James Nicoll Reviews

John Brunner’s 1980 Players at the Game of People is a stand-alone science fiction/horror novel.

Godwin Harpinshield is blessed to enjoy a life that is exactly what he wants. He has a fancy car, portals leading to idyllic beaches, opportunities for heroism, and the ability to muddle the minds of authority figures who ask too many questions.

Godwin accepts that there is a price for all of this. He does not fully appreciate what that price is.

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To quote its subtitle, Martin Gardner’s 1957 Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science studies ​“the curious theories of modern pseudoscientists and the strange, amusing, and alarming cults that surround them.” It is, to further quote the cover, ​“a study in human gullibility.”

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2021’s Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom is the first of Sangu Mandanna’s Kiki Kallira middle-grade modern fantasy novels.

Anxious eleven-year-old Kiki Kallira is plagued by obtrusive thoughts, nightmare scenarios she cannot ignore no matter how absurd or unlikely. Otherwise enjoyable activities are routinely spoiled as Kiki involuntarily dwells on implausible possibilities.

At least Kiki has her art to comfort her. Too bad her drawings may well have doomed the world to apocalyptic tyranny.

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Brian Herbert’s 1990 The Race for God is a stand-alone science fiction novel. (One was more than enough!) It is the third novel to be featured in my What’s The Worst That Could Happen? Series of reviews. Readers may question whether Brian Herbert has earned his place in SF history. I can assure them he has earned his spot in this project, a tour of SFF’s worst¹.

Grand Exalted Rooster McMurtrey founded the Interplanetary Church of Cosmic Chickenhood more or less as a joke. But then God decided to speak through McMurtrey — according to McMurtrey.

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Hwang Jungeun’s 2010 One Hundred Shadows is a stand-alone modern novel with fantastic elements. The upcoming 2024 edition is of Jung Yewon’s 2016 English translation.

Eungyo likes Mujae. Mujae likes Eungyo. Economic progress does not take into account either Eungyo or Mujae.

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Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh’s 1983 Starships is a science fiction anthology on the theme of starships.

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Monica Hughes’ 1978 The Tomorrow City is a stand-alone juvenile science fiction novel.

Joe Henderson what he believes will be a cure for the many ills that plague his home city of Thompsonville. He has invented a supercomputer. The City Central Computer — C3 for short — is the most powerful machine of its sort on Earth. Under its guidance, Thompsonville will enjoy efficient governance unmatched anywhere else on Earth.

The first sign of trouble is a malfunctioning elevator.

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Raquel Vasquez Gilliland’s 2023 Witch of Wild Things is a modern fantasy romance novel.

Temple University budget cuts provide one department head with the opportunity to shed himself of a lover whose services he no longer requires. Thus, silversmith/adjunct Sage finds herself unemployed and forced to return to Cranberry, Virginia, and a family she has been avoiding for years.

But first! The tragic backstory!

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Stephen Embleton’s 2020 Bones & Runes is a stand-alone modern fantasy novel.

Mlilo, an isangoma, is ambushed and mugged. The attackers do not seek mere money. They steal Mlilo’s sacred amathambo (bones used in sacred rites).

Mlilo has a good idea where his relics were taken. It’s not somewhere prudent living mortals venture alone. Or really, at all. Mlilo’s relics are in Abaphansi, the world of the heavens. 

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2021’s Magus of the Library, Volume 4 is the fourth tankōbon in Mitsu Izumi’s secondary-universe fantasy manga series (Toshokan no Daimajutsushi in the original Japanese). Magus has been serialized in Good! Afternoon since November 2017. The English translation appeared in 2021.

Having squeaked through his entrance exam, Theo begins his academic career in Aftzaak, City of Books.

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