# stand alone (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 2 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover stand alone. Page: Feed: --- ## [Wait For The New Day / The Great Game By Arvind Ethan David](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/wait-for-the-new-day) _2026-08-21 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Arvind Ethan David’s The Great Game is, as its subtitle declares, a thriller. Murder! While reprehensible, a sufficiently cunning homicide can present the great detective Sherlock Holmes with a challenge worthy of his intellect. For gentleman thief AJ Raffles, however, stumbling across an unexpected decapitation can derail an otherwise promising burglary. If Raffles is going to get drawn into a… ## [Other Kind / The Final Chronicle of Yeneh By Jo Miles](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/other-kind) _2026-08-20 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Jo Miles’s 2026 The Final Chronicle of Yeneh is a stand-alone science fiction novel. Lady Ada Quintrall is determined to be the very best granddaughter the Duke of Corbridge could have. She takes a break from a tedious financial review to see an expert who wants to discuss the Corbridge terraforming project. Enter well-meaning xenobiologist Dr. Zamora. … ## [The Nightingales Sing / In This Corner of the World By Fumiyo Kouno (Translated by Adrienne Beck)](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/the-nightingales-sing) _2026-08-19 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Fumiyo Kouno’s In This Corner of the World is a historical manga. The 2017 English translation is by Adrienne Beck. Corner was serialized from 2007 to 2009 in Weekly Manga Action . With her vivid imagination and artistic talent, Suze might have been one of Japan’s top manga artists… if Suze had lived in the 1970 s or 1980 s. Living as she does in 1940 s Japan, Suze’s career options are very… ## [Just Reward / The High Crusade By Poul Anderson](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/just-reward) _2026-08-18 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Poul Anderson’s 1960 The High Crusade is a stand-alone science fiction novel from the days when novels were about as long as novellas are now. 1345 : Sir Roger de Toumeville’s efforts to assemble an army of free companions to do their bit in the Hundred Years War are suddenly interrupted when quite unexpectedly, aliens descend on the small Lincolnshire town of Ansby. In a battle between… ## [Star-Clustered Reaches / Star Trek Log One (Star Trek Log, book 1) By Alan Dean Foster](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/star-clustered-reaches) _2026-08-16 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Alan Dean Foster’s 1974 Star Trek Log One is the first volume in Foster’s Star Trek Log series. Foster’s Log s to were to Star Trek: The Animated Series as Blish’s Star Trek Original TV Series Adaptations were to the original series: prose novelizations of scripts. This allowed people who never saw the show to enjoy the show in print form, which in turn allowed the Trek people to squeeze a little… ## [Over With Quick / Find Me Where It Ends By Cassandra Khaw](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/over-with-quick) _2026-08-14 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Cassandra Khaw’s 2026 Find Me Where It Ends is an upcoming fantasy novella of existential despair. Antigone’s family has a rare gift. Or perhaps it is a curse. Impending death appears to them as a dog, a different dog for each member of the family. Whether this is a gift or a curse depends on how one feels about the timing of the dog’s manifestation. … ## [The Place I Belong / The Curve of the World By Vonda N. McIntyre](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/the-place-i-belong) _2026-08-13 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Vonda N. McIntyre’s 2026 The Curve of the World is an alternate-history novel. One thousand years after Knossos was warned of an impending tsunami in time to save the inhabitants , the descendants of the Minoan Cretans — the Idaeans — are thriving. Skilled shipwrights and savvy navigators have allowed the matriarchal Idaean traders to explore much of the world. But not all of the world. … ## [In Their Eyes / A Plagued Sea By Kim Bo-Young (Translated by Sophie Bowman)](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/in-their-eyes) _2026-08-12 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Kim Bo-Young’s 2020 A Plagued Sea is a stand-alone horror novella. The 2026 English translation is by Sophie Bowman. Despite the crowds, professional bodyguard Mu-young and her beloved niece Hyun manage to make the train to Haewon. Time with her aunt, away from her obsessive, controlling mother, is precious to Hyun. Thus, despite her better instincts, Mu-young ignores the alert about a quake near… ## [Bee Inside A Jar / A Short Stay in Hell By Steven L. Peck](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/bee-inside-a-jar) _2026-08-11 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Steven L. Peck‘s 2012 A Short Stay in Hell is a stand-alone Borgesian horror novella. Soren Johansson died of brain cancer at age forty-five, leaving a widow and four orphans. A devout Mormon, he had no doubt he would be reunited with his family in the afterlife. An afterlife did await. However, Soren discovers he