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Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions
Caribbean-Canadian author Nalo Hopkinson (Brown Girl in the Ring) is an internationally beloved storyteller. This long-awaited new collection of her deeply imaginative short fiction offers striking journeys to far-flung futures and fantastical landscapes.
[STARRED REVIEW] “A joyous celebration of Hopkinson’s abiding legacy as a titan of both speculative fiction and Caribbean literature.”
—Publishers Weekly
[STARRED REVIEW] “A commanding short story collection.”
—Foreword
In Hopkinson’s first collection of stories since 2015, a woman and her cyborg pig eke out a living in a future waterworld; two scientists contemplate the cavernous remains of an alien life-form; a trans woman at a funeral might be haunted by more than just bad memories; and an artist creates nanotechnology that asserts Blackness where it is least welcome.
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as having “an imagination that most of us would kill for,” Nalo Hopkinson and her Afro-Caribbean, Canadian, and American influences shine in truly unique stories that are gorgeously strange, inventively subversive, and vividly beautiful.
[STARRED REVIEW] “A joyous celebration of Hopkinson’s abiding legacy as a titan of both speculative fiction and Caribbean literature.”
—Publishers Weekly
[STARRED REVIEW] “A commanding short story collection.”
—Foreword
In Hopkinson’s first collection of stories since 2015, a woman and her cyborg pig eke out a living in a future waterworld; two scientists contemplate the cavernous remains of an alien life-form; a trans woman at a funeral might be haunted by more than just bad memories; and an artist creates nanotechnology that asserts Blackness where it is least welcome.
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as having “an imagination that most of us would kill for,” Nalo Hopkinson and her Afro-Caribbean, Canadian, and American influences shine in truly unique stories that are gorgeously strange, inventively subversive, and vividly beautiful.
225 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 29, 2024
29 people are currently reading
2691 people want to read
About the author
Nalo Hopkinson
143 books2,041 followersNalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican-born writer and editor who lives in Canada. Her science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories often draw on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
October 5, 2024
Nalo Hopkinson was a new to me author when I started this book in June. By the end of July, I considered myself a huge fan. A Caribbean/Canadian author, (who also spent time in Trinidad and Guyana), Nalo offers up stories of beauty and wonder, often with an environmental slant, and I loved them!
And More Slow was a story that blew me away and I loved this quote:
The other stories that stood out for me were:
Can't Beat Em: My notes say "The Glups." Featuring a hot, butch, plumber protagonist, this story had some laughs and some gross outs. LOVED it!
Child Moon: This story had a huge twist that left me stunned.
Convenant: I mentioned stories with an environmental slant and this was one of them. As we poison this earth, she is poisoning us back. And between the two, she is the most powerful.
Ally: This tale is about acceptance among certain communities.
Broad Dutty Water: My favorite story in this collection. Welcome to a world nearly filled with water.
(Another tale wound up in truths about the environment.)
Clap Back: Nanites. What can be done with them today as versus what could be done with them in the future. This story reminds me of certain genetic procedures and the moral questions surrounding issues like gene modification and perhaps being able to wipe out genes that cause diseases. But what about gene modification to change race and/or color. Where would it end?
I think Nalo's life experiences and her writing skills combined to make this book somehow bigger than its parts. Her viewpoint is like no other and therefore her writing is like no other, at least none that I can think of. If I hadn't received an ARC I might not have ever read this beautiful volume and that would have been a tragic loss for me.
Sometimes breaking out of our own self imposed boxes and reading something completely new and different from the world in which we are used to living, is good for the heart and good for the soul. I am so glad I read this and if you decide to give it a try, I think you'll be glad as well.
My highest recommendation!
Available October 29th from Tachyon.
*ARC from publisher.
And More Slow was a story that blew me away and I loved this quote:
"Saoirse contemplated the gift of a woman making of her very self a work of art and science, fully taking up her space; all of it and more."
The other stories that stood out for me were:
Can't Beat Em: My notes say "The Glups." Featuring a hot, butch, plumber protagonist, this story had some laughs and some gross outs. LOVED it!
Child Moon: This story had a huge twist that left me stunned.
Convenant: I mentioned stories with an environmental slant and this was one of them. As we poison this earth, she is poisoning us back. And between the two, she is the most powerful.
