James Nicoll Reviews

The first in a gripping fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction — from debut author Roseanne A. Brown. Perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi, Renée Ahdieh, and Sabaa Tahir. For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts his younger sister, Nadia, as payment to enter the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal — kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom. But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic … requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition. When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a heart-pounding course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death? 

From the author of the critically acclaimed Dominion of the Fallen trilogy comes a tale of dragons, and Fallen angels — and also kissing, sarcasm and stabbing.

Lunar New Year should be a time for familial reunions, ancestor worship, and consumption of an unhealthy amount of candied fruit. 

But when dragon prince Thuan brings home his brooding and ruthless husband Asmodeus for the New Year, they find not interminable family gatherings, but a corpse outside their quarters. Asmodeus is thrilled by the murder investigation; Thuan, who gets dragged into the political plotting he’d sworn off when he left, is less enthusiastic. 

It’ll take all of Asmodeus’s skill with knives, and all of Thuan’s diplomacy, to navigate this one — as well as the troubled waters of their own relationship…. 

A sparkling standalone book set in a world of dark intrigue.

A Note on Chronology
Spinning off from the Dominion of the Fallen series, which features political intrigue in Gothic devastated Paris, this book stands alone, but chronologically follows The House of Sundering Flames. It’s High Gothic meets C‑drama in a Vietnamese inspired world — perfect for fans of The Untamed , KJ Charles, and Roshani Chokshi’s The Gilded Wolves.

In the technologically advanced African city of Numbani, in the not-so-distant future, humans live in harmony with humanoid robots known as omnics. But when a terrorist tries to shatter that unity, a hero named Efi Oladele rises! Efi has been making robots since she was little — machines to better her community and improve people’s lives. But after she witnesses Doomfist’s catastrophic attack on the city’s OR15 security bots, Efi feels the call to build something greater: a true guardian of Numbani.While Doomfist sows discord between humans and omnics, Efi engineers an intelligent and compassionate robot, Orisa, named after the powerful spirits who guide her people. Orisa has a lot to learn before she’s ready to defeat Doomfist, but Efi has some learning to do, too, especially when it comes to building — and being — a hero. With Doomfist rallying his forces, and the military powerless to stop him, can Efi mold Orisa into the hero of Numbani before it’s too late?This action-packed novel features the fan-favorite characters Efi, Orisa, Doomfist, and Lúcio in an all-new, original story straight from the minds of the Overwatch game team and critically acclaimed author Nicky Drayden! 

It’s a normal morning in Freedom City, bustling cronut stands and sleepy commuters chugging coffee. A quiet night in a sleepy mountain town. A busy city street in the business district. A normal shopping trip for the first day of school. Life, as you know it…

…superpowered. Toy Boy unleashes an assault of childhood nostalgia. An undying superhero clashes with human-sacrificing death cults. The city’s protector is thrown back through time, over and over again, battling his nemesis on the footpaths he will protect in the far future. A robot boy uncovers a sinister conspiracy in his school.

Powered Up is the superheroes of Green Ronin’s Mutants & Masterminds setting like you’ve never seen them before. Featuring a selection of reprinted and previously unpublished stories, this collection dives into the lives, battles, and relationships of the heroes and villains of Freedom City, Emerald City, and even the distant past.

This collection contains stories by Richard Lee Byers, Crystal Frasier, Eytan Bernstein, Andrew Wilmot, Kelly Goodman, Aaron Rosenberg, Skyler Graye, Michael Matheson, Nathan Meyer, Russell Zimmerman, Nathan Crowder, Jennifer Povey, Caias Ward, and Maurice Broaddus & Isabella Faidley. 

Mythras is the new name for an older game, but while the name might have changed, the system remains the same, but presented in an updated format with new interior artwork and layout design, along with some new content (Special Effects, small tweaks to the rules, and Spirit Combat Effects). In fact, we’ve managed toi pack more into a smaller space, and reduced the price accordingly.

For those new to the game, Mythras is a percentile system. In Mythras your characters are defined by their culture, career, community, background, comrades, skills, magic and cults. Progression is through skill advancement – not levels or similarly abstract concepts. As your characters adventure and quest, their capabilities improve and their relationships deepen and strengthen. Players and Games Masters have complete flexibility over what can be achieved, and the way characters develop is entirely dependent on choices players make, depending on their characters’ aspirations and motivations.

Games Masters receive a huge amount of support through the Mythras rules. All the concepts and game mechanics are explained clearly with options and considerations explored and presented for ease of use. You need only this rulebook for many years of exciting and imaginative play.

What’s in this book?

Mythras contains everything needed for play:

• Character Creation – building your character through the familiar characteristics, through developing culture and community relationships, choosing a career, and gaining basic equipment according to social class.
• Skills – What they do, how they work, and how to handle many different circumstances (degrees of difficulty, critical and fumbled rolls, opposed skills, group skills, and so on).
• Economics and Equipment – Arms and armour, tools, clothing, accommodation… everything your character needs as he or she begins on their life of adventure.
• Combat – Mythras’s combat system is unique, dynamic and geared towards adventurous realism. Gaining success over an opponent generates Special Effects that can rapidly turn the course of a fight. Copious advice is presented on balancing combat skills and styles, through to handling rabble and underlings.
• Magic – No less than five very different forms of magic are presented and explored, with complete lists of spells and effects. How magic is defined and used in different fantasy settings and campaign worlds is examined in detail.
• Cults and Brotherhoods – Religious, magical and secular organisations, as well as other kinds of societies are detailed the Cults and Brotherhoods rules. Cults are an important part of Mythras, and they are covered in significant detail along with templates for many different kinds of cult, order, school and so on for Games Masters and Players to build upon for their own campaigns.
• Creatures — Over 50 creatures are fully detailed, including several non-human player character races. This chapter also offers complete guidance on how to use creatures effectively in Mythras games, and notes on how to design your own.
• Games Mastery – Copious notes, thoughts and guidance on how to Games Master Mythras games. Areas for consideration are summarised, options explored, and different ways of using the rules offered. An invaluable chapter for new and old RuneQuest Games Masters alike…
• Anathaym’s Saga – Numerous examples of play and how the rules are used are provided through Anathaym’s Saga. Follow Anathaym, her sister Kara, Mju the Mystic and Kratos the Sorcerer as the Mythras rules are illustrated and explained.