James Nicoll Reviews

Andrew M. Stephenson’s 1979 The Wall of Years is a stand-alone science fiction novel.

In 2011, the Commissariat of National Integrity launched Project Damocles to protect the British Republics¹ from the deleterious effects of time travel, specifically the possibility that events in nearby timelines could affect the home timeline. This is a serious concern given that neighboring timelines were marching to a final War. The simple answer: murder every outside analog of time travel’s inventor, Frobisher. With no outside time travel available, existence would remain local causality for local people.

The CNI’s models were flawed. Their actions set off a series of time storms. End result: the Earth was reduced to a nearly lifeless, radioactive wasteland². Humanity perished… at least in 2011.

The 26^th century is another matter entirely.

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The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley is a stand-alone time travel novel.

Commander Graham Gore was just one of the hapless explorers in the Franklin Expedition¹, which was attempting to find a Northwest Passage across the top of Canada. He appears in the history books as one of the casualties of the ill-fated expedition. In this novel he is given an afterlife… of sorts.

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Sue Thomas’ 1992 Correspondence is a stand-alone science fiction novel.

All of the modern world’s wonders cannot protect one from loss and grief. A single moment can erase spouse and children. However, those wonders do offer a solution.

Two solutions, in fact.

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Insomniacs After School, Volume 9 is the ninth tankōbon in Makoto Ojiro’s contemporary manga series. Serialized in Shogakukan’s seinen manga magazine Weekly Big Comic Spirits, Insomniacs After School has been ongoing since May 2019. The English translation of Volume 9 was released in 2025.

Companion insomniacs Ganta and Isaki have contended with official and parental roadblocks to their quest to restore their high school astronomy club, whose observatory is the only place either of them can sleep. Now they face a development outside the club’s previous experience.

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2025’s Foxfire, Esq. is an on-going legal drama web-novel by Noa (October).

Naomi Ziegler used to be an unwilling superhero, Foxfire. Naomi Ziegler is now a lawyer. Therefore, Naomi is the logical choice when her employer, Bierman Viskie & Schotz, is retained for a case involving a superhero.

A wrongful death case.

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Mary Elizabeth Counselman’s 1978 Half in Shadow is a collection of weird stories. Despite overlap, it should not be confused with Mary Elizabeth Counselman’s 1964 Half in Shadow. Yeah, not really sure what Arkham was thinking when they reused the title.

Alabama-born Counselman (1911 – 1995) might be best remembered as a Weird Tales contributor, although her output was not limited to that magazine.

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Nuzo Onoh’s 2024 Where the Dead Brides Gather is a stand-alone horror novel.

Ten-year-old Bata has been plagued by nightmares ever since she suffered a serious accident. Then Bata discovers that the terrible dreams are but a precursor to the revelation of Bata’s supernatural potential.

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Today’s review: The End of the Empire by Alexis Gilliland, published in 1983. I last reviewed this short novel a quarter century ago. I really hope I don’t recapitulate point for point my comments in the original review. I trust this is a fresh look.

The Holy Human Empire was neither holy, nor entirely human, nor an empire. The Holy Human Empire was as mortal as any institution. The government that once ruled many systems had been reduced to portions of a single planet. Soon, the empire would not even have that much¹.

Faced with certain defeat on Portales, the imperial fleet flees. Amongst the lucky few to escape rebel wrath, intelligence officer Colonel Saloman Karff.

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Hiromi Kawakami’s The Briefcase is a stand-alone¹ slice-of-life romance novel. Translation is by Allison Markin Powell.

Thirty-eight-year-old office worker Tsukiko Omachi lives alone. It’s by pure chance that she encounters a near-stranger whom she only barely recognizes from her long-ago school days. As a result, their lives are transformed.

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1977’s Cluster is the first volume in Piers Anthony’s Cluster science fiction series.

Andromeda plots to steal all of the Milky Way’s energy! Only trans-galactic effort can stymie this perfidious plot!

Alas, there is a serious impediment to a unified front.

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