Matthew's Journal

Nimona is set in a scifi-faux-medieval walled city (with cell phones, a metro system, flying cars, and armoured knights); we are told that in the distant past Gloreth defeated a giant black monster and enclosed the city with a wall to keep the citizens safe. In the present, the anarchic Nimona turns up in the lair of the fugitive Ballister and declares that she's going to be his sidekick.

I enjoyed this - it's fast-paced and funny (without being cringey!), and keeps teasing you that it's going to lapse into fairy-story tropes only to swerve at the last moment. There's some nice queer representation, and the characters are pretty believable. It has things to say about being different and being the outcast, and how hard it can be to try and be normal enough to fit in. I wondered if the parallel between Nimona & Gloreth and Ballister & Ambrosius was deliberate; and thought it was sad that the end was a bit "to become accepted you must sacrifice yourself to save the city".