Ally: This tale is about acceptance among certain communities.
Broad Dutty Water: My favorite story in this collection. Welcome to a world nearly filled with water.
(Another tale wound up in truths about the environment.)
Clap Back: Nanites. What can be done with them today as versus what could be done with them in the future. This story reminds me of certain genetic procedures and the moral questions surrounding issues like gene modification and perhaps being able to wipe out genes that cause diseases. But what about gene modification to change race and/or color. Where would it end?
I think Nalo's life experiences and her writing skills combined to make this book somehow bigger than its parts. Her viewpoint is like no other and therefore her writing is like no other, at least none that I can think of. If I hadn't received an ARC I might not have ever read this beautiful volume and that would have been a tragic loss for me.
Sometimes breaking out of our own self imposed boxes and reading something completely new and different from the world in which we are used to living, is good for the heart and good for the soul. I am so glad I read this and if you decide to give it a try, I think you'll be glad as well.
My highest recommendation!
Available October 29th from Tachyon.
*ARC from publisher.
October 3, 2025
I love Nalo Hopkinson's imagination
October 31, 2024
Nalo Hopkinson ranks in the top tier of my favorite scifi and speculative fiction authors. I have read most of her excellent novels, but she stands out as an author whose short story collections actually end up being my favorites in her repertoire. Falling in Love with Hominids is one of the best short story collections I have read by either a single or multiple authors. Naturally, I was excited to see Tachyon putting out a new collection by Hopkinson: Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions. Nisi Shawl also aided Hopkinson and cowrote one of the stories in the collection as well.
While this collection did not hit as hard as Falling in Love with Hominids for me personally, it is still a strong collection that spans genres as Hopkinson is known to do. There are a couple stories that can be found in other collections, but many of these are ones that were written for specific projects- including a TED talk fiction performance by multiple authors gathered by Neil Gaiman- that are not so easily accessible. I really enjoyed that they included Nalo's words before each story, describing where the stories came from and what her writing process was. It enriched the experience of reading the book. Her description of the aforementioned TED story entry was the longest and most interesting in its discussion of how the stereotypical boundaries of science fiction must often be surpassed when marginalized characters are present. Hopkinson is also excessively humble in some of her assessments of stories. There were ones that were not her favorite that I ended up liking quite a lot.
The best stories in the collection in terms of my own tastes were Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story inspired by a Jamaican folksong and real life horrors of flooding, the satirical Clap Back telling truth through fiction about exploitative arts, Repatriationabout a very special type of cruise, and my absolute favorite San Humanité which somehow, despite being only two pages, gripped me and left me craving an expansion of it into a full novel. I do not think I have ever felt that way from a 2 page story before. There are plenty of other excellent stories that people who are fans of all sorts of genres will enjoy as well.
Nalo Hopkinson is not just groundbreaking in her telling of stories with characters not often centered in SSFF genres, though that is definitely a draw for me. She is a damned good writer who continues to evolve with time and this collection is a good example of the many places her fiction has gone. I look forward to the next entry in her writing career, hopefully sooner rather than later.
This was also posted to my blog and storygraph.
While this collection did not hit as hard as Falling in Love with Hominids for me personally, it is still a strong collection that spans genres as Hopkinson is known to do. There are a couple stories that can be found in other collections, but many of these are ones that were written for specific projects- including a TED talk fiction performance by multiple authors gathered by Neil Gaiman- that are not so easily accessible. I really enjoyed that they included Nalo's words before each story, describing where the stories came from and what her writing process was. It enriched the experience of reading the book. Her description of the aforementioned TED story entry was the longest and most interesting in its discussion of how the stereotypical boundaries of science fiction must often be surpassed when marginalized characters are present. Hopkinson is also excessively humble in some of her assessments of stories. There were ones that were not her favorite that I ended up liking quite a lot.
The best stories in the collection in terms of my own tastes were Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story inspired by a Jamaican folksong and real life horrors of flooding, the satirical Clap Back telling truth through fiction about exploitative arts, Repatriationabout a very special type of cruise, and my absolute favorite San Humanité which somehow, despite being only two pages, gripped me and left me craving an expansion of it into a full novel. I do not think I have ever felt that way from a 2 page story before. There are plenty of other excellent stories that people who are fans of all sorts of genres will enjoy as well.
