James Nicoll Reviews

The Cuckoo by Leo Carew (December 2022)

Two fierce armies collide in the finale of the Under the Northern Sky trilogy, a thrilling and savagely visceral epic fantasy from Leo Carew, an author who ​“will remind readers of George R. R. Martin, David Gemmell, or … Joe Abercrombie. 

” (Booklist)Albion continues to be divided by revolt and bloodshed, as alliances collapse and are made anew. 

Driven obsessively for glory, the upstart Bellamus and his exiled queen Aramilla are marshalling resistance and building a powerful army. 

Returning to the Hindrunn, Keturah is forced to fend for herself, battling enemies on all sides just when she is most in need of a place of safety. 

And all the while, the young Black Lord must deal not only with the aftermath of a great betrayal, but the cold shadow of the Kryptea, threatening to destroy everything he has fought for…For more from Leo Carew, check out:The WolfThe SpiderThe Cuckoo 

The Ivory Tomb: Rooks and Ruin, Book Three by Melissa Caruso (December 2022)

One woman will either save an entire continent or completely destroy it in a captivating epic fantasy bursting with intrigue and ambition, questioned loyalties, and broken magic. ​‘Guard the tower, ward the stone. Find your answers writ in bone. Keep your trust through wits or war – nothing must unseal the door. ​‘Deep within Gloamingard Castle lies a black tower. Sealed by magic, it guards a dangerous secret that has been contained for thousands of years. 

As Warden, Ryxander knows the warning passed down through generations: nothing must unreal the Door. But one impetuous decision will leave her with blood on her hands – and unleash a threat that could doom the world to fall to darkness.

Where It Rains in Colour Denise Crittendon (December 2022)

Lileala has just been named the Rare Indigo – beauty among beauties – and is about to embrace her stardom, until something threatens to change her whole lifestyle and turn the planet of Swazembi upside down. – Colonized by the descendants of Earth’s West African Dogon Tribe, the planet of Swazembi is a blazing, color-rich utopia and famous vacation center of the galaxy. No one is used to serious trouble in this idyllic, peace-loving world, least of all the Rare Indigo.
But Lileala’s perfect, pampered lifestyle is about to be shattered. The unthinkable happens and her glorious midnight skin becomes infected with a mysterious disease. Where her skin should glisten like diamonds mixed with coal, instead it scabs and scars. On top of that, she starts to hear voices in her head, and everything around her becomes confusing and frightening.
Lileala’s destiny, however, goes far beyond her beauty. While searching for a cure, she stumbles upon something much more valuable. A new power awakens inside her, and she realizes her whole life, and the galaxy with it, is about to change…File Under: Science Fiction [ True Colors | Embrace the Change | What Will Be | Dancing in the Rain ]

City Walls by Loren D. Estleman (April 2023)

City Walls, the next Amos Walker novel from a Grand Master. ​“Loren D. Estleman is my hero.” — Harlan CobenThe search for a fugitive embezzler leads Amos Walker to Cleveland, where he is hired by Emmett Yale, a leading figure in the electric car industry, to investigate the murder of his stepson. Yale believes that his stepson’s hitman was hired by Clare Strickling, a former employee, as a way to silence whispers that he has bought illegal insider-trading information. 

Walker shadows Strickling to a private airfield as he attempts to flee the country – only to then witness his murder. The twisted web of lies and deceit surrounding both deaths forces Walker to question the motivations of everyone he encounters, from Major Jack Flagg, an elderly barnstormer, Palm Volker, the attractive aviatrix who runs the airfield, Candido, a surly maintenance worker employed by Palm, and Gabe Parrish, a retired boxer. Naturally, everyone has secrets to keep – but the truths lurking beneath the surface this time may make this Walker’s final case. 

World Running Down by Al Hess (February 2023)

A transgender salvager on the outskirts of a dystopian Utah gets the chance to earn the ultimate score and maybe even a dash of romance. But there’s no such thing as a free lunch… – – – Valentine Weis is a salvager in the future wastelands of Utah. Wrestling with body dysphoria, he dreams of earning enough money to afford citizenship in Salt Lake City – a utopia where the testosterone and surgery he needs to transition is free, the food is plentiful, and folk are much less likely to be shot full of arrows by salt pirates. But earning that kind of money is a pipe dream, until he meets the exceptionally handsome Osric. 

Once a powerful AI in Salt Lake City, Osric has been forced into an android body against his will and sent into the wasteland to offer Valentine a job on behalf of his new employer – an escort service seeking to retrieve their stolen androids. The reward is a visa into the city, and a chance at the life Valentine’s always dreamed of. But as they attempt to recover the ​“merchandise”, they encounter a problem: the android ladies are becoming self-aware, and have no interest in returning to their old lives. 

The prize is tempting, but carrying out the job would go against everything Valentine stands for, and would threaten the fragile found family that’s kept him alive so far. He’ll need to decide whether to risk his own dream in order to give the AI a chance to live theirs. 

The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 6 by Natsu Hyuuga (October 2022)

The events in the western capital threaten to shake not only the political order, but Maomao’s personal relationships as well, and she departs the city uncertain what her future holds. A detour on the way home, however, gives her an unexpected insight into her own family. Meanwhile, Consort Lishu finds herself at the center of an ugly scandal. Might the truth of the matter help explain everything that’s happened recently? 

Nothing but the Rain by Naomi Salman (March 2023)

A sleepy little town discovers its memories have become part of the water cycle in Naomi Salman’s debut novella, Nothing but the Rain. The rain in Aloisville is never-ending, and no one can remember when it started. There’s not much they can remember. With every drop that hits their skin, a bit of memory is washed away. Stay too long in the wet, and you’ll lose everything you used to be. 

By the time Laverne begins keeping a journal, the small town she calls home has been irreparably changed. Every drop of water is dangerous, from leaky faucets to the near-constant rainfall, and a careless trip outside can mean a life down the drain. With mysterious forces preventing escape, calls for rebellion seem to be on every resident’s lips. But Laverne has no interest in fighting. She has no interest in rebellion. She just wants to survive. 

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten (March 2023)

In this lush, romantic new epic fantasy series from New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten, a young woman’s secret power to raise the dead plunges her into the dangerous and glamorous world of the Sainted King’s royal court. When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city. Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die. Lore is thrust into the Sainted King’s glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and continually running up against Bastian, August’s ne’er-do-well heir, Lore tangles in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society. But the life she left behind in the catacombs is catching up with her. And even as Lore makes her way through the Sainted court above, they might be drawing closer than she thinks.