James Nicoll Reviews

THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING …Many years of peace have passed in Maniyadoc, years of relative calm for the assassin Girton Club-Foot. Even the Forgetting Plague, which ravaged the rest of the kingdoms, seemed to pass them by. But now Rufra ap Vthyr eyes the vacant High-King’s throne and will take his court to the capital, a rat’s nest of intrigue and murder, where every enemy he has ever made will gather and the endgame of twenty years of politics and murder will be played out in his bid to become the King of all Kings.Friends become enemies, enemies become friends and the god of death, Xus the Unseen, stands closer than ever — casting his shadow over everything most dear to Girton.

Accidentally abandoned!

All alone in Singapore, proper Miss Primrose Tunstell must steal helium to save her airship, theSpotted Custard, in a scheme involving a lovesick werecat and a fake fish tail. 

When she uncovers rumors of a new kind of vampire, Prim and the Custard crew embark on a mission to Peru. There, they encounter airship pirates and strange atmospheric phenomena, and are mistaken for representatives of the Spanish Inquisition. Forced into extreme subterfuge (and some rather ridiculous outfits) Prim must also answer three of life’s most challenging questions: 

Can the perfect book club give a man back his soul? 

Will her brother ever stop wearing his idiotic velvet fez? 

And can the amount of lard in Christmas pudding save an entire species? 

With a death sentence hanging over his head, Kellen is forced to abandon his clan and his home. Living as an outlaw, he relies on his wits and allies, the mysterious wanderer Ferius and thieving squirrel cat Reiches, to survive the unforgiving borderlands. 

Then he meets Seneira, a young woman cursed with a deadly plague by a ruthless mage. Similarly afflicted Kellen is compelled to help, and it’s not long before he’s entangled in a conspiracy of magic, blackmail and murder. Loyalties are tested as Kellen races to find the mage responsible before he can claim any more victims 

The second novel in a compelling six-book series, bursting with tricks, humor, and a whole new way to look at magic. 

Kellen is moments away from facing his first duel and proving his worth as a spellcaster. There’s just one problem: his magic is fading. 

Facing exile unless he can pass the mage trials, Kellen is willing to risk everything — even his own life — in search of a way to restore his magic. But when the enigmatic Ferius Parfax arrives in town, she challenges him to take a different path. 

One of the elusive Argosi, Ferius is a traveller who lives by her wits and the cards she carries. Daring, unpredictable, and wielding magic Kellen has never seen before, she may be his only hope. 

The first novel in a compelling six-book series, bursting with tricks, humor, and a whole new way to look at magic. 

THEY CALL IT THE PLAGUE A generation of children born with extreme genetic mutations THEY CALL IT A HOME But it’s a place of neglect and forced labour THEY CALL HIM A FREAK But Dog is just a boy who wants to be treated as normal THEY CALL THEM DANGEROUS They might be right The story of a lost generation, and a boy who just wants to be one of us.

“Live fast, die young.** 

Tam Hashford is tired of working at her local pub, slinging drinks for world-famous mercenaries and listening to the bards sing of adventure and glory in the world beyond her sleepy hometown. 

When the biggest mercenary band of all rolls into town, led by the infamous Bloody Rose, Tam jumps at the chance to sign on as their bard. It’s adventure she wants — and adventure she gets as the crew embark on a quest that will end in one of two ways: glory or death. 

Will and his comrades went to war to overthrow the reign of dragons, winning battle after battle, and acclaim as conquering heroes. 

But now they’ve angered the gods, and may just need the dragons to help them this time… 

Erinys, tiny moon of Uranus, home to a tinier and almost forgotten colony. Left behind in the debris of the failed Outer Planet Revolt in 2099, Erinys is quietly decaying. For the hunted remnants of the Outer Planet Alliance (OPA), however, it offers a potential hiding place, and, possibly, a way to independence for the Outer Planets. With a highly detailed background, realistic technology, and convincing characters, The Erinys Incident is a fascinating journey from deep in the gravity well of the sun, to lonely outposts far beyond the rings of Saturn.

At first it is a nightmare. When the invaders arrive, the world as they know it is destroyed. Their friends are kidnapped. Their families are changed. 

Then it is a dream. With no adults left to run things, Violet and the others who have escaped capture are truly free for the first time. They can do whatever they want to do. They can be whoever they want to be. 

But the invaders won’t leave them alone for long… 

This thrilling debut by one of the most acclaimed short form writers in science fiction tells the story of two young outsiders who must find a way to fight back against the aliens who have taken over her city. 

Humans, orcs, mages, elves and dwarves all jostle for success and survival in the cramped quarters of the city of Yenara, while understaffed Watch Wardens struggle to keep its citizens in line. 

In the most dangerous district in the city, Rem and Torval have been perfecting their good cop, bad cop routine. But when a perplexing case of arson leads to a series of gruesome murders, the two partners must challenge their own assumptions and loyalties if they are to wrest justice from the chaos and keep their ward from tearing itself apart. 

The battle for the city is over, but the aftermath of a revolution is never simple… 

Sarine begins to experience visions, ones which make her dragon familiar sicker every day. Erris pushes toward conquest and the need to expand her territory and restore her power. And, exiled from his tribe, Arak’Jur apprentices himself to a deadly master. 

Faced with the threat of a return to the days of darkness, the heroes begin to understand the depth of the sacrifices required from them. To protect their world, they’ll have to stand and fight once more. 

When Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, is unexpectedly called to Paris to present at a medical conference, she expects nothing more exciting than professional discourse on zombie reconstructive surgery and skin disease in bogeymen — and hopefully at least one uneventful night at the Opera. 

Unfortunately for Greta, Paris happens to be infested with a coven of vampires — and not the civilized kind. If she hopes to survive, Greta must navigate the darkest corners of the City of Lights, the maze of ancient catacombs and mine-tunnels underneath the streets, where there is more to find than simply dead men’s bones. 

Marith has been a sellsword, a prince, a murderer, a demon, and dead. But something keeps bringing him back to life, and now there is nothing stopping him from taking back the throne that is rightfully his. 

Thalia, the former high priestess, remains Marith’s only tenuous grasp to whatever goodness he has left. His left hand and his last source of light, Thalia still believes that the power that lies within him can be used for better ends. But as more forces gather beneath Marith’s banner, she can feel her influence slipping. 

The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited. 

When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda — and should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance…