James Nicoll Reviews

The Untold Story by Genevieve Cogman

Return to the world of the Invisible Library for Irene’s most perilous mission yet … Librarian Spy Irene is heading into danger. Not for the first time, but could this be her last? She’s tasked with a terrifyingly dangerous solo mission to eliminate an old enemy, which must be kept secret at all costs. But even more troubling news emerges. Multiple worlds are disappearing – and the Library may have something to do with it. Determined to uncover the truth behind the vanished worlds, Irene and her friends must descend into the unplumbed depths of the Library. And what they find will change everything they know. This may be Irene’s most dangerous assignment of her hazardous career. The Untold Story is the eighth book in the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman. Praise for the series: ​‘I absolutely loved this’ – N. K. Jemisin, author of The Fifth Season ​‘Irene is a great heroine: fiery, resourceful and no one’s fool’ – Guardian ​‘Brilliant and so much fun. Skullduggery, Librarians and dragons – Cogman keeps upping the ante on this delightful series!’ – Charles Stross, author of the Merchant Princes series 

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

USA Today bestselling author Alix E. Harrow’s A Spindle Splintered brings her patented charm to a new version of a classic story. Featuring Arthur Rackham’s original illustrations for The Sleeping Beauty, fractured and reimagined.“A vivid, subversive and feminist reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, where implacable destiny is no match for courage, sisterhood, stubbornness and a good working knowledge of fairy tales.” —Katherine ArdenIt’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one.Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

Hollywood Heroine by Sarah Kuhn

The fifth book in the smart, snarky, and action-packed Heroine series continues the adventures of Asian-American superheroines Evie Tanaka, Aveda Jupiter, and Bea Tanaka in a demon-infested San Francisco.Over the years, the adventures of superheroines Aveda Jupiter and Evie Tanaka have become the stuff of legend – and now they’ll be immortalized in their very own TV show!The pair head to LA for filming, but Aveda struggles to get truly excited. Instead, she’s preoccupied wondering about the fate of the world and her role in it. You know, the usual. Now that Otherworld activity has been detected outside the Bay Area, Aveda can’t help but wonder if the demon threat will ever be eradicated. When the drama on set takes a turn for the supernatural, Evie and Aveda must balance their celebrity commitments with donning their superhero capes again to investigate. And when the evil they battle reveals a larger, more nefarious plot, it’s time for the indomitable Aveda Jupiter to rise to the occasion and become the leader she was meant to be on a more global scale – and hopefully keep some semblance of a personal life while doing so. 

Discordia by Kristyn Merbeth

The Kaisers are on the run from the planetary leaders who seek to bury the knowledge of the alien artifacts that will save the star system or destroy it. Discordia is the explosive final book in the action-packed space opera trilogy, The Nova Vita Protocol. Scorpia is finally back among the stars, far away from the memories of the war she and her family started — and ended — on Nibiru. Her first order as captain of the Memoria is to keep her crew safe, and she is all too happy not to get involved in dangerous political games for once. Corvus is haunted by what he experienced at the hands of the Titan attack, and he’s just as eager for a new beginning. He knows that not all Titans are built for war, and that the system can find peace, even as Deva and Pax begin to rattle their sabers. Though the Kaisers may be responsible for diverting a multi-planet war, the planetary leaders are wary of the knowledge they hold. Better to lock them up and keep their dark secrets hidden. But the Kaisers are the only ones who know the truth about the threat of the ancient world-ending alien weapons rooted in each planet — and they may be the only ones who can save the system from total annihilation. 

Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m Queen of the Dead by Richard Roberts

Avery Special is the world’s only living necromancer, and she’s pretty bad at it. She also just moved to LA, where trouble has been waiting for a necromancer. Trouble that doesn’t care how strong she is, or that she’s only fifteen. Monsters, magical artifacts, occultists and television producers only care that a real necromancer is back.

There are definitely upsides. Chris, Annie, Sue, and Peggy have their own creepy super powers and are the best friends a girl could hope to make on her first day in a new city. Her Pudgy Bunny coloring book can teach her more than a stack of grimoires. Her ghostly ancestors are so eager to help it’s annoying.

Not that she has time for any of that, because Chris and Sue are both in love with her. 

FIYAH No. 20 | Love/Death/Androids edited by DaVaun Sanders

Issue #20 of FIYAH Literary Magazine