awesomelies

...that thinks of the guards in Castle Wolfenstein whenever I see these in a supermarket?

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/315239766

james_davis_nicoll

Welcome, visitor, to Mystery Flesh Pit National Park: The RPG, the Cypher System tabletop roleplaying game rulebook from Ganza Gaming about the Permian Basin Superorganism.

Bundle of Holding: Mystery Flesh Pit

ffutures

I have just listed a box of genuine IBM 3.5" floppy disks on eBay and said, without any attempt at irony, that they might be useful for "collectors or for period film and TV". It took me a few minutes to realise just how strange and/or pretentious I would have thought that say 20 years ago...

ffutures

This is the Mystery Flesh Pit RPG Special bundle, featuring "Mystery Flesh Pit National Park: The RPG," the Cypher System game of cosmic horror and bureaucratic satire from
Ganza Gaming.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/FleshPit

This one is simultaneously strange, horrific and very silly, based on a web site that has developed the idea over several years. It's cheap, and if you want to use this setting it's well worth a look, even if you have to convert it to your preferred system. Definitely recommended.

james_davis_nicoll

Three short works by Kawakami.

Record of a Night Too Brief by Hiromi Kawakami

james_davis_nicoll

Union technocrats had a plan for Gehenna, a plan that failed to take into account local conditions.

Forty Thousand in Gehenna by C J Cherryh

james_davis_nicoll

Everything you need for Nazi-punching Mythos adventures

Bundle of Holding: Achtung! Cthulhu

ffutures

This is an offer of the Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 Bundle featuring the "Modiphius RPG of cosmic horror amid the chaos and heroism of World War II."

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/AchtungCthulhu

This is one of the most highly recommended Cthulh Mythos RPGs and deservedly so, and you're getting a LOT for your money. Definitely recommended!

james_davis_nicoll

2017: The Royal College of Nursing’s alarming description of conditions in the NHS inspires the government to do worse, the Tories succeed in freezing British lifespans after a century of progress, and the UK begins that political equivalent of autoerotic asphyxiation known as Brexit.

Poll #33694 Clarke Award Finalists 2017

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 60

View Respondents

Which 2017 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
6 (10.0%)

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
41 (68.3%)

After Atlas by Emma Newman
10 (16.7%)

Central Station by Lavie Tidhar
9 (15.0%)

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
47 (78.3%)

Occupy Me by Tricia Sullivan
4 (6.7%)

Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2017 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
After Atlas by Emma Newman
Central Station by Lavie Tidhar
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Occupy Me by Tricia Sullivan

james_davis_nicoll

Pacifist Dorsai, space forts, duelling reviews, a rant about that mean Mr. Einstein and more in this issue of Destinies.

Destinies, February-March 1980 (Destinies, # 6) edited by Jim Baen

james_davis_nicoll

Twelve books new to me. Four fantasies, one horror, one non-fiction, and six (!) science fiction works, of which at least four are series instalments.

Books Received, September 27 — October 3

Poll #33688 Books Received, September 27 — October 3

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 58

View Respondents

Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Children of Fallen Gods by Carissa Broadbent (December 2025)
4 (6.9%)

Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis (January 2026)
9 (15.5%)

The Language of Liars by S. L. Huang (April 2026)
22 (37.9%)

We Burned So Bright by T. J. Klune (April 2026)
21 (36.2%)

We Could Be Anyone by Anna-Marie McLemore (May 2026)
8 (13.8%)

These Godly Lies by Rachelle Raeta (July 2026)
4 (6.9%)

The New Prometheans: Faith, Science, and the Supernatural
16 (27.6%)

Every Exquisite Thing by Laura Steven (July 2026)
5 (8.6%)

The Infinite State by Richard Swan (August 2026)
7 (12.1%)

Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky (June 2026)
25 (43.1%)

Moss’d in Space by Rebecca Thorne (July 2026)
20 (34.5%)

Platform Decay by Martha Wells (May 2026)
43 (74.1%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
40 (69.0%)

james_davis_nicoll

STARS MOVE! STARS MOVE! STARS MOVE!

Here Is Your Periodic Reminder that Stars Move

james_davis_nicoll

Forgotten again by her family, Joan Greenwood discovers that this time her witch-kin had a legitimate excuse: a potentially existential threat to Greenwood power and privilege.

An Unlikely Coven (Green Witch Cycle, volume 1) by AM Kvita

james_davis_nicoll

Merriam-Webster NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

james_davis_nicoll

A field agent armed with privacy-violating technology searches for Nazi loot--stolen diamonds--on behalf of a South African diamond cartel.

Probe (Search, # 1) by Leslie Stevens & Russ Mayberry

james_davis_nicoll

I dreamed I discovered a weapon in Half Life 2 that would generate and hurl at considerable speed empty shipping containers.

james_davis_nicoll

The complete tabletop RPG about the heroic rats of Fortitude

Bundle of Holding: The Far Roofs

ffutures

This is a new bundle of a single game, The Far Roofs, by Jenna Moran. It's what generally gets called a "wainscot fantasy" setting, based on a modified version of the Nobilis rules, in which intelligent rats (and occasional humans, the player characters) have adventures in a world of strange lands and monsters formed around the rooftops of human homes.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/FarRoofs

It's an interesting idea and very nicely presented, and the rules are in ePub as well as the usual PDF format which is quite useful if you want to read them on the go. It's also cheap, and if you want to play with something different from the usual fantasy tropes I think it's well worth a look.

james_davis_nicoll

You too can support James Nicoll Reviews.

October 2025 Patreon Boost

Reading

Is it just me...

Bundle of Holding: Mystery Flesh Pit

Today's weird thought

Another Horror / Weird Bundle - Mystery Flesh Pit RPG

Good news for Canadian orange growers!

Record of a Night Too Brief by Hiromi Kawakami

Forty Thousand in Gehenna by C J Cherryh

Bundle of Holding: Achtung! Cthulhu

Another Horror Bundle - Achtung! Cthulhu

Clarke Award Finalists 2017

Destinies, February-March 1980 (Destinies, # 6) edited by Jim Baen

Books Received, September 27 — October 3

Here Is Your Periodic Reminder that Stars Move

An Unlikely Coven (Green Witch Cycle, volume 1) By AM Kvita

New LLM

Probe (Search, # 1) by Leslie Stevens & Russ Mayberry

Last night's dream

Bundle of Holding: The Far Roofs

Another Fantasy Bundle - The Far Roofs

October 2025 Patreon Boost

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