James Nicoll Reviews

A sweeping historical novel about a dancehall girl and an orphan boy whose fates entangle over an old Chinese superstition about men who turn into tigers.Quick-witted, ambitious Ji Lin is stuck as an apprentice dressmaker, moonlighting as a dancehall girl to help pay off her mother’s Mahjong debts. But when one of her dance partners accidentally leaves behind a gruesome souvenir, Ji Lin may finally get the adventure she has been longing for.Eleven-year-old houseboy Ren is also on a mission, racing to fulfill his former master’s dying wish: that Ren find the man’s finger, lost years ago in an accident, and bury it with his body. Ren has 49 days to do so, or his master’s soul will wander the earth forever.As the days tick relentlessly by, a series of unexplained deaths wracks the district, along with whispers of men who turn into tigers. Ji Lin and Ren’s increasingly dangerous paths crisscross through lush plantations, hospital storage rooms, and ghostly dreamscapes.Yangsze Choo’s The Night Tiger pulls us into a world of servants and masters, age-old superstition and modern idealism, sibling rivalry and forbidden love. But anchoring this dazzling, propulsive novel is the intimate coming of age of a child and a young woman, each searching for their place in a society that would rather they stay invisible. 

LIKE ALIAS MEETS X‑MEN … I LOVED IT!’ Maria Lewis on The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind Teagan Frost’s life is finally back on track. Her role working for the government as a telekinetic operative is going well and she might even be on course for convincing her crush to go out with her. But, little does she know, that sh*t is about to hit the fan … A young boy with the ability to cause earthquakes has come to Los Angeles — home to the San Andreas, one of the most lethal fault lines in the world. If Teagan can’t stop him, the entire city — and the rest of California — could be wiped off the map. Full of imagination, wit and random sh*t flying through the air, this insane new Frost Files adventure will blow your tiny mind. ​‘Ford delivers a fantastic follow-up to The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With her Mind with this tale of earthquakes, superpowers and culinary ambition’ Publishers Weekly ​‘The suspense, the danger, and the rocket-fuelled pace are all turned up to 11 in this more-than-satisfying sequel’ Kirkus Praise for The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind ​‘Proceeds at breakneck speed through almost 500 pages of madcap adventure’ Guardian ​‘Fast-paced and a lot of fun to read … a modern action movie that just happens to be in book form’ The Fantasy Inn ​‘A drunken back-alley brawler of a book’ Robert Brockway, author of The Unnoticeables ​‘Ford’s breakneck pace keeps the tension high, and the thrills coming the whole way through’ BookPage ​‘A fast-paced, high-adrenaline tale’ Kirkus 

Dazzling space battles, intergalactic politics, and rogue AI collide in the second book in this epic space opera by award-winning author Megan O’Keefe.

Sanda and Tomas are fleeing for their lives after letting the most dangerous smartship in the universe run free. Now, unsure of who to trust, Sanda knows only one thing for certain — to be able to save herself from becoming a pawn of greater powers, she needs to discover the secret of the coordinates hidden in her skull. 

But getting to those coordinates is a problem she can’t solve alone. They exist beyond a dead gate — a Casimir gate that opened up into a dead-end system without resources worth colonizing, and was sealed off. To get through the dead gate, she needs the help of the enemy Nazca. But some Nazca are only interested in the chip in her head — and they’ll crack her open to get to it. 

This is the history of how the City was saved, by Notker the professional liar, written down because eventually the truth always seeps through.**

The City may be under siege, but everyone still has to make a living. Take Notker, the acclaimed playwright, actor, and impresario. Nobody works harder, even when he’s not working. Thankfully, it turns out that people enjoy the theater just as much when there are big rocks falling out of the sky. 

But Notker is a man of many talents, and all the world is, apparently, a stage. It seems that the empire needs him — or someone who looks a lot like him — for a role that will call for the performance of a lifetime. At least it will guarantee fame, fortune, and immortality. If it doesn’t kill him first. 

From the beloved World Fantasy Award-winning author of Witchmark comes a sweeping, romantic new fantasy set in a world reminiscent of Regency England, where women’s magic is taken from them when they marry. A sorceress must balance her desire to become the first great female magician against her duty to her family.

Beatrice Clayborn is a sorceress who practices magic in secret, terrified of the day she will be locked into a marital collar that will cut off her powers to protect her unborn children. She dreams of becoming a full-fledged Magus and pursuing magic as her calling as men do, but her family has staked everything to equip her for Bargaining Season, when young men and women of means descend upon the city to negotiate the best marriages. The Clayborns are in severe debt, and only she can save them, by securing an advantageous match before their creditors come calling. 

In a stroke of luck, Beatrice finds a grimoire that contains the key to becoming a Magus, but before she can purchase it, a rival sorceress swindles the book right out of her hands. Beatrice summons a spirit to help her get it back, but her new ally exacts a price: Beatrice’s first kiss … with her adversary’s brother, the handsome, compassionate, and fabulously wealthy Ianthe Lavan. 

The more Beatrice is entangled with the Lavan siblings, the harder her decision becomes: If she casts the spell to become a Magus, she will devastate her family and lose the only man to ever see her for who she is; but if she marries — even for love — she will sacrifice her magic, her identity, and her dreams. But how can she choose just one, knowing she will forever regret the path not taken? 

(Author’s Revised Edition)The life of a sword-for-hire was often uncertain, but for beautiful, sensual Corson brenn Torisk it was the only one worth living.When Corson was hired by the Lady Nyctasia, it seemed that fortune was smiling at last. The Lady was pretty, amusing, and rich, and her reputation for sorcery, she assured her new bodyguard, was greatly exaggerated.For Corson had little liking for magic, and less for magicians. But she had a high regard for her own skin, and when her employer’s enemies proved both numerous and determined, she soon decided a sword was not enough. Any weapon would do, even the Lady’s necromancy…“It’s fun to see a tall, handsome, hard-fighting, hard-drinking, barbarian hero — who is female.” — Piers Anthony 

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. 

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain. 

Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created an epic adventure exploring the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in the most original series debut of the decade. 

An outcast mage caught between two warring empires must either save the world or destroy everything she loves in the second novel of ​“an unforgettable epic fantasy” trilogy ( Publishers Weekly ).

Sal the Cacophony — outlaw, outcast, outnumbered — destroys all that she loves. Her lover lost and cities burned in her wake, all she has left is her magical gun and her all-consuming quest for revenge against those who stole her power and took the sky from her.

When the roguish agent of a mysterious patron offers her the chance to participate in a heist to steal an incredible power from the famed airship fleet, the Ten Arrows, she finds a new purpose. But a plot to save the world by bringing down empires swiftly escalates into a conspiracy of magic and vengeance that threatens to burn everything to ash, including herself.

The rag-tag crew of the Capricious hunts down rogue AI, ancient colony ships, and the biggest treasure in the universe in this pulse-pounding space adventure for fans of Firefly and The Expanse.

The crew of the Capricious seems to leave a trail of devastation wherever they go. But with powerful enemies in pursuit and family and friends under attack planetside, there’s no time to worry about all that. Ensnared by the legend of Origin, humanity’s birthplace, and a long-dead form of magic, the Capricious takes off on a journey to find the first colony ship … and power that could bring down gods.