James Nicoll Reviews

Twenty Five to Life by R. W. W. Greene

Julie Riley is two years too young to get out from under her mother’s thumb, and what does it matter? She’s over-educated, under-employed, and kept mostly numb by her pharma emplant. Her best friend, who she’s mostly been interacting with via virtual reality for the past decade, is part of the colony mission to Proxima Centauri. Plus, the world is coming to an end. So, there’s that. When Julie’s mother decides it’s time to let go of the family home in a failing suburb and move to the city to be closer to work and her new beau, Julie decides to take matters into her own hands. She runs, illegally, hoping to find and hide with the Volksgeist, a loose-knit culture of tramps, hoboes, senior citizens, artists, and never-do-wells who have elected to ride out the end of the world in their campers and converted vans, constantly on the move over the back roads of America. 

The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston

When you are all out of heroes, all that’s left are the villains.

Black Herran was a dread demonologist, and the most ruthless general in all Essoran. She assembled the six most fearsome warriors to captain her armies: a necromancer, a vampire lord, a demigod, an orcish warleader, a pirate queen, and a twisted alchemist. Together they brought the whole continent to its knees… Until the day she abandoned her army, on the eve of total victory. 

40 years later, she must bring her former captains back together for one final stand, in the small town of Tarnbrooke — the last bastion against a fanatical new enemy tearing through the land, intent on finishing the job Black Herran started years before. 

Seven bloodthirsty monsters. One town. Their last hope

And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed

In a far future city, where you can fall to a government cull for a single mistake, And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed tells the story of Jewel, established courtesan in a luxurious House. Jewel’s world is shaken when her friend is murdered by a client, but somehow comes back to life. To get revenge, they will both have to confront the limits of loyalty, guilt, and justice. 

Sinopticon 2021: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction edited by Xueting Christine Ni

A stunning collection of the best in Chinese Science Fiction, from Award-Winning legends to up-and-coming talent, all translated here into English for the first time.

This celebration of Chinese Science Fiction — thirteen stories, all translated for the first time into English — represents a unique exploration of the nation’s speculative fiction from the late 20^th Century onwards, curated and translated by critically acclaimed writer and essayist Xueting Christine Ni. 

From the renowned Jiang Bo’s ​‘Starship: Library’ to Regina Kanyu Wang’s ​‘The Tide of Moon City, and Anna Wu’s ​‘Meisje met de Parel’, this is a collection for all fans of great fiction. 

Award winners, bestsellers, screenwriters, playwrights, philosophers, university lecturers and computer programmers, these thirteen writers represent the breadth of Chinese SF, from new to old: Gu Shi, Han Song, Hao Jingfang, Nian Yu, Wang Jinkang, Zhao Haihong, Tang Fei, Ma Boyong, Anna Wu, A Que, Bao Shu, Regina Kanyu Wang and Jiang Bo. ** 

Best of British Science Fiction 2016 edited by Donna Scott

Twenty-two stories, selected by editor Donna Scott from disparate places, that represent some of the best SF published anywhere in 2019: stories of heroism, stories of loss, stories of wonder. 

In this volume you will encounter tales in which creatures are cut off from their loved ones; someone is trapped with an abuser; a bird sings; weeds grow where we hope for a garden; we consider what our alternative selves might be doing; we can’t sleep; we wish we could keep things just the way they were; we drink too much… and we look to rockets blasting off into the sky and think that there lies the future; that’s hope.

Best of British Science Fiction 2019 is once again edited by Donna Scott, a recent chair of the BSFA and a distinguished poet, writer, and stand-up comedian. Donna is also a free-lance editor who has worked behind the scenes for a number of major publishers over the course of several years.

Best of British Science Fiction 2017 edited by Donna Scott

Editor Donna Scott has selected the very best short fiction by British authors published during 2017. Twenty-two stories, from established names and rising stars.

Best of British Science Fiction 2018 edited by Donna Scott

Twenty-six stories, selected by editor Donna Scott from disparate places, that represent some of the best SF published anywhere in 2018; dreamlike glimpses of pristine worlds that will destroy us before we destroy them; stories of work-based friendships, mistrust and isolation; of alienation and othering; stories of slavery given an acceptable face through beautiful voice and the ever-present need to keep fighting injustice; stories of bodily choice being made a crime; stories of rebellions we thought we’d already had but need to have again. We have another end to childhood. And we have the murder of story itself, involving an AI…

Best of British Science Fiction 2019 edited by Donna Scott

Twenty-two stories, selected by editor Donna Scott from disparate places, that represent some of the best SF published anywhere in 2019: stories of heroism, stories of loss, stories of wonder. 

In this volume you will encounter tales in which creatures are cut off from their loved ones; someone is trapped with an abuser; a bird sings; weeds grow where we hope for a garden; we consider what our alternative selves might be doing; we can’t sleep; we wish we could keep things just the way they were; we drink too much… and we look to rockets blasting off into the sky and think that there lies the future; that’s hope.

Best of British Science Fiction 2019 is once again edited by Donna Scott, a recent chair of the BSFA and a distinguished poet, writer, and stand-up comedian. Donna is also a free-lance editor who has worked behind the scenes for a number of major publishers over the course of several years.

The Necessity of Stars by E. Catherine Tobler

Plagued by the creeping loss of her memory, diplomat Bréone Hemmerli continues to negotiate peace in an increasingly climate-devastated world. The Necessity of Stars brings the alien Tura to Bréone’s Normandy garden, a place removed from the world’s ruin. Within the garden’s shadows, Tura will show Bréone a way forward, even if she can’t remember it.