Nalo Hopkinson is not just groundbreaking in her telling of stories with characters not often centered in SSFF genres, though that is definitely a draw for me. She is a damned good writer who continues to evolve with time and this collection is a good example of the many places her fiction has gone. I look forward to the next entry in her writing career, hopefully sooner rather than later.
This was also posted to my blog and storygraph.
January 4, 2025
Thank you to B2Weird and Tachyon for sending me a review copy for book tour purposes.
I participated in the Jamaica Ginger & Other Concoctions book tour a while back with @B2Weird, but hadn’t given this book the attention it deserved. I restarted and finished it yesterday though and oh my god, this was incredible! I loved this collection of Hopkinson’s stories. I had to pause a couple times to deal with samples and I didn’t want to stop!
These stories really gripped me. There’s something about Hopkinson’s writing that pulls you in and I didn’t want to let go. We get little prefaces before each story and I loved those just as much as the stories themselves. We learn more about the author’s life, her writing and the inspirations behind the pieces. These stories range in genre and tone, but they’re all incredibly inventive.
Three stood out to me even more than the others: Broad Dutty Water, Clap Back and Repatriation. There was an extra something that resonated with me for these stories. I don’t know how to describe it, but these ones held my attention in the palm of their hand.
I also have recommendations that I think readers of Jamaica Ginger would enjoy:
- Cool. Awkward. Black. Edited by Karen Strong
- A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black girl magic, resistance and hope edited by Patrice Caldwell
- The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach
- My Government Means to Kill me by Rasheed Newsom
- Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson
I participated in the Jamaica Ginger & Other Concoctions book tour a while back with @B2Weird, but hadn’t given this book the attention it deserved. I restarted and finished it yesterday though and oh my god, this was incredible! I loved this collection of Hopkinson’s stories. I had to pause a couple times to deal with samples and I didn’t want to stop!
These stories really gripped me. There’s something about Hopkinson’s writing that pulls you in and I didn’t want to let go. We get little prefaces before each story and I loved those just as much as the stories themselves. We learn more about the author’s life, her writing and the inspirations behind the pieces. These stories range in genre and tone, but they’re all incredibly inventive.
Three stood out to me even more than the others: Broad Dutty Water, Clap Back and Repatriation. There was an extra something that resonated with me for these stories. I don’t know how to describe it, but these ones held my attention in the palm of their hand.
I also have recommendations that I think readers of Jamaica Ginger would enjoy:
- Cool. Awkward. Black. Edited by Karen Strong
- A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black girl magic, resistance and hope edited by Patrice Caldwell
- The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach
- My Government Means to Kill me by Rasheed Newsom
- Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson
March 14, 2025
Excellent collection! It's always a pleasure to read anything by Nalo Hopkinson.
October 26, 2024
I first experienced Nalo Hopkinson’s unique literary brilliance six years ago, when I read her debut novel Brown Girl in the Ring on a friend’s recommendation; it was an instant 5-star read for me, and I’m not exaggerating when I say I still think about that book all the time. So of course, I was thrilled to read this new collection of Hopkinson’s speculative short fiction, and my high expectations were not only met but exceeded. Every single story in this collection is complex, inventive, strange, and wonderful, each immersive and memorable in their own way. The pieces range in length, some merely snapshots of an idea and others full narrative arcs, but they are all tied together by huge imagination and a tightly honed craft. I love that Hopkinson’s sci-fi work champions queerness and Caribbean culture, and her explorations of technological innovation and ever-growing ecological issues are always thought-provoking. I was especially interested in the short introductions before each story, which provided fascinating insights into Hopkinson’s inspirations, word choices, and thought processes. An incredible collection from an exceptional writer!
Thanks to Tachyon Publications and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Thanks to Tachyon Publications and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
October 26, 2024
Stories new and known to me, all written with that Hopkinson magic.
May 27, 2024
I had encountered some of Nalo Hopkinson's stories before starting this collection, and admired them. So it's with pleasure I can say this is another varied set with which she shows a talent for making strange and thought-provoking tales with concerns including Western and Caribbean cultures, gender, climate change and adaptation and resilience. And cute swimming pigs!
'Broad Dutty Water' is one of the longest and strongest stories. Jacquee is a young female member of a 'taz', an ocean farming cooperative created after a catastrophic climactic flooding process, the Inundation, that has affected the local Caribbean environment. In 'Jamaica Ginger, we get a 'teslapunk' tale about another young female protagonist in a setting that resembles early 20th century America with many of its racial attitudes. The fantasy tale 'San Humanite' is my favourite. It is really just all about a general feeling and aesthetic, which really worked for me. It has the best weird atmosphere in any story this side of H.P Lovecraft.
I really the author's energetic use of Caribbean vernacular, a grasp that is very convincing, at least to an outsider. Some of the stories have an angry tone and are out to make a statement - this might not be for everyone. But the author has a great way of telling tales, regardless, and it's clear she has things that are important to tell.
See my blog post for a full review:
https://toomanyfantasybooks.blogspot....
Thanks to Netgalley and @TachyonPub for an ARC of this collection.
'Broad Dutty Water' is one of the longest and strongest stories. Jacquee is a young female member of a 'taz', an ocean farming cooperative created after a catastrophic climactic flooding process, the Inundation, that has affected the local Caribbean environment. In 'Jamaica Ginger, we get a 'teslapunk' tale about another young female protagonist in a setting that resembles early 20th century America with many of its racial attitudes. The fantasy tale 'San Humanite' is my favourite. It is really just all about a general feeling and aesthetic, which really worked for me. It has the best weird atmosphere in any story this side of H.P Lovecraft.
I really the author's energetic use of Caribbean vernacular, a grasp that is very convincing, at least to an outsider. Some of the stories have an angry tone and are out to make a statement - this might not be for everyone. But the author has a great way of telling tales, regardless, and it's clear she has things that are important to tell.
See my blog post for a full review:
https://toomanyfantasybooks.blogspot....
Thanks to Netgalley and @TachyonPub for an ARC of this collection.
May 22, 2025
Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions has convinced me that every short story collection should have small author notes and context to introduce them to the reader. It makes for a truly wonderful reading experience. The title story Jamaica Ginger was also a collaboration with the Nisi Shawl, so you get a sprinkling of another lovely author in this collection too.
We get stories ranging from environmental collapse to aliens and mystical monsters. The bonus of an anthology is that the variety of a stories mean that there is likely at least one in here for almost any reader. Regardless of what happens in each story, Hopkinson’s own offbeat and to the left approach to considering “but what if” shines through in the entire collection. Some stories gave me chills, others left me with in deep contemplation, and the introduction to each was delightful. (I now know some facts about Jamaica Ginger.)
We get stories ranging from environmental collapse to aliens and mystical monsters. The bonus of an anthology is that the variety of a stories mean that there is likely at least one in here for almost any reader. Regardless of what happens in each story, Hopkinson’s own offbeat and to the left approach to considering “but what if” shines through in the entire collection. Some stories gave me chills, others left me with in deep contemplation, and the introduction to each was delightful. (I now know some facts about Jamaica Ginger.)
December 14, 2024
Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions is a great short story collection that feels cohesive while having a lot of variety genre and length-wise. A few of my favourite stories were the title story “Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions” (co-written with Nisi Shawl for a collection honouring Samuel Delany), “Can’t Beat ‘Em” (which features a plumber removing a very... interesting drain clog), “Clap Back” (featuring nanotech fashions), and “Broad Dutty Water” (a story set amidst risen water levels). I appreciated the inclusion of brief notes introducing and contextualizing each story. Definitely recommend this collection.
Thank you Tachyon Publications & NetGalley for an ARC to review.
Thank you Tachyon Publications & NetGalley for an ARC to review.
December 8, 2024
A pleasant concoction of stories, as the subtitle says. Most are Caribbean-inspired as is this author's tendency and her background warrants. The best stories are probably the title story and 'Broad Dutty Water'. One of them is admittedly a mish-mash of visions that she didn't know what to do with.
November 22, 2024
I received a gifted copy of Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions by Nalo Hopkinson in exchange for my honest review and an Instagram post.
