James Davis Nicoll
@jdnicoll.bsky.social
Reviewer, Essayist, Hugo, Aurora, and Darwin Award finalist.
Yami-Hara by Mizuki Tsujimura (Translated by Stephen Paul) The Kanbara family travels Japan, transforming the lives of those they meet. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/in-a-...
In A Family Circle
Mizuki Tsujimura’s 2021 Yami-Hara is a mosaic horror collection. The 2023 English translation is by Stephen Paul. The common thread in the stories? The Kanbara family, and their curious knack for help...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
I think I can break a million reviews if I can just make it to age 2780.
Who is this Homer who novelized Nolan's Odyssey? He doesn't seem to have read the script closely.
“Buying Things and Owning Them” now no.1 search result on Pornhub in Canada
“Buying Things and Owning Them” now no.1 search result on Pornhub in Canada
MONTREAL - Pornhub owner Aylo has disclosed the top search term on the website for the first half of 2026: “Buying things and actually getting to own them,” with the popularity of the search increasin...
thebeaverton.com
The Kif Strike Back (Chanur, volume 3) by C J Cherryh Pyanfar Chanur enters into a dubious alliance, thus attracting the ire of her people's arch-conservatives. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/starr...
Starry Sky
1985’s The Kif Strike Back is the middle volume in a three-book-arc in C. J. Cherryh’s Chanur series. Events in Chanur’s Venture having transpired not entirely to Pyanfar Chanur’s liking, Pyanfar is e...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
Bundle of Holding: Dungeon Age 2 A collection of old-school tabletop fantasy roleplaying scenarios by novelist and designer Joseph R. Lewis in his long-running Dungeon Age Adventures series. bundleofholding.com/presents/Dun...
Dungeon Age Bundle 2
Adventurer! This all-new Dungeon Age Bundle 2 presents a fresh collection of old-school tabletop fantasy roleplaying scenarios by novelist and designer Joseph R. Lewis in his long-running Dungeon Age ...
bundleofholding.com
I was thinking of doing a reactor piece on tea but _are_ there five or more works that mention tea? It is a pretty obscure drink.
Five SF Works About Building a New Nation Sure, societal collapse is inherently dramatic — but nation-founding can be exciting too! reactormag.com/five-sf-work...
Five SF Works About Building a New Nation - Reactor
Sure, societal collapse is inherently dramatic — but nation-founding can be exciting too!
reactormag.com
Any comment, @alexusherhesa.bsky.social? Or are you just going to politely ignore the most popular response to your question?
Dr. Ruth Marshall is still kicking against the pricks@wtfis2bdone.bsky.social · 3d agoTaking fascist actions against colleagues and students who denounce genocide. It is THE BEST indication of their abandonment of our mission, followed by their embrace fascist “AI” tech. Their active support for fascism should be the top story everywhere. breachmedia.ca/canadian-uni...
So, Hal Clement's Cycle of Fire and Niven & Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye... (con't)
Courtney Milan@courtneymilan.com · last wk.You may recall the case where Lynne Freeman sued Tracy Wolff for writing a YA set in Alaska where the male lead was hot and broody, just like in Freeman's book. This litigation went on for three years before a judge finally read both books and said there was zero infringement.
Out of a desire to minimize time spent in the rain, I chose a slightly more time consuming bus route whose stop is closer to my home, which as it turned out involved waiting the same shelter as a terf when someone they thought might be trans walked by. (con't)
Destinies, Summer 1980 (Destinies, volume 8) edited by Jim Baen Destinies returns with a lesson in how to induce readers to buy the same material twice. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/just-...
Just Like Wine
Destinies, Summer 1980 is the third issue in the second volume of Jim Baen’s Destinies science fiction bookazine. As it happens, I have previously mentioned this specific volume. Not that Jim Baen was...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
I mentally replace each instance of "I asked an AI" with "I asked a passing inebriate and then burned down the nearest orphanage."
August 2026 Patreon Boost! August 2026 Patreon Boost! James Nicoll Reviews is your reliable source of purely human-crafted, AI-slop free reviews of purely-human crafted, AI-slop free works. Fight the machine by funding James Nicoll Reviews! jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/august-...
August 2026 Patreon Boost!
James Nicoll Reviews is your reliable source of purely human-crafted, AI-slop free reviews of purely-human crafted, AI-slop free works. You can fight the machine by funding James Nicoll Reviews in sev...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
Books Received, July 25 — July 31 Nine books new to me. At least two fantasy, two SF, one thriller, one mystery, one non-fiction. There is also one magazine and one collection, both of which could have a mix of genres. jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/books-r...
Isn't it time for individuals to take responsibility for long-term nuclear waste? How YOU can safely store reactor effluent for up to 70,000 years using materials found around the house.
