James Davis Nicoll

· 5mo ago

The Science Behind Torchships Don't expect them any time soon. https://reactormag.com/the-science-behind-torchships/ #ReacTor

Reactor

The Science Behind Torchships - Reactor

A deep dive into science fiction's favorite hypothetical spacecraft.

· 7mo ago

Boosted by @cstross@wandering.shop

Dan Simmons (April 4, 1948 – February 21, 2026) Noted author, bigot Dan Simmons reported dead of stroke.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/im-no-hero
#bookstodon

· 5mo ago

Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks

What transformed Cheradenine Zakalwe into the superlative Special Circumstances asset he is today?

I’m No Hero

Iain M. Banks’ 1990 Use of Weapons is a space opera set in Banks’ Culture universe. The Culture, one of the Milky Way’s great powers, is a post-scarcity, egalitarian1 society that prides itself on its highly developed ethics. The Culture is, at least in theory, constrained in the degree to which it can intervene in other civilizations, even the very naughty ones. Certain special circumstances fall under the domain of the Culture’s Special Circumstances bureau and its agents. Cheradenine Zakalwe

· 2mo ago

The Secret Of The Old Clock (Nancy Drew, volume 1) by Mildred Wirt Benson 16-year-old Nancy Drew resolves to find a missing will in a bid to deny the distastefully nouveau riche Tophams the elevated status to which they aspire. https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/professor-confidence #bookstodon

Professor Confidence

Mildred Wirt Benson’s 1930 The Secret Of The Old Clock is the first of the Stratemeyer Syndicate’s 175+ Nancy Drew mystery novels. Like all of the Nancy Drew books, Secret was credited to the fictitious Carolyn Keene. Sixteen-year-old Nancy Drew is a paragon who elevates River Heights simply by residing there. Wise beyond her years, pretty Nancy has managed the Drew household since her mother’s death six years earlier. To know Nancy is dimly perceive the heights that baseline humans might someda

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/collapse
#bookstodon

· 5mo ago

The Praxis (Dread Empire's Fall, volume 1) by Walter Jon Williams

The Shaa conquered the universe. Soon, there will be no Shaa. Who will take their place?

Collapse

2002’s The Praxis is the first volume in Walter Jon Williams’ Dread Empire’s Fall series.

https://reactormag.com/is-science-fiction-better-off-without-torchships/
#ReacTor

· 5mo ago

Is Science Fiction Better Off Without Torchships?

It's a case of limitations leading to more interesting plots and settings...

Reactor

Is Science Fiction Better Off Without Torchships? - Reactor

It's a case of limitations leading to more interesting plots and settings...

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/burning-it-down
#bookstodon

· 5mo ago

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

A gaming adept is used as a weapon against a malevolent empire.

Burning It Down

Iain M. Banks’ 1988 The Player of Games is a stand-alone space opera, set in Banks’ Culture. And also adjacent to it. The Culture allows its citizens to pursue whatever occupation they like. In the case of Jernau Gurgeh, that would be obsessive gameplaying. Gurgeh is extremely adept at learning and playing new games, but lately, he has become bored. The Culture’s Special Circumstances agency has use for a person with Gurgeh’s talents. There is the slight problem that Special Circumstances won’t

· 3mo ago

Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky Down these mean streets a raccoon must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/light #bookstodon

For Just a Little Light

Adrian Tchaikovsky’s 2026 Green City Wars is a stand-alone near-future science fiction novel. Skotch is a private operator, a fellow who for the right money will track down and recover missing people and missing items. Skotch is also a raccoon, granted intelligence thanks to Science! Although there is a catch to the gift of intelligence. Several catches, in fact.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/all-my-empathys-a-disaster
#bookstodon

· 6mo ago

Platform Decay (Murderbot, volume 8) by Martha Wells

Once again, the need to rescue friends distracts Murderbot from its shows.

jamesdavisnicoll.com

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/locked-inside-my-memory
#bookstodon

· 5mo ago

Darksight Dare (Penric & Desdemona, volume 16) by Lois McMaster Bujold

Can two intractable problems could be mutual solutions?

Locked Inside My Memory

2026’s Darksight Dare is the sixteenth (!) Penric &Desdemona secondary universe fantasy novella from Lois McMaster Bujold. Learned Penric, faced with two sad situations—a dying woman and a blinded man—decides to use what in our universe would be called the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup solution. Satisfying two goals at once.