This is a satisfying collection of short stories that left me thinking about them long after I finished each one. I was already a long-time fan of her work, but I also think it’d be a good introduction for first-time Hopkinson readers. I didn’t love every story, but I did enjoy reading each one (and really loved about half of them). The collection includes joyful, uplifting stories, some that are just strange, as well as one or two that made me squirm and feel just a little bit nauseous. Some of my favorite stories touched on climate change, art, transformation, community, food, pigs, robots, the moon, and water.
One of my favorite structural things about this collection is that it includes a short blurb before each story with some context from the author about why and when it was written. While this context is largely unnecessary, I enjoyed it and felt it particularly enriched a couple of the stories that I might otherwise have sped through without any understanding. If you’re looking for some really solid science fiction, fantasy, Caribbean fiction, or just good storytelling, I’d definitely recommend this book.
This is a satisfying collection of short stories that left me thinking about them long after I finished each one. I was already a long-time fan of her work, but I also think it’d be a good introduction for first-time Hopkinson readers. I didn’t love every story, but I did enjoy reading each one (and really loved about half of them). The collection includes joyful, uplifting stories, some that are just strange, as well as one or two that made me squirm and feel just a little bit nauseous. Some of my favorite stories touched on climate change, art, transformation, community, food, pigs, robots, the moon, and water.
One of my favorite structural things about this collection is that it includes a short blurb before each story with some context from the author about why and when it was written. While this context is largely unnecessary, I enjoyed it and felt it particularly enriched a couple of the stories that I might otherwise have sped through without any understanding. If you’re looking for some really solid science fiction, fantasy, Caribbean fiction, or just good storytelling, I’d definitely recommend this book.
November 27, 2024
mindblowing as usual <3 nalo hopkinson is one of the best writers in the world. i love love love the intros before each of the stories and i love her brand of speculative fiction
October 16, 2024
To see a full review check it out here.
How do I even begin to describe how amazing Hopkinson is?
Between the coral reef and the baby, I don't think I will ever be ok again.
How do I even begin to describe how amazing Hopkinson is?
Between the coral reef and the baby, I don't think I will ever be ok again.
October 7, 2024
RATED 83% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE 3.9 OF 5
15 STORIES : 3 GREAT / 8 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
Nalo Hopkinson has been lauded for bringing Caribbean sensibilities, characters, and environments into the world of speculative fiction. Another in a long line of science fiction writers who do their best work in the shorter lengths, she also embraces the current trend of publishing genre fiction both within and without traditional venues of the genre.
This collection covers Hopkinson’s work from 2015 through 2021 with most of the stories falling squarely into the genre of science fiction. We get a series of stories that confront themes like climate change and environmental collapse, notably in "Covenant" and "Inselberg," where societies grapple with ecological devastation. Hopkinson integrates Afro-Caribbean culture into all the narratives, specifically such stories as "Broad Dutty Water" and "Repatriation," providing unique settings and perspectives.
The only real criticism I can level at this collection is the near comical obsession with Climate Change as the only future setting. Reminds me of how nuclear apocalypse dominated the minds of sci-fi writers in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Three Stories in this Collection Join the Ranks of My All-Time Great List:
“And More Slow” copyright © 2018
Great. A beautifully atmospheric story of two women marveling at the fossilized body of an alien woman in a giant cave. Something here that captures the quiet, melancholy sense of wonder that Steven Utley does so well.
“Broad Dutty Water (A Sunken Story)” copyright © 2021
Great. A harrowing story of survival for a young woman and her cute pig that can talk through technology. Set in an ecologically devastated future Caribbean, it nevertheless tells the story of people living the best lives they can among the wreckage. A classic tale of man vs nature, Hopkinson fills the world with interesting and believable nature and tech. Hopkinson also uses written dialect to great effect without making the story hard to read.
“Inselberg” copyright © 2016
Great. Cool bit of climate change weird fiction told in the voice of a jaded tour guide. Hints of the crazy world interject themselves with the misadventures of stupid tourists. Wryly funny.
81 Anthologies + 22 Author Collections + 14 Slates of Award Finalists + 2 Magazine Issues
Reviewed at : https://www.shortsf.com
JAMAICA GINGER AND OTHER CONCOCTIONS
15 STORIES : 3 GREAT / 8 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
“And More Slow” copyright © 2018 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Particulates (Dia Arts Foundation, 2018).
