The Summoner s Art: Expands the rules for summoning demons and elementals. * Glyphs: Magical symbols which can be used for intricate and devastating effects. * Necromancy: Whether to cheat or enslave death, necromancers are among the most foul magicians ever known. * Arete: A mystical system of power for characters of vast skill potential. Now, when your character achieves 100+ in skills such as Navigate, Art, etc., great things may be accomplished. * Herbalism: Details simple and natural concoctions of herbs which can heal, harm or entrance the imbiber.

It is said that there are some special animals occasionally born with great powers. Senzou the black fox is one of those… but instead of using his powers for good, he abused his strength until the Sun Goddess imprisoned him for his bad behavior. Three hundred years later, he’s finally been released, but only on one condition– he can’t have any of his abilities back until he successfully helps a tanuki cub named Manpachi become an assistant to the gods. Unfortunately for Senzou, there’s no cheating when it comes to completing his task! The magic beads around his neck make sure he can’t wander too far from his charge or ignore his duties, and so… Senzou the once-great Fox Spirit must figure out how to be an actually-great babysitter to a innocent little tanuki or risk being stuck without his powers forever!