· 8mo ago

Boosted by @cstross@wandering.shop

Night of the Living Cat, volume 1 by Hawkman & Mecha-Roots Humanity faces its final threat: the common house cat! https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/the-very-next-day

The Very Next Day

2021’s Night of the Living Cat, Volume 1 is the first tankōbon for Hawkman and Mecha-Roots’ feline-apocalypse comedy-horror manga series. A virulent pandemic has struck down almost everyone in Japan and perhaps across the world as well1. Only a few lucky survivors, such as Kunagi and his friend Kaoru, remain. Hope is dead, for who can expect to elude the relentless doom that is— THE COMMON HOUSE CAT! Perhaps some exposition is in order.

https://arxiv.org/html/2604.18928v1

· 5mo ago

A novel approach to proton-boron 11 fusion.

p+B11 is aneutronic (although the side-reactions aren't) and B11 is comparatively abundant in the Earth's crust.

arxiv.org

A novel approach to proton-boron-11 fusion

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/all-jump-in
#bookstodon

· 5mo ago

Unquenchable Fire (Unquenchable Fire, volume 1) by Rachel Pollack

Chosen One Jennifer Mazdan would prefer to let destiny's call go through to voice mail.

All Jump In

1988’s Unquenchable Fire is the first of Rachel Pollack’s Unquenchable Fire modern occult series. The Founders’ Revolution overthrew the bad old order [1], replacing it with the modern illumination. Magic has been returned to the world—or possibly, the magic that was there all along is now visible again. While there are one or two drawbacks (curses, possession, that sort of thing) the Spiritual Development Agency is standing by to set matters back on course. None of which is of any particular us

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Downcrawl
#ttrpg

· 7mo ago

Bundle of Holding: Downcrawl-Skycrawl

Downcrawl and Skycrawl, twin toolkits from designer Aaron A. Reed that help you create spontaneous tabletop roleplaying adventures in the Deep, Deep Down and the Azure Etern.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/by-klonos-superalloy-slide-rule
#bookstodon

· 5mo ago

The Queen of Air and Darkness and Other Stories by Poul Anderson

How much of the universe does *science as we know it* open to us?

jamesdavisnicoll.com

https://www.csffa.ca/awards-information/

· 6mo ago

A reminder to Canadian citizens and permanent residents: you have but a day to vote on the Aurora Awards!

I am but one of the eligible candidates. Each of us is as Canadian as possible under the circumstances. More information below.

#VoteMe #MeMeMe #Meeeeeeeee

csffa.ca

Aurora Awards – The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA)

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/start-again
#bookstodon

· 5mo ago

A Long and Speaking Silence (Singing Hills, volume 7) by Nghi Vo

A novice cleric is caught up in a refugee crisis.

Start Again

2026’s A Long and Speaking Silence is the seventh volume in Nghi Vo’s Singing Hills secondary-world fantasy. A former novice, now Cleric Chih, travels to Luntien in search of stories. Chih will learn many useful lessons, starting with keeping a better eye on their wallet than they actually did.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/april-2026-in-review

· 5mo ago

April 2026 in Review

22 works reviewed. 12 by women (55%), 10 by men (45%), 0 by non-binary authors (0%), 0 by authors whose gender is unknown (0%), and 9 by POC (41%), one of which was my 1000th work by a POC. Also, I was nominated for two awards.

April 2026 in Review

April’s big news–aside from that whole Easter weekend “A Civilization will die!” thing–is that on April 20th, the Aurora Award finalists were announced, and my Young People Read Old SFF was one of the finalists1. Then, on April 21st, the Hugo Award finalists were announced and I am up for Best Fan Writer. Then, on April 22nd, I wasn’t nominated for anything. Clearly, there is room for improvement on my part.I am always surprised to be nominated. This year’s Hugo nomination was a particular surpr

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/born-again
#bookstodon

· 5mo ago

Dragon Sword And Wind Child (Tales of the Magatama, volume 1) by Noriko Ogiwara (Translated by Cathy Hirano)

Saya's infatuation with Prince Tsukishiro is but another move in a long-running struggle on whose outcome existence itself depends.

Born Again

1988’s1 Dragon Sword And Wind Child is the first volume in Noriko Ogiwara’s Tales of the Magatama. The translator is Cathy Hirano. Found as a lost orphan and adopted by kindly foster parents, Saya is a perfectly normal teen of the People of the Light… except for her frequent nightmares, in which demons feature prominently. A word about cosmology.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/forbidden-planet
#bookstodon

· 7mo ago

This Insubstantial Pageant by Kate Story

Desperate passengers and crew escape their ailing starship, only to find an angry, vengeful oligarch waiting to greet them.

Forbidden Planet

Kate Story’s 2017 This Insubstantial Pageant is a hard science fiction retelling of The Tempest. Prosperina and her daughter Milana were marooned on desolate Lalande 21185b. Desolate, but at least life-bearing. The small family survived, which gave Prosperina a claim to the whole planet. A claim legally stolen when her brother Tony helped Al King absorb the planet into King’s Rare Earth, Incorporated.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/JTAS2026

· 5mo ago

Bundle of Holding: Traveller JTAS (from 2024)

The first 12 volumes of the Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society, the guides for the Traveller tabletop science fiction roleplaying game from Mongoose Publishing.