made one slight miscalculation. … ## [Sword and Shield / Swordsmistress of Chaos (Raven, volume 1) By Robert Holdstock & Angus Wells](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/sword-and-shield) _2026-08-09 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Robert Holdstock and Angus Wells 1978 ’s Swordsmistress of Chaos is the first volume in their Raven secondary universe fantasy sword and sorcery series. The Raven books appeared under the house name Richard Kirk 1 . Guided by a mysterious Voice, beautiful Su’uan flees across the desert from cruel slave-owner Karl ir Donwayne… straight into the waiting arms of a slightly less cruel slave dealer,… ## [Open directory of blogs (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/rt7sJCJcGczf) _2026-08-09 · **Sponsored**_ Drop URLs or OPML — get per-blog pages plus machine-readable JSON, OPML, text ## [No More Than A Boy / Luminous By Silvia Park](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/no-more-than-a-boy) _2026-08-07 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Silvia Park’s 2025 Luminous is a stand-alone near-future science fiction novel. Robots are commonplace in re-unified Korea. As designs improve, more and more roles once reserved for humans are relegated to the robots. Some of these are service jobs. Others are more intimate. Robots can be made in the form of sex partners or to resemble dead siblings. Cho Jun and Cho Morgan, children of… ## [Trying His Best / On a Pale Horse (Incarnations of Immortality, volume 1) By Piers Anthony](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/trying-his-best) _2026-08-06 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ 1983 ’s On a Pale Horse is the first volume of Piers Anthony’s series Incarnations of Immortality . In a world where magic is real, certain abstractions incarnate as persons. This book is about Death. … ## [In A Family Circle / Yami-Hara By Mizuki Tsujimura (Translated by Stephen Paul)](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/in-a-family-circle) _2026-08-05 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ 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 helping others turn into their worst possible selves. … ## [Starry Sky / The Kif Strike Back (Chanur, volume 3) By C J Cherryh](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/starry-sky) _2026-08-04 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ 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 enticed to set course for Mkks station. This is almost certainly a trap. … ## [Just Like Wine / Destinies, Summer 1980 (Destinies, volume 8) Edited by Jim Baen](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/just-like-wine) _2026-08-02 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ 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 not going to get my money, but in 1980 , putting Heinlein’s name on the cover made it a definite sell. … ## [Favourite Crime / The Girl with a Thousand Faces By Sunyi Dean](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/favourite-crime) _2026-07-31 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ 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 Walled City makes her very useful to triad leader Cobra Lily. Soon, Mercy will be Kowloon’s bulwark against disaster, which is fair since Mercy is ultimately to blame for the impending calamity. Not… ## [Just Like Old Times / Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game By Dominic McDowall & Pádraig Murphy](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/old-times) _2026-07-30 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ 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: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Player’s Guide 1 and Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Gamemaster’s Guide 2 . You may want to tack ​ “ black comedy” in front of that word ​ “ fantasy” up… ## [Wanna Be Horrid / Though I Am an Inept Villainess, volume 1 By Satsuki Nakamura, Ei Ohitsuji & Kana Yuki (Translated by Margaret Ngo)](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/wanna-be-horrid) _2026-07-29 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ 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 for Satsuki Nakamura’s secondary universe series of the same name. The 2022 English translation is by Margaret Ngo. To ensure a reliable supply of qualified queens, the five great families of a… ## [Deep and Wide Enough / Conventions of War (Dread Empire’s Fall) By Walter Jon Williams](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/deep-and-wide-enough) _2026-07-28 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ 2005 ’s Conventions of War is the third volume in Walter Jon Williams’ Dread Empire’s Fall series. Conventions concludes the first arc. The interstellar civil war over who shall inherit the Empire now that the last Shaa 1 is dead grinds on. On one side, the hyper-traditionalist Naxids, who feel that being the first to be conquered by the Shaa entitles them to rule. On the other side, the… ## [Who Dares / The Tangent Objective (Tangent, volume 1) By Lawrence Sanders](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/who-dares) _2026-07-26 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Lawrence Sanders’ 1976 The Tangent Objective is the first volume in the Tangent thriller duology. Wedged between Ghana and Togo, tiny Asante is a seemingly unremarkable African nation. Independent since 1958 , the former French colony is home to eight hundred thousand people. The nation is being bled white by its ruler, King Prempeh the Fourth — the Avenging Leopard of Bosum-twi! — and his family.