Great. Beautiful mood story of two women wondering at the fossil body of an alien woman in a giant cave. Something here that captures the quiet, melancholy sense of wonder that Steven Utley does so well.
“Can’t Beat ’Em” copyright © 2016 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Uncanny Magazine Issue 13, Nov/Dec 2016
Average. Woman is attracted to the woman who is working to get an alien monster out of her sink drain.
“Child Moon” copyright © 2020 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in The Decameron Project on Tor.com, 2020
Good. A mother is compelled at night to take her strange baby outside into the perilous wild and discovers another stranger mother there.
“Covenant” copyright © 2021 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Planet City (URO, 2021).
Good. Fairy Tale or Myth told by people living in the City of Covenant, a refuge from Climate Change that all of humanity as fled into.
“Ally” copyright © 2018 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Nightmare Magazine Issue 68, May 2018.
Good. An excellently creepy ‘ghost’ story. A trans woman meets an old friend who has just buried their partner. The friend reveals a history of abuse, death, and the hints of mercy through possession. (This would score Great if it was science fiction.)
“Broad Dutty Water (A Sunken Story)” copyright © 2021 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Vol. 141, Nov/Dec. 2021.
Great. A harrowing story of survival for a young woman and her cute pig that can talk through technology. Set in an ecologically devastated future Caribbean, it nevertheless tells the story of people living the best lives they can among the wreckage. A classic tale of man vs nature, Hopkinson fills the world with interesting and believable nature and tech. Hopkinson also uses written dialect to great effect without making the story hard to read.
“Clap Back” copyright © 2021 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Black Stars: A Galaxy of New Worlds (Amazon Original Stories, 2021).
Average. Disjointed story with two characger’s’ narratives. One is a fashion designer who embeds racial forgiveness into nanobots that are absorbed into the skin. The other takes racist figurines and indwells them with magic from a flute. Interesting idea. Poor execution.
“Pocket Universe” copyright © 2020 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Peter Friedl: Rehousing (Sternberg Press, 2020).
Good. A dying woman works with scientists to assemble a virtual house that will embody her memories and feelings.
“Inselberg” copyright © 2016 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Drowned Worlds (Solaris, 2016).
Great. Cool bit of climate change weird fiction told in the voice of a jaded tour guide. Hints of the crazy world interject themselves with the misadventures of stupid tourists. Wryly funny.
“Jamaica Ginger” copyright © 2015 by Nalo Hopkinson and Nisi Shawl. Originally published in Stories for Chip: An Anthology Honouring Samuel R. Delany (Rosarium Publishing, 2015).
Good. In a “Steampunk/Teslapunk” New Orleans, a young black woman is torn between the demands of her ailing father and her work repairing automatons.
“Waving at Trains” copyright © 2017 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in The Boston Review: Global Dystopias Issue, Oct 2017.
Good. A child packs for a hike and slowly the reader starts to realize the devastation around them.
“Repatriation” copyright © 2019 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published online in Current Futures: A Sci-Fi Ocean Anthology XPRIZE (2019).
Good. An ex-carribbean man is taken by his partner on a Caribbean cruise, although he hates cruises, the boat is run down, and the tourists seem more like him than normal wealthy white people. Leading to a pleasant surprise.
“Sans Humanité” copyright © 2016 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in DASH Literary Journal Issue 9. 2016
Poor. A ‘literary’ story directly evocative of “the New Wave” in SF. The narrator describes a gradual unraveling of reality, marked by subtle yet unnerving experiences—dancing lights, strange shifts in perception, and familiar voices calling from the edges of sleep.
“Whimper” copyright © 2016 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Black Clock 21 (March 2016).
Good. A great fantasy story about a woman who jumps in a river to avoid the “Leggobeasts” that are coming to kill them. She then has existential discussions with all the other people treading water as well.
“Propagation: A Short Story.” Originally read at TEDTalk Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2015. Revised
Average. This isn’t really a story, or isn’t a compete one, as Hopkinson mentions in her introduction. It is her TED talk about storytelling and the black speculation fiction experience. There’s a nice vignette here about a poor Jamaican family who wakes up to popcorn falling from the sky. It is seemingly caused by a science experiment one of the daughters is doing on the roof.
