The Ephemera Collector

by Stacy Nathaniel Jackson

In this epic Afrofuturist debut, an archivist finds herself the target of a violent plot and must rely on the help of her AI assistive technologies.

In near-future Los Angeles, Xandria Brown works diligently as an archivist at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Descended from a family of obsessive collectors who took part in the Great Migration, Xandria has always been passionate about the art of curation and preservation, especially of seemingly useless African American ephemera. But while juggling multiple projects, her neurocognitive symptoms of long COVID are worsening, as her healthbot keeps having to remind her. When the Huntington unexpectedly goes into lockdown, Xandria must rely on her adaptive technology and her own flickering intuition to preserve her life’s work—the Diwata Collection. A strikingly original saga written in lyrical prose, The Ephemera Collector announces Stacy Nathaniel Jackson as a singular new voice in fiction.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, LGBT, Queer, Science Fiction Fantasy, Books About Books, Adult

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2025

Reviews

[Book Riot Community]

This exciting Afrofuturist debut (sadly) doesn’t sound too far off from reality. Xandria Anastasia Brown is a librarian in Los Angeles in 2035 who, along with AI helper bots, curates the African American Ephemera collection and American Historical Manuscripts. But long COVID has taken a toll on Xandria, and the lapses in her memory are getting worse. It makes it hard to work and to deal with the hostile corporate takeover attempt threatening the library. When the library goes into emergency lockdown, stranding Xandria in the archive, she realizes everything she has collected and everything she believes is under attack.

—Liberty Hardy, 11 Awesome New SFF Books Out April 2025

[Zana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I was hooked!

A very near-futuristic California setting that took climate change and pandemics to heart. A successful, career-oriented Black woman protagonist who's suffering from the effects of long covid. And AI bots with varying levels of autonomy.

I liked this novel for its portrayal of a realistic future, and I really liked how the FMC, Xandria, was such a raw and vulnerable character. The mixed media format, with bits and pieces of artwork included, really added to Xandria's character development as an archivist and activist working at the Huntington Museum. Her personality reminded me of Zelu in Nnedi Okorafor's Death of the Author. Both are stubborn, yet driven in the face of adversity. (And by adversity, I mean racism and misogyny.)

There was also a psychological thriller subplot that I was a huge fan of. I thought it was really well done because as the reader, you were almost as lost as Xandria, except you were given hints so you knew beforehand that the situation was even worse than Xandria suspected.

While I loved the worldbuilding and character building, the time jump into the far, far future really confused me. And I'm saying this as someone who loves futuristic space science fantasy.

The story of Diwata literally spanned millennia, but its beginning as a Black Panther Party-inspired organization to its evolution into an actual functioning underwater colony off the coast of California to its future as a society on the verge of collapse was really, really confusing. Especially since the narrative shifted from Xandria's POV to several Diwatan citizens' POVs after a certain point in the book.

It felt like this came out of nowhere, so I couldn't really connect to this new set of characters or their situations. I think it'd be better if they were Xandria's descendants or something along those lines. It read like two interconnected novellas.

Anyway, I'd still recommend this novel if you're into sci-fi, especially if you're looking to diversify your reading. I'd definitely read more from Stacy Nathaniel Jackson!

Thank you to Liveright and NetGalley for this arc.

[Stefanie]

Leaving this book intentionally unrated because while I love the concept and what it stands for, I am sad to admit that it defeated me: I don't think I got it.

To start with the love: this is a near- and far-future speculative sci-fi about how Black communities respond to history/storykeeping (the "ephemera collecting"), climate crisis, and the evolution of AI, with queer Black folks mostly taking center stage. This is also a debut novel by a 65 year-old Black trans man. Like, HOORAY to all that!!

I was not initially daunted by the experimental formal and narrative style either, it drew me in. However, I quickly became daunted. As for form: parts of the book are presented as ephemera collections themselves - there are recordings of interviews, timelines, letters. As for timeline: we begin with the main character, Xandria, far into the future. Then we go back to a pivotal point in her life, near-future to us, for a good two-thirds of the book. And then we go forward about 100 years to a community that Xandria was studying, Diwata. And the final quarter of the book is written in poetic form.