Bundle of Holding - Journal closed

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/TravMercs2026

· 5mo ago

Bundle of Holding: Traveller Mercenaries (from 2023)

The third Traveller bundle for this week, the Traveller Mercenaries Bundle, features soldier-for-hire supplements and adventures for the 2020 2nd Edition Traveller SF TTRPG game line from Mongoose Publishing.

Bundle of Holding - Ticket punched

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/be-my-mirror
#bookstodon

· 5mo ago

A Mirror For Observers by Edgar Pangborn

Aliens contend over the fate of a remarkable boy.

Be My Mirror

Edgar Pangborn’s A Mirror For Observers is an International-Fantasy-Award-winning stand-alone science fiction novel. Thirty millennia ago, the Salvayans—or Martians, as humans would call them—emigrated from dying Mars to Earth. Since then, the Martians have kept their existence secret from humanity. The Martians observe. Rarely, they intervene. Most Martians hope humans will one day be ethically mature. A handful of dissenters, the Abdicators, believe humans are inherently flawed, and the sooner

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/everlasting-words

· 5mo ago

The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe

Kea must solve a murder to save her community.

#bookstodon

Everlasting Words

Shay Kauwe’s 2026 The Killing Spell is a near-future fantasy novel. The Flood brought magic back the world. National governments crumbled1. Power devolved to city-states like Los Angeles. New Hawaiian Homelands AKA the Homestead provided a new home to the Native Hawaiians who survived Hawaii’s destruction. LA graciously tolerated the Homestead’s founding, as it was on land they did not want… At that time.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/schemes-and-plans

· 6mo ago

Witch Hat Atelier, volume 14 by Kamome Shirahama

Coco and chums have an innovative cure for the monster currently rampaging through town... an innovative cure from which a diligent cop is determined to protect society.

Schemes and Plans

2025’s Witch Hat Atelier 14 is the fourteenth tankōbon of Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier fantasy manga series. Witch Hat Atelier (Tongari Bōshi no Atelier in the original Japanese) has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Two magazine since July 2016. The English translation of Volume 14 first appeared in 2026. Cunning reprobate Engendale has been captured. That leaves one final matter, almost too trivial to mention: the nigh-city-sized leech terrorizing the city. Young Coco has a

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/may-2026-patreon-boost

· 5mo ago

May 2026 Patreon Boost

James Nicoll Reviews offers readers reviews of a wide variety of works, as well as the opportunity to point out typos and broken links five days out of seven!

You can help fund James Nicoll Reviews in several ways.

May 2026 Patreon Boost

James Nicoll Reviews offers readers reviews of a wide variety of works, as well as the opportunity to point out typos and broken links five days out of seven! You can help fund James Nicoll Reviews in several ways. Options include:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/2026GreatRift
#BundleOfHolding

· 5mo ago

Bundle of Holding: Traveller Great Rift (2022)

The Traveller Great Rift Bundle features void-spanning campaign sets for the Second Edition Traveller tabletop roleplaying game line from Mongoose Publishing.

Bundle of Holding - Lost in the void

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/ImperialNavy
#BundleOfHolding

· 5mo ago

Bundle of Holding: Traveller Imperial Navy (New)

The second of five Traveller bundles this week; tour the Third Imperium space fleet in Traveller, the tabletop science fiction roleplaying game from Mongoose Publishing.

Bundle of Holding - Decommissioned

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/TravUpdateR1

· 5mo ago

Bundle of Holding: Traveller Update (from 2024)

The first of five Traveller bundles this week; rulebooks and ship sourcebooks for the Second Edition Traveller tabletop science fiction roleplaying game line from Mongoose Publishing.

#BundleOfHolding

Bundle of Holding - Past its sell-by date

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/books-received-april-18-april-24-2

· 5mo ago

Books Received, April 18 — April 24

Four books new to me. Three fantasy, one horror (maybe?) and at least one is part of a series.

Books Received, April 18 — April 24

The Drakon King by Terry J. Benton-Walker (November 2026) The forbidden royal romance of Red, White & Royal Blue meets the dragon-riding adventure of Fourth Wing, in The Drakon King by Terry J. Benton-Walker. Two princes, born to a world at war. Heir to a kingdom built on lies and stolen magic, Prince Reverie has one goal: avoid the crown. Raised by a cruel and violent king, Reverie’s real life begins after curfew—bottle service, masked revelries, top-shelf highs, and anonymous rooftop liais

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Voidrunners

· 5mo ago

Bundle of Holding: Voidrunner's Codex

The complete Voidrunner's Codex Full Digital Box Set, the spacefaring expansion from EN Publishing for the Level Up! tabletop roleplaying game and Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition.