James Nicoll Reviews

B. L. Blanchard’s 2023 The Mother is an alternate history thriller. It is technically the second book in the Good Lands series, but can nevertheless be read as a stand-alone.

Marie, Duchess of Suffolk, vanishes from Grayside, the family mansion. The evidence points to suicide… But the evidence is misleading. Marie is fleeing from her husband and his family, and toward a new life.

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2025’s Breath of the Dragon is the first of two volumes in Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee¹​’s secondary-universe fantasy Breathmarked duology.

When two warriors with special powers (warriors known as Aspects of Virtue) arrive to collect Jun’s twin brother Sai for training as an Aspect, six-year-old Jun is outraged. While Breathmarked Sai’s gift allows him to copy perfectly other people’s martial arts skills, mundane Jun has trained hard to be a skilled martial artist.

East Longhan forbids common folk from learning martial arts. The end result of proud Jun’s display of prowess is that Jun and his father are exiled to West Longhan for five years.

Ten years later, Jun and his father are still in West Longhan.

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2023’s Inferno is the eighth tankōbon (or ​“volume,” in the quaint American vernacular) of Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s on-going Monstress graphic novel series. Liu is the writer while Takeda is the artist.

Mistakes were made, revelations were reveled, and Maika Halfwolf’s soul is no longer resident in her body. Fox girl Kippa, Master Ren, and others quest into astral space to locate and recover Maika’s soul. It’s probably for the best that they did not know where the quest would lead them.

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2024’s The Scarlet Throne is the first volume of Amy Leow’s secondary-universe fantasy, the False Goddess Trilogy.

The goddess Rashmatun manifests to her devout followers by possessing the body of sanctified host girls. Through these living vessels, known as Rakhti, the goddess makes her will known. This system has functioned for centuries.

The current Rakhti is a teenager named Binsa. Binsa has secrets. For example, although traditionally Rakhti serve for a short term, Binsa has no intention of leaving office. For another example, Binsa is no holy vessel, just a barefaced liar dependent on demonic magic.

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S. L. Huang’s The River Judge is a prequel to The Water Outlaws¹.

In a land not unlike the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Li’s foul-tempered father and submissive mother run an inn in a village notable mainly for its isolation. An inn might seem a reliable source of income. Nevertheless, Li Li’s father has side ventures.

Thus, the corpses.

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2024’s Sound the Gong is the second and final volume of Joan He’s The Kingdom of Three duology.

Although the empress still lives, her empire has long been divided into three principal regions under three warlords. Cicada holds the south, Xin Ren clings to the west, and Miasma holds the rest. Miasma is also in control of the person of Empress Xin Bao. Miasma can be described as the empress’s regent (if one is polite) or jailor (if one is not).

Observers might credit Miasma with the strongest position and Xin Ren with the weakest… if not for the fact Xin Ren has as her strategist the brilliant Zephyr. With Zephyr guiding her, surely Xin Ren can triumph, taking the empire and throne for herself.

There are a few minor problems with this otherwise perfect plan. The most obvious is that Zephyr died in the previous book.

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Bethany C. Morrow’s 2022 Cherish Farrah is a horror novel.

Teens Cherish Whitman and Farrah Turner have been best friends since they met in fourth grade. Their common ground is obvious: Cherish and Farrah are the only two black girls in their upscale neighborhood. However, their parents could not be more dissimilar. Farrah’s parents are Farrah’s biological parents. Cherish was adopted by a rich white couple.

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Interstellar MegaChef is the first volume in Lavanya Lakshminarayan’s Flavour Hacker series.

Primus is the heart and soul of the star-spanning United Human Cooperative. Among the planet’s popular exports is the entertainment show Interstellar MegaChef. Winning the Interstellar MegaChef competition guarantees fame and fortune.

The woman now known as Saraswati ​“Saras” Kaveri hopes that winning the contest will free her from her odious family.

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B. L. Blanchard’s 2022 The Peacekeeper is the first book in the Good Lands alternate-history police-procedural series.

Twenty years ago, the village of Baawitigong was rocked by a brutal crime. Ishkode immediately confessed to his wife Neebin’s murder. The Adjudicators and Mediators assigned to the case saw no alternative but the most extreme: consigning Ishkode to prison.

Ishkode and Neebin’s children Chibenashi and Ashwiyaa were functionally orphans. Then seventeen, Chibenashi did his best to provide younger sister Ashwiyaa with a parent figure. Despite his best efforts, and those of auntie¹ Meoquanee, Ashwiyaa has spent the twenty years since Neebin’s death withdrawn and dependent on Chibenashi. Consequently, Chibenashi has had to set aside all ambitions to care for his sister.

On the twentieth anniversary of Neebin’s death, Meoquanee, Neebin’s best friend and Chibenashi’s auntie, is brutally murdered. This time nobody steps forward to shoulder the blame. This time, the peacekeepers will have to solve the mystery.

Chibenashi is a peacekeeper.

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Amal El-Mohtar’s 2025 The River Has Roots is an upcoming historical fantasy novel.

Thistleford borders Faerie. The town’s prosperity is in part built on this proximity. Magic is so terribly useful.

The Hawthorns have long tended the magic willow trees along the River Liss, which flows out of Faerie. They are therefore a family of some significance. To marry either Esther or Ysabel would be financially strategic. How convenient that the girls are so pretty.

It’s less convenient that Esther and Ysabel have minds of their own.

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