James Nicoll Reviews

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews (March 2026)

When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy, and naked in a gutter, it doesn’t take her long to recognize Kair Toren, a city she knows intimately from the pages of the famously unfinished dark fantasy series she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel.

Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic, and mayhem? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, the setting, and the characters’ ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she’s coming to love — a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures, and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to get home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes — and attentions — of dueling princes, dukes, and villains, all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the way she knows their stories will end: in a cataclysmic war. 

The Swan’s Daughter: A Possibly Doomed Love Story by Roshani Chokshi (January 2026)

Holly Black meets Juliet Marillier in this romantic fantasy from bestselling author Roshani Chokshi. Two outsiders share a forged desire to become something more to themselves, and to each other.

Prince Arris knows that marriage means murder. Thanks to a poorly worded wish to a sea witch, all one needs to rule the Isle of Malys is the heart and hand in marriage of the kingdom’s heir. Historically, this has been construed quite literally.

Thus, Arris expects that the day after his marriage and murder he will wake up as a sentient tree alongside the rest of his predecessors. His only chance at a long life is finding true and lasting love. When Arris’s parents announce a tournament of brides to compete for the throne, a slew of eligible, lovely and (possibly murderous) bachelorettes make their way to Rathe Castle. Amidst glittering balls in ozorald caves, strolls through menageries of daydream trees and pearl crocodiles, tea time on glass boats and kisses that leave his head spinning, Arris cannot tell who is here out of love for him…or lust for power.

Until he meets Demelza.

As a veritas swan, Demelza’s song wrings out the truth. Forced into hiding, Demelza strikes a deal. Arris will provide her with safekeeping in exchange for her truth-telling song to sort through his potential brides.

While Arris is used to dodging death threats and Demelza is accustomed to fighting for her voice to be heard, to survive the tournament of brides requires a different kind of bravery. And perhaps the bravest thing one can do is not merely protect one’s life, but find the courage to chase a life worth living. 

Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology edited by Julie C. Day, Carina Bissett, and Craig Laurance Gidney (June 2025)

Sixteen new stories from some of today’s most renowned authors. All inspired by the master storyteller Tanith Lee. 

Drowning cities and unicorns. Burning deserts and forgotten gods. Golems, elf warriors, and inner-Earthers. Alien lifeforms and museum workers. Ancient plagues and the future of humanity. The familiar and the fantastical. Each story in this anthology is both unique and compelling: from fairy-tale retellings to romance-tinged high fantasy, from nihilistic horror to gripping science fiction. Immersive, wide-ranging, and sublime, Storyteller features worlds and characters that are sure to travel with you long after the last page has been read. 

Mike Allen, C.S.E. Cooney, Maya Deane, Andy Duncan, Rocío Rincón Fernández, Theodora Goss, CL Hellisen, Getty Hesse, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Starlene Justice, Amelia Mangan, Michael Yuya Montroy, Marisca Pichette, Nisi Shawl, KT Wagner, Martha WellsForeword by John Kaiine. Afterword by Ann VanderMeer. 

“…contributors mirror her [Tanith Lee] in literary strength and the ability to spin a compelling, epic story…Each story is emotionally and atmospherically charged…Each pays tribute to the inspiration and gifts of Tanith Lee…[and yet] they are as diverse as Lee’s landscapes. 

Libraries looking for a literary, compelling adjunct to Tanith Lee’s writings will find Storyteller a celebration, a tribute, and an important acquisition that nicely compliments Lee’s effusive creations. 

Packed with diversity, supercharged with emotional and philosophical revelation, and full of surprises and power, Storyteller is a special ​‘must have’ acquisition for readers and libraries who have felt the power of Tanith Lee’s voice and will be delighted to find it mirrored by her most ardent fellow writers. 

The Storm by Rachel Hawkins (January2026)

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins is back with a thrilling new gothic suspense set in a Gulf Coast beach motel where hurricane season can be murder. 

St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores. 

As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive — and as deadly — as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping… 

What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher (September 2025)

The next novella in the New York Times bestselling Sworn Soldier series, featuring Alex Easton investigating the dark, mysterious depths of a coal mine in AmericaAlex Easton does not want to visit America. 

They particularly do not want to visit an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia with a reputation for being haunted. 

But when their old friend Dr. Denton summons them to help find his lost cousin — who went missing in that very mine — well, sometimes a sworn soldier has to do what a sworn soldier has to do…

Red Empire by Jonathan Maberry (March 2026)

In the next novel in the Joe Ledger and Rogue Team International series, the team faces new and old enemies alike as a bioengineered version of The Black Death surfaces.

Hundred of years after the first waves of the bubonic plague swept through Europe, a new, more dangerous version threatens London. Joe Ledger’s old enemy the Red Empire — reborn as a far more powerful political and military group — has bioengineered a weaponized version of yersinia pestis — the bacteria responsible for The Black Death that killed tens of millions in the Middle Ages.

As Joe Ledger and Rogue Team International race against the clock to put a stop to the Red Empire’s plans, they’re sucked into the strange and mysterious past of the man called Mr. Church. Secrets come to light that make even his staunchest allies wonder who –and more precisely what — Church really is.

With whispers of an elixir vitae — or elixir of life — circling, Joe Ledger and Rogue Team International are facing the highest possible stakes in their work together yet. As the tension builds and the balance between life and death sways precariously, it seems like tragic losses among them might be inevitable. 

The Two Lies of Faven Sythe by Megan E. O’Keefe (June 2025)

A search for a missing person uncovers a galaxy-spanning conspiracy in this thrilling standalone space opera from award-winning author Megan E. O’Keefe.

The Black Celeste is a ghost story.

A once-legendary spaceship collecting dust in a cosmic graveyard known as the Clutch. Only famed pirate Bitter Amandine knows better, and she’ll do anything to never go near it again. No matter the cost. 

Faven Sythe is crystborn, a member of the near-human species tasked with charting starpaths from station to station. She’s trained to be a navigator her entire life. But when her mentor disappears, leaving behind a mysterious starpath terminating in the Clutch, she is determined to find the truth. And only Amandine has the answers.

What they will find is a conspiracy bigger than either of them. Their quest for the truth will uncover secrets Amandine has long fought to keep buried – secrets about how she survived her last encounter in the Clutch, and what’s really hidden out there amongst the stars… 

The Young Necromancer’s Guide to Ghosts by Vanessa Ricci-Thode (April 2024)

Lusi can see ghosts. And that’s only the beginning of her problems. 

Lusi is a perfectly normal 12-year-old wizard except for the part where she can talk to ghosts. But everyone knows ghosts aren’t real, so at best they think Lusi is lying and at worst that she’s lost her mind. Her big sister Marsi is the only one who believes her, but Marsi is running away to escape Uncle’s terrible plan to make her marry his creepy nephew. Lusi can’t imagine being separated from her sister and leaves behind the rest of their family to flee with Marsi via merchant caravan to the Wizards Guild for help. All their plans are dashed to pieces when Uncle catches up to them in a matter of days. 

Uncle’s connections to powerful wizards make him far more dangerous than Lusi initially realized. But Lusi isn’t crazy or a freak for talking to ghosts: she’s a necromancer! Marsi is worried — they’ve always been told that necromancers are monsters. Lusi needs to learn more to set both their minds at ease. She must enlist the help of a ghost girl, a dragon, and a strange wizard from the other side of the world if she wants to control her unusual talents and keep her family safe. 

The Poet Empress by Shen Tao (January 2026)

Debut author Shen Tao introduces readers to the lush, deadly world of The Poet Empress, a sweeping, epic and intimate fantasy perfect for fans of The Serpent & the Wings of Night, The Song of Achilles and She Who Became the Sun. 

In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land consumed by famine, and poetry magic lost to all except the powerful. 

Wei Yin is desperate. After the fifth death of a sibling, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves. 

Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel heir of the beautiful and brutal Azalea House. 

But in a twist of fate, the palace stands on the knife-edge of civil war with Wei trapped in its center…at the side of a violent prince. 

To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself. Even if it means becoming a poet in a world where women are forbidden to read — and composing the most powerful spell of all. A ballad of death…and love. 

The Poet Empress is an epic fantasy that explores darker themes, subjects, and scenes that may not be suitable for all readers. Please see the author’s content note at the beginning of the book. 

Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky (June 2025)

On a planet shrouded in darkness, a stranded crew must fight for survival. But, the darkness may have plans of its own in this wildly original story from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke Award – winning author of Children of Time.

They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back…

New planets are fair game to asset strippers and interplanetary opportunists – and a commercial mission to a distant star system discovers a moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is anathema to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud.

Under no circumstances should a human end up on Shroud’s inhospitable surface. Except a catastrophic accident sees Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne doing just that. Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, they are unable to contact their ship and are running out of time. What follows is a gruelling journey across land, sea and air. During this time, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s dominant species. It also begins to understand them …