James Nicoll Reviews

2021’s Kaiju Girl Caramelise, Volume 5 is the fifth tankōbon of Spica Aoki’s comedic kaiju romance manga. Titled Otome Kaijū Kyaramerize in the original Japanese, Kaiju Girl Caramelise has been serialized in Monthly Comic Alive since early 2018. The 2022 English translation of Volume 5 is by Taylor Engel.

Kuroe’s social anxiety is fueled by a medical condition she’s desperate to conceal even from her astonishingly hunky boyfriend Minami. When stressed, Kuroe transforms into the office-building-sized kaiju, Harugon.

How did Kuroe contract this unusual condition, you ask? Kuroe’s mother Rinko knows.

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John Brunner’s 1983 The Great Steamboat Race is a stand-alone historical novel.

Despite the advanced technology and skilled pilots of the 1870s, the Mississippi was still an often-dangerous river on which to operate steamboats. Prudent men would not exacerbate the hazards with dubious endeavors such as races.

Prudence is a virtue more lauded than practiced. Which brings us to the matter of the steamboats Atchafalaya and Nonpareil.

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1977’s The Grey Mane of Morning is the second volume in Joy Chant’s House of Kendreth secondary-universe fantasy trilogy. Alternatively, The Grey Mane of Morning is a prequel set long before the events of Red Moon and Black Mountain.

Once the Khentorei, Gentle People of the Plains, were pathetic cave-dwelling savages. Driven from their former homes by the technologically superior Golden Ones, the Khentorei embraced the god Kem’nanh, domesticated the great Horned Horses, and made the plains their home.

Khentorei lives are not long lives, but they are for the most part enjoyable. The tribes wander as they please, following traditional ways, in an almost timeless existence. There is no need for history if nothing changes.

There is just one flaw in this paradise: the Golden Ones.

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2024’s Mirrored Heavens is the third and final volume in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky secondary-universe fantasy trilogy¹.

After the events of the last two volumes (Serapio has survived an apotheosis; Serapio has dealt with Naranpa, the avatar of a rival god) Serapio is now free to rule the city of Tova as the Crow God Reborn.

There’s just a small matter of a prophecy.

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Jason Durall and Steve Perrin’s¹ 2023 Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine (BRUGE) is the latest edition of Chaosium’s venerable simulationist house system, Basic Roleplaying (BRP). As one might guess from the title, BRUGE facilitates roleplaying in all genres.

Why release a new BRP²? There were two excellent reasons, the first of which was Hasbro bean-counter idiocy.

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Heterogenia Linguistico, Volume 1: An Introduction to Interspecies Linguistics is the first tankōbon for Salt Seno’s secondary-world comparative-linguistics manga. Serialized in Young Ace Up since 2018, the 2020 English translation is by Amanda Haley.

When his mentor is injured, Hakaba is dispatched to take the old linguist’s place. The subject matter — comparative linguistics — is straightforward. It is the location that might give some qualms: the Netherworld, land of monsters!

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Robert A. Heinlein’s 1963 Farnham’s Freehold is a stand-alone post-holocaust novel.

Middle-aged contractor Hugh Farnham and wife Grace host a bridge party for their son Duke, daughter Karen, and Karen’s friend Barbara. Also in attendance, the Farnham’s African American houseboy Joe. The party is marred by alcoholic Grace’s behavior¹, for which Duke blames Hugh’s obsession with nuclear war.

The massive Soviet nuclear attack that ensues lends credence to Hugh’s concerns about nuclear war. Luckily for the Farnhams, Karen, and Joe — perhaps less luckily for the reader — Hugh’s preparations include a well-prepared subterranean shelter.

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C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne’s 1899’s The Lost Continent is a stand-alone tale of Atlantean tragedy.

Coppinger is an avid amateur archaeologist, a man who understood immediately the historical significance of the ancient documents found in a Canary Islands cave. Alas for posterity, the person who actually explored the cave was Coppinger’s unnamed companion, whose off-handedly brutal handling of the relics inadvertently destroyed a good part of them. Nevertheless, what remains paints a vivid picture of the final days of fabled Atlantis.

Pious, austere priest-general Deucalion has been pleased to govern Yucatan on behalf of Atlantis. His twenty-year reign ends when the empress orders Deucalion replaced. Deucalion is to return to the mid-Atlantic continent he has not seen in a generation.

Deucalion’s successor, Tatho, is gracious enough to warn Deucalion about what awaits stern Deucalion.

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Ai Jiang’s 2023 Linghun is a stand-alone coming-of-age/ghost-story novella.

Wenqi is a prudent sort of person, one who would avoid a haunted house. Wenqi’s parents have very different views on the matter. Thus, their current residence: Homecoming Of Missing Entities. HOME for short.

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Melissa Scott’s 2023 The Master of Samar is a thus far stand-alone secondary world fantasy.

Product of a marriage of which his grandfather disapproved, Gilmyssin Irichels di Samar turned his back on the family that rejected him. A skilled curse breaker, Irichels is perfectly able to make his own way in the world without any need for the resources of the grand Samar family.

Irichels did not expect to return to his native city, Bejanth. He most definitely did not expect to return as head of the Samar House. For that matter, Irichels did not expect to be the only known surviving member of the Samar House.

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