Wouldn't it be hilarious if the cause of intercontinental high-speed rail in the xUS was Trump killing air travel?

Interestingly, I don't get hassled about this at work, even though masking dropped below 3% in theatre audiences years ago. In addition to not shaving off more cognitive function from Covid, I haven't had an incapacitating asthma attack in half a decade.

Ikea seems to have ruined Ivar shelving. www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/ivar...

The Gods of Mars (Barsoom, volume 2) by Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars returns... to the valley of no return! jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/work-...

I'm working my way through Outgunned: Adventure. Pulp adventure. Indiana Jones stuff. So I have an idea for an adventure, in which our brave action archaeologists try to locate and retrieve certain invaluable historical relics so they can be preserved and studied in proper museums. (con't)

Probably for the best The Man Who Laughs is too obscure to give Target execs ideas.

My good deed today was letting a barn cat turned house cat outside so it could go fight crunchy fallen leaves. (With permission: it's an indoor/outdoor farm cat)

So, I've never seen a photo of Dashiell Hammett before today. This is him in 1951, when he would have been in his mid-50s.

Books Received, October 1 — October 7 Six books new to me: two fantasy, one science fiction, one that seems to be a mix of both, one horror, and one non-fiction. First four! jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/books-r...

Sometimes I wonder what ever happens to those political and religious crazies Canada exports to the US. Ah, it'll never come back to haunt us.

A piece by me on Lucius Shepard's stories of brutal, hallucinatory war in Latin America. foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/07/l...

Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments (Edinburgh Nights, volume 2) by T. L. Huchu Discovering what she expected to be a lucrative new job is instead an internship, Ropa Moyo tries to pay her bill by resorting to her avocation of detective. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/pay-m...

I am watching old George Reeves Superman episodes. So far most of the episodes have involved criminals using ostentatiously convoluted communications systems that catch the attention of the Daily Planet Crew... except that one where Lois Lane arrives at a rural hotel to discover (con't)

Wait, does PP's fumble mean this _isn't_ a confidence vote?

The Frozen Logger isn't (Trad)?

That's a very large serving of ice cream. And who slices ice cream? Is this a thing, now?

Outgunned by Riccardo “Rico” Sirignano & Simone Formicola (Translated by Caterina Arzani) Miss the action movies of the recent past? Now you and your fellow gamers can recreate them. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/light...

I'm not saying replace _all_ cops with inquisitive teenagers, I'm just saying Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo solved hundreds of cases and they didn't kill anyone doing it.

I, a tech bro who read but did not understand a Flash comic in 1967, am looking for a trillion dollars to create cars that vibrate through solid impediments.

Toronto scores lowest only because it's just up the 401 from me but I am torn between Montreal, a city I have always enjoying visiting (except when it was for my aunt's funeral), and Ottawa, because I have not been there since 1977 and I bet it's changed some since then.

Over the Edge 3E The Third Edition corebook, scenarios, and 18 music tracks bundleofholding.com/presents/OTE3E

Eligibility lists are now OPEN for Canadian speculative fiction works published in 2025. If you purchased a 2025 membership to vote in the Aurora Awards this past year, you can head over to www.csffa.ca and log in to add works to our lists. 1/

This Monster Wants to Eat Me, volume 1 by Sai Naekawa Hinako Yaotose is saved by certain doom... by a monster who wants to let Hinaka ripen a bit before eating her. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/secon...

Stupid question: there's no used book store analogue of the Public Lending Right Program, right? the publiclendingright.ca

Every Ontarian who gets clipped by a speeding car should write PM Ford a personal letter of thanks for the experience.

Tried to move my dinner time in just two days, ate too late, crashed my blood sugar, and had to cancel gaming. It's not diabetes. It's just that I am incredibly intolerant to eating late. I feel like I am letting down my ancestors who survived the Great Potato Famine.

Dear Dick Cheney, please enjoy this theme song for your funeral. youtu.be/U6rzVVwvlLU?...

I would be a lot more likely to fall for the obvious "I can make your book sell better" scam, if I had a book. (OK, there's the Guardians of Order stuff but good luck turning that into an income stream for _me_).

Voyager in Night by C J Cherryh A trading voyage leads to first contact and a delightful process of mutual discovery. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/every...

Which nation has the best barbecued chicken?

Is the W in sword supposed to be pronounced?

The less time each train spends on a trip is less time for a car to veer in front of it, which is why I propose Ion peak speeds be increased to 500 km/hr.

My terrible confession: because both shows feature a red-haired teenaged girl with a monosyllabic name and a troubled relationship with their family, my brain merged the continuities of Son of a Critch and Stranger Things.

Bundle of Holding: Monarchies of Mau Tabletop rolepurring in the world of Pugmire. bundleofholding.com/presents/Mon... #BundleOfHolding #ttrpg

Five Ways Science Fiction Can Expand Beyond Homo sapiens Modern humans are fine, but what if we had a bit more variety in our stories? reactormag.com/five-ways-sc...

My uncle wrestled Rumsfeld in the 1950s, which puts me three handshakes away from a lot of very interesting people.

The Care and Feeding of Series Five crucial steps for curating series. jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/the-car...

Uplifting thought that completely fails to acknowledge the reality with which you are contending, with an undercurrent of disapproval for not being more positive in your outlook!

Tonight, my Achtung Cthulhu character used all of his acting ability--which is substantial--to get the full attention of a Lumley-esque horror so his combat-effective companions could get their shots in. It turns out successfully portraying a capable combatant is different from being one.

I firmly believe the Jays would have won had Diefenbaker not cancelled the Avro Arrow.

Moon of Mutiny (Jim Stanley, volume 3) by Lester del Rey Was Fred Halpern the boy space hero the papers believed him or the headstrong fool his teachers saw? jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/free-...

November 2025 Patreon Boost You too can be one of the legions of James Nicoll Review supporters, financing my slow but steady advance towards review aleph null! jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/novembe...

Books Received, October 25 — October 31 Five works new to me: two horror, one and a half science fiction, one half fantasy, and one TTRPG that's hard to classify. Two could be said to be series works. First four! jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/books-r...

I wonder how many Republicans are going to Halloween parties as Sexy Guy Who Showed the Nazis Where Anne Frank and Her Family Were Hiding.

October 2025 in Review James Nicoll Reviews saw its 3000th review on the 17th. 23 works reviewed. 12.5 by women (54%), 10 by men (43%), 0.5 by non-binary authors (2%), 0 by authors whose gender is unknown (0%), and 10.5 by POC (46%). jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/october...

In 1967 I had a great Zorro costume... except the eyeholes were a little small so I spent the evening wandering from house to house effectively blindfolded. (This was two years before I got glasses, so I would not have seen much anyway)

M. F. K., volume 1 by Nilah Magruder A stranger comes to Little Marigold. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/been-...

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck (I just remembered the impending time change)

No ambassador might be better than having Discount Cotton Hill.

The problem with having stuff shipped to me is convincing the shipping company to actually deliver the parcel rather than sending me endless messages about how it's totally on the truck this time. (ICS in this case)