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James Nicoll Reviews

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Make Room! Make Room!

The Population Bomb

By Paul R. Ehrlich 

19 Mar, 2023

Because My Tears Are Delicious To You

12 comments

Paul R. Ehrlich’s1 1968 The Population Bomb is an alarmist text on the dangers of unchecked population growth.

The Population Bomb (or at least the 1970 edition I found at Dana Porter Arts Library) begins with this straight-forward assertion.

The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate.

What reasoning led Ehrlich to this conclusion and what solutions did he propose?


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Let’s Be Friends

Tuyo  (Tuyo, volume 1)

By Rachel Neumeier 

16 Mar, 2023

Special Requests

4 comments

2020’s Tuyo is the first volume of Rachel Neumeier’s seven-book (so far) Tuyo secondary-world fantasy series.

Warleader Garoya of one of the Ugaro clans had thought it would be easy to raid the Lau; it wasn’t. The raiders must retreat. Garoya leaves his younger brother Ryo behind, as a tuyo. A tuyo is a prisoner handed over the enemy as a sacrifice.

Ryo is tied to a stake and left for the Lau.

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Against All Odds

Danger International

By Douglas L. Garrett, George MacDonald & Steve Peterson 

14 Mar, 2023

Roleplaying Games

2 comments

L. Douglas Garrett, George Macdonald, and Steve Peterson’s1 1985 Danger International is a modern-day roleplaying game (modern per 1985), intended to cover adventures set from 1945 to the year

2000 and beyond.” Published by Hero Games, Danger International (or DI” as it was known to aficionados) is a descendent of the rules pioneered in 1981’s Champions.

And what did one find in the box? First, that there was no box. Danger International replaced the box sets of previous Hero Games, games with a 174-page perfect-bound text2 (176 if you count the ads).

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Nor Any Drop to Drink

The Lies of the Ajungo  (Forever Desert, volume 1)

By Moses Ose Utomi 

10 Mar, 2023

Doing the WFC's Homework

0 comments

The Lies of the Ajungo is the first volume in Moses Ose Utomi’s debut novella; it is the first entry in his projected Forever Desert series.

Faced with an unending drought, the people of a desperate city accepted aid from the Ajungo Empire. The Empire provided just enough water to sustain life, or perhaps a smidgen less. There was, of course, a price.

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