James Nicoll Reviews

2020’s Insomniacs After School, Volume Three is the third tankōbon of Makoto Ojiro’s 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 Three is slated to appear sometime in 2023. 

Sleepless students Ganta Nakami and Isaki Magari have protected their access to their school’s observatory by restarting the school astronomy club. The pair has acquired some of the necessary skills. Now they must organize an event.

Read more ➤

John Brunner’s 1965 The Long Result is a stand-alone science fiction novel.

Roald Vincent is a functionary in the Bureau for Cultural Relations, a functionary who is bright but deficient in driving bureaucratic ambition. He has set his heart on Patricia Ryder and plans to marry her¹ as soon as he deals with a daunting career challenge.

The matter of the aliens from Tau Ceti.

Read more ➤

Reginald Bretnor’s 1953 Modern Science Fiction: Its Meaning and Its Future is a collection of essays by a variety of authors on the subject of science fiction, its meaning, and its future. Bretnor published three such collections. I have previously reviewed the other two:

Science Fiction, Today and Tomorrow: A Discursive Symposium is reviewed here.

The Craft of Science Fiction: A Symposium on Writing Science Fiction and Science Fantasy is reviewed here.

Read more ➤

C. L. Clark’s 2023 The Faithless is the second volume in the on-going Magic of the Lost secondary-world fantasy trilogy¹.

In the first volume: the city of Qazāl and the regions around Qazāl have been liberated from the imperialist Balladairans. Also, Princess Luca hopes to succeed to the throne of Balladaire, replacing her unpleasant uncle.

Surely every significant problem has been solved, leaving characters to focus on ill-advised love affairs. Then stuff happens.

Read more ➤

Stanisław Lem’s 1986 Microworlds: Writings on Science Fiction and Fantasy is a collection of essays, most of which concern science fiction.

Read more ➤

2021’s Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 11 is the eleventh tankōbon in Ryoko Kui’s secondary-world comedy fantasy manga series. Originally published as Danjon Meshi, Delicious in Dungeon appears in Enterbrain’s Harta. Volume 11 was translated into English in 2022.

Laios and his dungeon delving companions (half-elf mage Marcille, halfling security expert Chilchuck, dwarf fighter Senshi, and cat-beastkin ninja Izutsumi) appear to have the edge over the Lunatic Magician. True, the magician is very powerful, but he is one person while the party is many.

If only the Lunatic Magician were not accompanied by an army of ferocious dragons.

Read more ➤

Gardner Dozois’ 1995 The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Twelfth Annual Collection is, as one might expect, the twelfth annual anthology of notable science fiction edited by Gardner Dozois. The contents of the anthology were first published in 1994. In addition to the essays listed in the table of contents, each story is accompanied by a short biographical note about the author.

Read more ➤

Robin McKinley’s 1978 Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast is the first volume in her Folktales series. McKinley’s debut novel was a retelling of a classic fairy tale. See if you can guess which one.

As a little girl, Honour Huston, the youngest of three sisters, rejected her given name in favour of what she sees as a far better name, ​“Beauty.” To her disappointment, when she looks in a mirror, Beauty sees a plain girl, not the remarkable beauty that her sisters Grace and Hope are. At least she is smart, hardworking, and born into a well-to-do family.

Wealth can be ephemeral.

Read more ➤

K. Tempest Bradford’s 2022 Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion is a stand-alone Andre-Norton-Award-winning science fiction novel.

Observant and inquisitive schoolgirl Ruby Finley spots an unusual bug and in so doing becomes involved in interstellar hijinks.

Read more ➤

Michaela Roessner’s 1993 Vanishing Point is a near-future science fiction novel¹.

Thirty years ago, 90% of the human race vanished. Alarm and chaos ensued, followed by a gradual return to stability. While the old world will never return, civilization, particularly that part of it in and around San Jose’s Winchester House, has prevailed.

Two unrelated crises are bearing down on San Jose.

Read more ➤