James Davis Nicoll
@jdnicoll.bsky.social
Reviewer, Essayist, Hugo, Aurora, and Darwin Award finalist. My hydronyms: turbid/opaque
The Best of Lester del Rey (Ballantine’s Classic Library of Science Fiction, volume 18) by Lester del Rey A collection of the best by SF curmudgeon Lester del Rel. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/get-i...
Get It While You Can
Lester del Rey’s 1978 The Best of Lester del Rey is a collection of short fiction by Lester del Rey. The collection is part of Ballantine’s Classic Science Fiction series1.
jamesdavisnicoll.com
The Dragonbane PCs nicked an ornate locked box from a demon, which I am sure isn't something that will come back to haunt them.
How different do two versions of a ttrpg have to be to qualify as different editions?
Books Received, October 3 to October 9, 2026 Twelve works new to me, of which six are fantasy, one is horror, two are non-fiction, one is SF and two are tabletop fantasy roleplaying game related. At least four are series. First ten covers! jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/books-r...
Canadian House Hippos and Other Obscure Fauna House Hippo infestations? Crocodiles in the Great Lakes? reactormag.com/canadian-hou...
Canadian House Hippos and Other Obscure Fauna - Reactor
House Hippo infestations? Crocodiles in the Great Lakes?!
reactormag.com
Ghosted by Talia Tucker Keziah Nam's quest to deliver justice is complicated by an unexpected crush and her personal demon, Steve. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/not-e...
Not Exactly Friends
Talia Tucker’s 2026 Ghosted is an upcoming1 comedic horror coming-of-age novel. Keziah Nam attends Sacred Heart Preparatory School for Girls. Despite the name, Sacred Heart does have an abundant suppl...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
Which character(s) selected the original X-Men code names?
WHY WOULD I LEAVE RAISING KIDS TO AI SOFTWARE WHEN I CAN MAKE MY POORLY PAID HOUSEHOLD STAFF DO IT AS PART OF THEIR (checks today's roster) LAWN CARE DUTIES?
🧵 Attention, Fellow SFF Artists and Authors -- here is my response to Must Read Magazines, after they presented an Asimov's art contract expecting me to waive all Moral Rights and Copyright to my art. And, I would strongly advise the following to my fellow pros…. 1/
Why do my employees refuse to admit my rights to all of their IP, whether created at work or elsewhere, include such derivative works as their children? My chimney-cleaning company isn't going to staff itself!
Question for any authors who have had recent contract dealings w/ Must Read Magazines & ASIMOV’S. Have they asked you to surrender copyright of your stories to them? They want me to create new cover art & they want to own copyright of the art. Seems like a pretty outrageous rights grab.
this is absolutely dire horses, and more evidence to me that Must Read is running Analog, Asimov's, and F&SF as IP lobster traps. I was glad to be at Analog's 90th anniversary a few years ago, but at this rate MRM will hollow it out to an Edgar suit before it hits 100
Scott Edelman@scottedelman.bsky.social · 3d agoTo follow-up — I just read @donatoarts.bsky.social's Facebook write-up, the details of which are extremely depressing. I'm sharing the link here, because it appears he's left it unlocked in order to spread the word and warn other professionals. This saddens me. www.facebook.com/donato.gianc...
Sticking fork into outlet is more likely to yield new hairstyle that's not always best for the person or planet.
Waterloo Region Record@therecord.com · 3d agoAsking a chatbot about buying an electric vehicle or another climate-related decision is more likely to yield advice that’s not always best for the person or planet, a University of Waterloo study found. www.therecord.com/news/waterlo...
A Red Heart of Memories (Spores Ferry, volume 1) by Nina Kiriki Hoffman Mystic wanderer Matt Black gets drawn into Edmund the witch's belated effort to process past trauma. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/on-a-...
On a Summer Breeze
1999’s A Red Heart of Memories is the first novel1 in Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s Spores Ferry series. Trauma and a brush with death left Matilda “Matt” Black with the ability to talk to inanimate objects. ...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
Wakusei Closet, volume 1 by Tsubana Why does Aimi dream of a surreal alien planet when she sleeps? How are creatures from her dreams appearing in the waking world? jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/two-l...
Two Lost Souls
Wakusei Closet, Volume 1 is the first tankōbon of Tsubana’s science fantasy manga, about which online information appears to be scarce. Japanese schoolgirl Aimi wakes from a surreal nightmare in which...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
Said while laughing: "That's James as a cat! The only thing he isn't is an Egyptian Hairless!" Said cat being a one-eyed cat with a history of exuberantly walking into things.
Bundle of Holding: Cthulhu Awakens This all-new Cthulhu Awakens Bundle presents .PDF ebooks for Cthulhu Awakens, the standalone Adventure Game Engine tabletop game from Green Ronin Publishing of Cthulhu Mythos roleplaying across the Weird Century. bundleofholding.com/presents/Cth...
Cthulhu Awakens Bundle
Adventurer! This all-new Cthulhu Awakens Bundle presents .PDF ebooks for Cthulhu Awakens, the standalone Adventure Game Engine tabletop game from Green Ronin Publishing of Cthulhu Mythos roleplaying a...
bundleofholding.com
Five SF Novels That Ask, “What If This Trend Continues Indefinitely?” What happens when certain trends — from technology to pollution to wealth inequality — are left unchecked? reactormag.com/five-sf-nove...
Five SF Novels That Ask, "What If This Trend Continues Indefinitely?" - Reactor
What happens when certain trends — from technology to pollution to wealth inequality — are left unchecked?
reactormag.com
Faery Moon by C J Cherryh Having very prudently got himself cursed by the Fair Folk, Caith mac Sliabhin gets entangled in another Fae-related dispute. Whether or not he will survive is one of the lesser issues at stake. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/out-f...
Out Flew The Web
C J Cherryh’s 2009 Faery Moon is a fantasy novel. While pursuing a family feud, Caith mac Sliabhin finds himself wandering the wilderness in the company of an untrustworthy pooka named Dubhain, while ...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
I happened (for reasons I won't get into) to spend the day in St. Mary's emergency department and wow, far better experience than the day I spent (for reasons I won't get into) in Grand River Hospital's emergency.
Huh. Hastert, Bakker, and Archer. What a splendid week so far.
Do kids still need to learn language when LLMs can handle that for them?
Matt Howarth has died. He did a lot of art and creative work for the Myriad Song RPG from my publisher, though I'm sure is best known for the Post Brothers and work for Heavy Metal. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Ho...
Matt Howarth - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
What are olden time TTRPG design approaches you don't miss? For example, I don't really want to encounter games without uniform core mechanics. Although I imagine designers had fun coming up with a new way to calculate outcomes for every different task.
Could we solve the public transit problem by providing free fares for lower income people, provided each trip began with means-testing to prevent cheating?
There is no reason to overthink the worldbuilding in a dungeon-crawling campaign which is why I looked up aphid reproduction to make sure it works the way I thought. My PCs rescued _a_ fairy. Most of the PCs don't know much about monster lore and the one who does didn't roll well.