Bundle of Holding: Gurps Horror (from 2022) Terrifying tabletop roleplaying supplements for GURPS, the Generic Universal RolePlaying System from Steve Jackson Games. bundleofholding.com/presents/G4H...
GURPS 4E Horror Bundle
Hold it, monster hunter! This re-animated October 2022 GURPS 4E Horror Bundle, featuring terrifying tabletop roleplaying supplements for GURPS, the Generic Universal RolePlaying System from Steve Jack...
bundleofholding.com
Bundle of Holding: GURPS 4E Supers (from 2023) Super-powered supplements for GURPS 4E! bundleofholding.com/presents/G4S...
GURPS 4E Supers Bundle
GURPS 4E Week gains superhuman strength as we revive our March 2023 GURPS 4E Supers Bundle with Supers, Powers, and many high-flying Powers expansions for the Fourth Edition of GURPS, the Generic Univ...
bundleofholding.com
July 2026 in Review July just raced by. I didn't make it into the CSFFA Hall of Fame but a friend did, plus I set a personal record for most (false alarm-related) building evacuations overseen during a show. Plus I read some books. jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/july-20...
July 2026 in Review
July just raced by. Not sure where it went. At least I managed to review some books.
jamesdavisnicoll.com
The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean A ghost-talker determined to save Kowloon Walled City is confronted by an enemy from a past the ghost-talker cannot remember. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/favou...
Favourite Crime
Sunyi Dean’s 2026 The Girl with a Thousand Faces is a stand-alone historical fantasy. Kowloon Walled City, August 1975: Mercy Chan is a ghost-talker. Here ability to talk to the many ghosts of Kowloon...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
Political activist, teacher/zombie rangler, ship builder, sailor/miner. Not miner in the sense of digging but disarming sea mines. So, about my grandmother and the undead. It only came up the once but it was memorable. Partway through a funeral she was attending, (con't)
Revan@revan.eurosky.social · 7d agoEnough “what would you do on the commune questions” If you got sent back 100 years and were given your grandparent’s job, what are you doing?
Huzzah. I've been dreading activating my new bank card because the process went very poorly the last time thanks to a defective chip. Seems to have worked exactly as it was supposed to. I wonder what monthly payments I forgot to update?
Aaaaaahhhh this explains the "why are people picking on AI" post I saw on LinkedIn.
Greg Pak@gregpak.net · 6d agothis is... good!
Your Protagonist Is a Terrible Person — Can They Still Be Likable? Sure, they're utterly reprehensible — but you still want readers to root for them. reactormag.com/your-protago...
Your Protagonist Is a Terrible Person — Can They Still Be Likable? - Reactor
Sure, they're utterly reprehensible — but you still want readers to root for them.
reactormag.com
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game by Dominic McDowall & Pádraig Murphy A look at Cubicle 7's novice-friendly roleplaying game, set in the Old World in an age when chaos seemed to have been vanquished. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-t...
Just Like Old Times
Dominic McDowall and Pádraig Murphy’s 2026 Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game is a secondary-universe tabletop fantasy roleplaying game (TTFRPG). The core rules are divided between Warhammer: t...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
Bundle of Holding: GURPS 4E Space (from 2022) GURPS Space 4E, psionic powers, starships, and more! bundleofholding.com/presents/G4S...
GURPS 4E Space Bundle
For GURPS 4E Week we reach to the stars with the revived June 2022 GURPS 4E Space Bundle featuring ebook starfaring supplements for the Fourth Edition of GURPS, the Generic Universal RolePlaying Syste...
bundleofholding.com
Happy full moon! The next chapter of Confessions of a Burned Out Former Magical Girl is here! "Whoever decided to burden teenage girls with the responsibility of protecting the literal fate of the world needs a good strong punch in the mouth." #booksky #amwriting #writersky #magicalgirls
BoS - one - The End is the Beginning is the End | Emily Schooley
Happy intense full moon in Aquarius! This Patreon-exclusive serialized novel will be releasing new chapters every month on the full moon. Wh
patreon.com
Though I Am an Inept Villainess, volume 1 by Satsuki Nakamura, Ei Ohitsuji & Kana Yuki (Translated by Margaret Ngo) Fate and the imperial court have been unkind to Keigetsu. Solution: use dark magic to swap bodies with the exalted Reirin. What could go wrong? jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/wanna...
Wanna Be Horrid
2021’s Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Volume One is the first tankōbon for Satsuki Nakamura, Ei Ohitsuji, and Kana Yuki’s manga adaptation of...
jamesdavisnicoll.com
Fiction vs non-fiction. Both sorted into MMPB, Trade, and HC. Non-fiction by subject, except sometimes by author. All fiction by author. If I am bored, by publisher. If I am very bored, by roygbiv so it looks pretty.
Immigrant Punk@porcupunk.eurosky.social · last wk.Enough of the horrors and doom scrolling. Let's talk about something fun. How do you arrange your books?