… ## [Stocks ranked by what execs say (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/7QT6iUJo9ZzP) _2026-07-26 · **Sponsored**_ Evidence-backed watchlists from earnings calls and filings, cited to real transcripts—not guesses. ## [Willing Accomplice / The Intrigue By Silvia Moreno-Garcia](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/willing-accomplice) _2026-07-24 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s 2026 The Intrigue is a stand-alone period-piece thriller. As long as he had his career conman father to guide him, the man known to some as Ulises Linares prospered. The old man is dead, leaving twenty-nine-year-old Ulises to fend for himself. Thus far, Ulises has not done well in his illicit career, although he has at least managed to elude the Widow Aguirre’s angry sons.… ## [Chosen One / Radiant Star By Ann Leckie](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/chosen-one) _2026-07-23 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Ann Leckie’s 2026 Radiant Star is a stand-alone science fiction novel. Radiant Star takes place in Leckie’s Imperial Radch setting. Although he was not aware of this fact when he was growing up, Jonr of the planet Aaa is the chosen one. Although not in the messianic sense. Jonr was chosen as the payment for a debt that Jonr’s parent Zaved ran up during Zaved’s unsanctioned wanderjahr. Despite… ## [Gonna Be Friends / My Dress-Up Darling, volume 3 By Shinichi Fukuda](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/gonna-be-friends) _2026-07-22 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ My Dress-Up Darling, Volume Three is the third tankōbon in Shinichi Fukuda’s romantic comedy manga series. This tankōbon is titled Sono Bisuku Dōru in the original Japanese. Dress-Up was serialized in Square Enix’s seinen manga magazine Young Gangan from January 2018 to March 2025 . Returning home, straitlaced student/aspiring doll-maker Wakana Gojo is astonished to discover a naked Sajuna Inui… ## [All My Dreams / The Last of the Deliverers By Poul Anderson](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/all-my-dreams) _2026-07-21 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Poul Anderson’s 1958 ​ “ The Last of the Deliverers” is an economic science fiction story. Uncle Jim is the town’s beloved eccentric, a lingering reminder of an era fading into history and myth. Uncle Jim is a Republican. He might be the last Republican in Ohio. Or possibly, the United States of America. Or the world. … ## [Runaway / The Sword Smith By Eleanor Arnason](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/runaway) _2026-07-19 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Eleanor Arnason’s 1978 The Sword Smith is a stand-alone picaresque fantasy (fantasy? See several paragraphs down…) novel. Having tired of the king of Eshgorin’s management style, blacksmith Limper tendered his resignation. Accompanied by the diminutive dragon Nargri, Limper sets out to find new, more satisfactory employment. Alas, the king’s management style includes a disinclination to accept… ## [Face to Face / The Feywild Job By C. L. Polk](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/face-to-face) _2026-07-17 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ C. L. Polk’s 2026 The Feywild Job is a stand-alone secondary-universe romantasy. More specifically, it is a Dungeons & Dragons/Forgotten Realms tie-in novel. Half-elf Saeldian would like to escape from a life of endless abuse at the hands of her mother’s current husband, Mr. Wheeler. Salvation comes in the form of a pact with the Archfey Osalor. In return for something Saeldian will hardly miss,… ## [Where No One Wears A Frown / Time Out of Joint By Philip K. Dick](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/frown) _2026-07-16 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Philip K. Dick’s 1959 Time Out of Joint is a stand-alone science fiction novel. Ragle Gumm lives in an unremarkable Eisenhower-era town, a mostly pleasant backwater. In fact, the town is so unremarkable that if someone were to ask Ragle the name of his town or the state in which it resides, he might not be able to answer. Aside from a plague of late- 1950 s life (mild marital dissatisfaction),… ## [Even Teddy Bears Get the Blues / Teddy Bears Never Die By Cho Yeeun (Translated by Sung Ryu)](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/even-teddy-bears-get-the-blues) _2026-07-15 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ Cho Yeeun’s 2023 Teddy Bears Never Die is a stand-alone horror novel. Sung Ryu’s English translation is 2026 . Amoral entrepreneur Youngjin rents space in the Rainbow Apartments to Hwayoung at a very reasonable rate. He expects some consideration in return… and yet the young woman refuses to join any of Youngjin’s criminal schemes. He has no choice but to threaten to hike Hwayoung’s rent until she… ## [Professor Confidence / The Secret Of The Old Clock (Nancy Drew, volume 1) By Mildred Wirt Benson](https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/professor-confidence) _2026-07-14 · James Nicoll · James Nicoll Reviews_ 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…