What this all means is that there is a lot that has to be inferred or pieced together by the reader. Some of what must be inferred is about Black history and culture. Some of what must be inferred is how political operations and sabotage play out. And I am again, sad to admit that I lost the thread(s)!

If only I had Xandria herself to guide me through this experience, in her role as curator. Because I think there's a lot worth evaluating and discussing in this book that alas, went over my head.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fascinating and unique. I quite enjoyed this story. This is solidly Afrofuturist and takes the time to include quite a bit of Black American history to boot. Most of the story is set in 2035, though it does start in 2288. The story doesn't quite follow normal story parameters which is interesting and slightly confusing on audiobook.

Xandria A. Brown is an archivist for the Huntington Library in LA. This future is recognizable and frightening. Xandria is disabled with multiple issues, including Long COVID from COVID 19 & COVID 34 (or 35, my memory🤷🏾‍♀️). In addition, the air quality is terrible from a combination of uncontrollable forest fires and climate change. This felt like a very realistic extrapolation of our current societal woes.
I will say that I found myself lost in the plot multiple times. The narration really worked to anchor me to the story. This is artfully told to the extent that I feel like I definitely missed some clues that I'll pick up on a future reread. Towards the end of the novel there's a time jump and character change that I really struggled with. I found the jump confusing and the characters introduced overwhelming at first. It took chapters to understand what was happening. This got a wee bit too artsy for me.

The narrator of this audiobook is Bianca Drew. This is a difficult novel to narrate given that the main character is often interacting with computer programs and how social media is incorporated into the story. The story itself is artfully presented which can add additional challenges to narration. I think Bianca does a fantastic job with this. Her narration held my interest no matter how momentarily confused I was by the actions of the story. The narration almost acted as a guide to this confusing but easily recognizable possible future world. This would be an excellent novel for immersion reading. The artful story paired with the stellar narration would be a treat in an immersion reading experience.

Thank you to Stacy Nathaniel Jackson, HighBridge Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

[Aubrei K (earlgreypls)]

DNF @ 25%

I tried to read this like 4 separate times (digital and audio!) and could never make it past 25%.

I was SO excited about The Ephemera Collector - marketed as a queer afrofuturist sci-fi about an archivist specializing in conserving african-american ephemera.

I'm not saying it's not this (especially because I did not finish the entire book), but what I will say is that it was boring!

One of the main parts of this story is that the MC is suffering from long-COVID and because of that has some very significant memory issues. This is just personal preference, but I strongly dislike it when a main character has amnesia or loss of memory and we are stuck in their POV. It feels like a lazy way to introduce mystery/intrigue into the story but really it just leaves me frustrated instead. I know that is the point - but it makes it really difficult for me to want to proceed reading from that POV. Because of this, so much of the first quarter is disorienting and I was trying to find my footing and understand what was going on more than I was immersing myself into the characters and the world.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Amala's · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a really interesting point of view. To be set in the future with a main female who is older using artificial intelligence to help her fight a rebellion in the midst of also losing her memories.

I had a really hard time keeping up with the point of views of the robots. Where there two? One that was helping her and other that was going through files? Honestly I don’t know. I think this book could do a whole lot more on clarity and smoothing out the transitions.

This could be because this is a genre that I do not normally read. It was just unfortunate that I could not connect to anything in this book.

[Mai H.]

Pride TBR

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Liveright

[laurel! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a very complicated book & i felt confused at times, but I can chalk part of that up to slumping in the middle of it (not because of this book! because i made a LOT of art and stopped having time for reading lol) and pausing for a long time.

Xandria is the unreliablest of narrators, but the addition of different ephemera (ESPECIALLY the timeline) made things much easier to comprehend. I enjoyed the reference to Sassafras, Cypress, and Indigo which I am also trying to get my hands back on to finish!

I did feel like when I began to get truly invested in a storyline, the perspective would switch to a different time/person/civilization, which made it hard to stay engaged for long periods of time. A good debut though and the concepts are extremely solid :D

[Mark Sneed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting read. The story is a little complicated. In a nutshell, this is a tale set in the near-future Los Angeles, and the archivist Xandria, battling long COVID is aided by adaptive AI. Xandria, must navigate a sudden lockdown and protect an important vital archive of African-American history and culture from a violent plot to destroy it. Like I said, complicated.

[HeatherREADS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating for many reasons, this is a MUST READ for anyone interested in Afrofuturism, the future of our planet, environmental justice, racial inequality, or libraries and archives. All fantastic subjects! Xandria Brown is an archivist in the near future, with her major project being the Diwata Collection. The format of the book is all you can ask for and more from a book about ephemera. Loved, loved, loved the format.

Stacy Nathaniel Jackson is a gifted author, with a great sense of story and the ability to share that story lyrically. I need more from this author! Most of the book was embedded with a sense of understanding of the feelings the characters were experiencing. It could be read in the air.

This is a great imagination of a possible future, but more so it’s commentary on race, justice, and the environment. The technology of the future included in the book was fascinating to picture. The living situations and working conditions were also really interesting. But the real substance was in addressing the much more serious themes involved. Thank you to NetGalley and to Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton and Company, for the advance copy of this compelling novel.

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to open by saying that—except for this book—I have no experience with reading futurist literature. I'm a bit of a Luddite and prefer my fiction looking backward and not into the future, which seems all to perilous these days. But the description of this book sounded interesting—and two of its settings are locations I'm particularly fond of: The Huntington Gallery/Library/Botanical Gardens and the Monterey Bay Aquarium/Monterey Bay submarine canyon. So, I gave The Ephemera Collector a go, and I'm glad I did.

I was conscious the entire time of being in a "foreign" genre, but I could follow enough of the plot to realize that it's engaging on multiple levels. Did I understand all the techno-speak? No, but I never felt I was completely at a loss.

Xandria Brown, the ephemera collector of the title, is employed at the Huntington and is in charge of assembling a "Diwata Collection," Diwata being the name of an undersea community, designed based on principles of Restorative Art and Archtecture. Many of the wealthy have left Earth for colonies on Mars. The residents of Diwata are Black and come from communities historically subjected to red-lining and similar policies that deliberately denied stability and possibilities for economic progress. There's a Green Revolution Movement that objects to both the Mars colonies and Diwata, viewing their use of these ecosystems as a form of colonization.

Xandria has been disabled in multiple ways—particularly neurologically—as a result of long COVID. She's able to do her work as a curator with assistive AI, a group of specialized bots tracking her physiological status and her frequent loss of memory.

The story opens with a terrorist attack on a meeting at the Huntington. One of Xandria's bots preemptively locks her into her work space; another is trying to map an escape route for her. This thread runs throughout the novel, but the timeline also moves into the past (which for readers is still the future, just a nearer future). A director is kidnapped and dies. There's some suggestion that Xandria may either be connected to this operation or set up to appear that way.

Three things made this novel powerful for me, even in my moments of confusion/uncertainty. First, the complex development of characters and their relationships to one another. Second, the way the plot essentially is one possible outcome of the world we are living in now. Third, that it isn't just futurist, but Afro-Futurist in all its aspects historical, current, and future. So. Much. To. Think. About. And I enjoyed that thinking, even when the ideas it led to were disconcerting.

If you like futurist literature, I think you'll find The Ephemera Collector a must-read. Even if you're completely new to futurist literature there's more than enough here to keep you engaged. Trust me.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

[Tim Lepczyk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Incredibly inward and over-the-top science fiction, like every paragraph needs some new item in it that comes across as jargon and a need to make the setting feel futuristic.

[Storm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for Reddit Fantasy's 2025 Bingo Square Published in 2025, qualifying for hard mode as it is the author's first published novel and it thus has some weaknesses.

In near-future Los Angeles, Xandria Brown, works her as an archivist at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. It is a dream job for several reasons.

First, the job emphasizes the art of curation and preservation. As Xandria is descended from a long line of obsessive collectors (who some might call "hoarders") who took part in the Great Migration and happened to keep all kinds of seemingly useless items, she's already familiar with a lot of the items.


Second, it plays to her strengths in keeping meticulous catalogues and writing up historical details of the various ephemera, allowing her to curate and preserve things like the Diwata collection.


Finally, her employer makes lovely workplace accommodations for her ever worsening neurocognitive symptoms from long COVID.


All seems to be progressing well until a bunch of Art Thieves target her workplace, throwing everything into disarray and causing Xandria to have to utilize her adaptive technology, her healthbot and her intuition to get out of this.

The blurb calls this an epic Afrofuturist debut, it is Afrofuturist for sure but I'm not as certain about the epic part as there are flaws in this debut novel. There are strengths. Stacy Nathaniel Jackson definitely has a distinct author's voice right out of the gate, something some other authors don't develop till later in their careers. His writing and prose are beautiful and lyrical. The character work is very, very good, the various ones seem almost real.

I also felt that Xandria could have expounded more on the value of the various ephemera, to at least educate readers about why these things were important enough to preserve, instead of overly focusing on the AI angle just because it is the "cool new current issue" in technology. I felt a book about preserving history should cover more about historical value to engage and educate readers.


The only weakness in the writing is somewhat plot related. I get that he's trying to draw attention to the long term impacts of COVID, which had disproportionately bad effects on persons of color, especially Black people. Unfortunately all the medical jargon spewed by the healthbot was dry, boring and would be incomprehensible to most regular people, to the point I could feel myself losing interest every time the healthbot update came up.


Plot wise this was hit and miss from a structural standpoint, and the blame for this might lie with publisher or the editing team rather than the author. This felt like two separate books. The main story with Xandria is actually good (minus the dry medical jargon bit.) That took up roughly two thirds of the book. The last third shifts to Diwata, the only tie in being that was the collection Xandria was collecting. This last bit was all over the place and felt disjointed in more ways than one. It might have been better to release a book about Xandria, with a Diwata Novella after?

To conclude, this had a lot of promise but failed to deliver on some of them. The publisher is right that the author has a singular voice, and it's clear his experience and world view shine through when he can deliver prose of this quality. I wanted more ephemera but didn't get it. It would be wiser to edit down the boring medical bits. And finally do a book and a novella rather than force the second bit into the novel, that made it very disjointed from a narrative and structural standpoint.


Structure and editing can fix a lot of the flaws in this book, but it takes time to develop an author's voice and he already has that in spaces. There's a lot of promise here even with the flawed execution, I'll just look forward to his next book hopefully being better than this one.

[Ailey | Bisexual Bookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book will be published in the US on April 1, 2025 by Liveright / WW Norton.

Full Rating: 2.75 stars rounded up

There’s so much to admire in The Ephemera Collector—its intricate worldbuilding, its incisive critique of corporate control over historical narratives, and its deeply felt exploration of disability and bodily autonomy. Stacy Nathaniel Jackson crafts a story that is both intensely personal and expansively political, weaving together the life of Xandria Brown, a 23rd-century archivist battling long COVID, with the fate of a separatist underwater city. Yet, despite the novel’s ambitious scope and compelling themes, its execution left me frustrated.

Xandria has spent her life working to preserve marginalized histories, most recently the Diwata Collection—ephemera from a climate separatist community in Monterey Canyon. But when the massive corporation WIKA acquires the Huntington Library, her work becomes threatened by profit-driven motives. As she spearheads the #BlackoutWIKA resistance campaign, an attack on the building leaves her trapped inside, shifting the novel’s focus to the efforts of her AI support bots to save her. This introduces a second narrative thread: a deep dive into Xandria’s fragmented memories, caused by Long COVID inflammation, leading to a mid-novel exploration of her family history and the systemic forces that shaped her lineage. Eventually, the book closes with a long section from the perspective of Diwatan citizens, reflecting on their revolutionary project and the artifacts Xandria has been archiving.

While the novel’s thematic richness is undeniable, its structure felt unwieldy. The perspective shifts—particularly those involving Xandria’s support bots—were often difficult to track, making it challenging to stay grounded in the narrative. The attack on WIKA and the exploration of Diwata’s history felt like two entirely separate books, with Xandria’s personal struggles acting as a bridge that wasn’t quite strong enough to hold them together. The most frustrating aspect was how major plot threads—Xandria’s health, memory distortions, and the corporate interference with her work—were introduced with weighty significance, only to be dropped, then abruptly revisited before being sidelined again.

I wanted to love this book. Its vision of resistance, its commitment to interrogating who controls history, and its nuanced depiction of disability all resonated deeply. But the scattered execution ultimately made it difficult to fully connect. With more structural tightening, The Ephemera Collector could have been a powerhouse. As it stands, it’s an ambitious novel that doesn’t quite cohere.

📖 Read this if you love: speculative fiction that interrogates corporate overreach, radical disability justice, and archival resistance; books by Octavia Butler or Rivers Solomon.

🔑 Key Themes: Memory and Autonomy, The Commodification of History, Environmental Collapse and Resistance, Technology and Surveillance, Disability and Care.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Death of a Parent (minor), Grief (minor), Sexual Harassment (minor), Medical Content (severe), Racism (minor), Bullying (minor), Sexual Content (minor), Animal Death (minor).

[Haerlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this epic Afrofuturist debut, an archivist finds herself the target of a violent plot and must rely on the help of her AI assistive technologies.

In near-future Los Angeles, Xandria Brown works diligently as an archivist at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Descended from a family of obsessive collectors who took part in the Great Migration, Xandria has always been passionate about the art of curation and preservation, especially of seemingly useless African American ephemera. But while juggling multiple projects, her neurocognitive symptoms of long COVID are worsening, as her healthbot keeps having to remind her. When the Huntington unexpectedly goes into lockdown, Xandria must rely on her adaptive technology and her own flickering intuition to preserve her life’s work—the Diwata Collection. A strikingly original saga written in lyrical prose, The Ephemera Collector announces Stacy Nathaniel Jackson as a singular new voice in fiction.

About the Author: Stacy Nathaniel Jackson is a trans poet, playwright, and visual artist whose work has appeared in Electric Literature, Georgia Review, and New American Writing, among other publications.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines ephemera as "things that are important or used for only a short period of time." This debut is aptly named. The ephemera that Xandria curates reads like a list of forgotten or underappreciated treasures that readers should source for themselves. As such, I can see this story being great for a reading group-it will generate lots of discussion and activities. I will offer a caution and suggest for adult readers, as there is some open-door spice that may be unsuitable for younger readers. That said, I appreciated that the FMC was in her forties and a Black woman-as a Black woman in my forties, I too, have developed into the archivist of my family, as have many of my peers. Add this debut to your lists on Black speculative fiction: I have.

[Maya]

The Ephemera Collector introduces Stacy Nathanial Jackson as an exciting new voice in Afrofuturism, who lyrical prose shines in this ambitious first novel. Jackson's creates a rich and vibrant world with characters that are easy to become invested in, yet the structure of the novel was often confusing and made this an often frustrating read.

The book is anchored by Xandria, an archivist in the near future whose work on Octavia Butler's archives and the "Diwata Collection" are complicated by long term health issues and memory problems caused by Covid19 and Covid34 (horrifying). The first two third of the novel focus on Xandria herself, as she and her assistive bots are trapped in her office by unexpected lockdown. Xandria's personal and family history are woven together with the ongoing events in a narrative that is as much about loss and personal identity as it is a critique of corporate take overs and the ever-growing role of AI. Following the many voices and plot lines is at times tricky, but by the end of the section I felt I had a good grasp on what was going on and had become invested. However, just as I was reaching that point the story pivoted, and the final third of the book focuses on the underwater climate refuge of Diwata, the society Xandria is collecting ephemera from, despite the fact that it does not yet exist.

My overall takeaway is that his section of the book may have worked better as a separate book in the same series, as it felt almost entirely disconnected from the earlier 2/3 of the book. While the woven timelines and narrative lines buildup Xandria’s story, they are more confusing than anything else here, and it often felt that necessary context was missing. Ultimately, I came away from the read frustrated; there is a strong premise that I so wanted to love, but in the end I struggled through the novel.

2-2.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Liveright and the author for the eARC in exchange for honest review.

[The Page Ladies Book Club · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stacy Nathaniel Jackson’s The Ephemera Collector is a quiet knockout part near future thriller, part meditation on memory, and part love letter to preservation. Set in a slightly dystopian Los Angeles, it follows Xandria Brown, an archivist at the Huntington Library who comes from a lineage of passionate collectors dating back to the Great Migration. She’s dedicated to saving the fragile bits of African American history most people would toss away flyers, ticket stubs, handwritten notes the ephemera that tell real lives.

But as Xandria juggles multiple projects, her body and mind are fraying. Her long COVID neurocognitive symptoms are worsening, her healthbot constantly nudging her about meds and rest. Then the Huntington abruptly goes into lockdown, trapping her inside with the Diwata Collection, the work she’s poured herself into for years. The tension isn’t about explosions or car chases; it’s about whether she can keep her grasp on both the artifacts and her own fading focus long enough to protect what matters.

Jackson’s prose is lyrical and immersive, evoking not just the dusty beauty of archives but the weight of history and the fragility of memory. The speculative elements feel organic, not flashy: adaptive tech and healthbots exist alongside paper scraps and handwritten labels. Xandria’s struggle becomes a moving metaphor for the act of collecting itself holding onto what slips away, even as you yourself are slipping.

The Ephemera Collector is a striking story that blends cultural history, disability, and a near future Los Angeles into something both tender and urgent. For readers who love novels that center archives, forgotten histories, and the human cost of preservation.

[Sara Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars ⋆｡°✩

I think the first line of the summary describes this novel perfectly: "In this epic Afrofuturist debut, an archivist finds herself the target of a violent plot and must rely on the help of her AI assistive technologies." What does that mean? Honestly, I finished the book and I'm still not sure.

I was so beyond excited when I was approved for this ARC and I spent the entire read so utterly confused yet so captivated. The world Jackson has built is a not so unrealistic view at the future of the US. Xandria, our FMC, was vulnerable and authentic throughout the whole story and truly what kept me reading through my confusion.

While set in our world, the world building as a whole was well done until we got to the last 25% or so of the book. There is a major time jump that left me reeling and I struggled to follow our new characters after barely getting a grip on the original plot and subplot of our main story.

Was I confused during this? Yes, absolutely. Would I recommend it? Honestly, yea. If you're trying to diversify your realistic sci-fi selection, this is a good one to pick up!

Thank you NetGalley, Stacy Nathaniel Jackson, and LiveRight for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Yari · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ephemera Collector: A Novel by Stacy Nathaniel Jackson conceptually is a great book but poor in execution. There are so many descriptions of concepts like Project Management and endless lists of items like historical figures and literature that were overwhelming even for me, having a thorough knowledge of some of these concepts having read a lot of the books, knowing of the historical figures mentioned and being a Project Management Professional.

The narration by Bianca Drew felt monotone and that made it challenging for me to follow. I think this would certainly be a better experience being a print book, especially with the exhaustive list of historical items and people.

Thank you to HighBridge Audio for the opportunity to listen to this ALC. All opinions are my own.

Audiobook Rating: 3 Stars
Pub Date: Apr 29 2025

Tags:
#HighBridgeAudio
#TheEphemeraCollector
#StacyNathanielJackson
#BiancaDrew
#ScienceFiction
#Afrofuturism
#YarisBookNook
#netgalley

[Lizzieb123 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me forever to read, primarily because deciphering the story’s timeline and diverging threads is a laborious mental task. However! I think this book was rather rewarding in that it encourages consideration of the ways reality and fiction blur. Our thoughts, feelings, stories, etc are a part of our material conditions and XAB’s story highlights the importance of imagining futures, especially complex ones in which both positive and negative attributes abound. I like how this book leaves some storylines open. Though it initially felt unsatisfying, I now find myself imagining what could have happened. Imagination, as cliche as it sounds, is extremely important. Ultimately, Jackson’s book feels like an experimentally crafted push for the readers towards imagining futures. This unseats the boundary between reality and imagination, author and reader, and I find this type of boundary blurring extremely important.

[Erricka Hager · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been on an Afrofuturistic kick and The Ephemera Collector satisfied my curiosity.

I really enjoyed the first 2/3 of this book where we are following our main character Xandria as she attempts to navigate the effects of long-COVID while being accused of a kidnapping plot. The techno-thriller vibes from this were excellent….however we then take a huge leap into the future and I wasn’t really engaged.

I did appreciate the epistolary format of the book while I listened to the audiobook (thanks NetGalley and Liveright Publishing for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review). It added an additional touch to the commentary on archives.

Overall this was a decent read and a welcome new entry into the Afrofuturistic Sci-fi genre.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

_The Ephemera Collector_ by Stacy Nathaniel Jackson is an evocative Afrofuturism book perfect for readers of the genre. Xandria Brown lives in Los Angeles in the near-future and works as an archivist preserving African American ephemera. She suffers from long COVID symptoms while working on the Diwata Collection, fighting to preserve the materials and her own memories. Jackson’s writing is lyrical and thought-provoking, and delves into contemporary issues such as race and the environment. A beautiful read from a debut author.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Charlie]

DNF. The first part, set in 2035, was a bit distressing because it dealt with a woman whose developing dementia made it difficult for her to understand what was happening, and various AIs were trying to manage or manipulate her, each with incomplete knowledge of the situation. I found the AIs confusing. The middle of the book was an account of the woman's ancestors, and that was
interesting, giving me information and insights into black history in the US in the 20th century. The novel then jumped forward 50 years to 2085, which served as an epilogue, then jumped forward much further, so it was all new characters in a future black society. I decided it wasn't worth continuing at that point.

[Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is hard to review. I think that it is a difficult book to translate into audio. I wound up borrowing a physical copy in order to follow along more easily. I think it might have benefitted from using multiple narrators to more clearly define the different voices of the story. And while the story itself is interesting, there is a lot going on, and the story kind of gets lost in the telling of the details. I wanted to love this story, but it was awkwardly told and often difficult to follow. It's a really cool concept piece, but not a great read.

Thank you to Netgalley and HighBridge Audio for this ARC

[Matthew Kilpatrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Netgalley Arc-

I might have liked this more if it had been more cohesive and didn't jump around so much. The writing itself was fine but the book was difficult to follow and the constant history infodumps slowed things down. I also already knew a lot of the history that the book was teaching so that might have had something to do with it, I was just thinking yes I know all this can you get back to the story? I imagine a lot of other people who will want to read this book will also know the history.

[Dragon Winterfell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started and stopped and restarted and stopped The Ephemera Collector by Stacy Nathaniel Jackson repeatedly before DNFing. I really wanted to like this one, but there was far too much dry info dumping and not enough focus on character. There were elements I was very interested in, like a middle aged Black woman as the protagonist of a futuristic fantasy novel. But I don't feel that the delivery was as engaging enough to keep spending time on.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Lindsey]

I'm honesty not sure how to rate this. I enjoyed it, especially following our main character in the beginning (a queer chronically ill character, you couldn't sign me up faster) and I enjoyed the formatting, as well as the unexpected perspectives we got. But the last 100 pages or so, sent the story in a different direction and while it did tie in for sure, I'm still unsure how I felt. I think I felt like I wanted more of both stories. But I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys different formats in their stories and is okay leaving books without all the answers.

[Rose]

DNF I want to like this book, I do. But I just finished a book with an unreliable narrator and can’t make myself do it again. I think the topics I gathered in the first 100 pages are important but between the lingo and the difficult to follow perspective of the main character I’m just not interested in reading it right now. Maybe I’ll come back in a year to try again.

[CEGatling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. there was a lot going on and it was kind of experimental in its construction, but I enjoyed the story/stories.

The narrator could have been way better. She was very stilted and slow (I bumped up the narration rate to 1.15), and it was kind of hard to tell which character was speaking when there was no obvious change.

Story: 3.5
Narration: 2
Total: 2.75 stars

[Patrick Hartley · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy stories that weave together the past and present through the lens of collecting, “The Ephemera Collector” may be worth your time! Would you like to know more about it or any specific aspect?