This book will be released on October 29, 2024. Thank you netgalley and Tachyon Publications for the ARC to review on the my blog. https://www.shortsf.com/reviews/jamai...
15 STORIES : 3 GREAT / 8 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
Nalo Hopkinson has been lauded for bringing Caribbean sensibilities, characters, and environments into the world of speculative fiction. Another in a long line of science fiction writers who do their best work in the shorter lengths, she also embraces the current trend of publishing genre fiction both within and without traditional venues of the genre.
This collection covers Hopkinson’s work from 2015 through 2021 with most of the stories falling squarely into the genre of science fiction. We get a series of stories that confront themes like climate change and environmental collapse, notably in "Covenant" and "Inselberg," where societies grapple with ecological devastation. Hopkinson integrates Afro-Caribbean culture into all the narratives, specifically such stories as "Broad Dutty Water" and "Repatriation," providing unique settings and perspectives.
The only real criticism I can level at this collection is the near comical obsession with Climate Change as the only future setting. Reminds me of how nuclear apocalypse dominated the minds of sci-fi writers in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Three Stories in this Collection Join the Ranks of My All-Time Great List:
“And More Slow” copyright © 2018
Great. A beautifully atmospheric story of two women marveling at the fossilized body of an alien woman in a giant cave. Something here that captures the quiet, melancholy sense of wonder that Steven Utley does so well.
“Broad Dutty Water (A Sunken Story)” copyright © 2021
Great. A harrowing story of survival for a young woman and her cute pig that can talk through technology. Set in an ecologically devastated future Caribbean, it nevertheless tells the story of people living the best lives they can among the wreckage. A classic tale of man vs nature, Hopkinson fills the world with interesting and believable nature and tech. Hopkinson also uses written dialect to great effect without making the story hard to read.
“Inselberg” copyright © 2016
Great. Cool bit of climate change weird fiction told in the voice of a jaded tour guide. Hints of the crazy world interject themselves with the misadventures of stupid tourists. Wryly funny.
81 Anthologies + 22 Author Collections + 14 Slates of Award Finalists + 2 Magazine Issues
Reviewed at : https://www.shortsf.com
JAMAICA GINGER AND OTHER CONCOCTIONS
15 STORIES : 3 GREAT / 8 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
“And More Slow” copyright © 2018 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Particulates (Dia Arts Foundation, 2018).
Great. Beautiful mood story of two women wondering at the fossil body of an alien woman in a giant cave. Something here that captures the quiet, melancholy sense of wonder that Steven Utley does so well.
“Can’t Beat ’Em” copyright © 2016 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Uncanny Magazine Issue 13, Nov/Dec 2016
Average. Woman is attracted to the woman who is working to get an alien monster out of her sink drain.
“Child Moon” copyright © 2020 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in The Decameron Project on Tor.com, 2020
Good. A mother is compelled at night to take her strange baby outside into the perilous wild and discovers another stranger mother there.
“Covenant” copyright © 2021 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Planet City (URO, 2021).
Good. Fairy Tale or Myth told by people living in the City of Covenant, a refuge from Climate Change that all of humanity as fled into.
“Ally” copyright © 2018 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Nightmare Magazine Issue 68, May 2018.
Good. An excellently creepy ‘ghost’ story. A trans woman meets an old friend who has just buried their partner. The friend reveals a history of abuse, death, and the hints of mercy through possession. (This would score Great if it was science fiction.)
“Broad Dutty Water (A Sunken Story)” copyright © 2021 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Vol. 141, Nov/Dec. 2021.
Great. A harrowing story of survival for a young woman and her cute pig that can talk through technology. Set in an ecologically devastated future Caribbean, it nevertheless tells the story of people living the best lives they can among the wreckage. A classic tale of man vs nature, Hopkinson fills the world with interesting and believable nature and tech. Hopkinson also uses written dialect to great effect without making the story hard to read.
“Clap Back” copyright © 2021 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Black Stars: A Galaxy of New Worlds (Amazon Original Stories, 2021).
Average. Disjointed story with two characger’s’ narratives. One is a fashion designer who embeds racial forgiveness into nanobots that are absorbed into the skin. The other takes racist figurines and indwells them with magic from a flute. Interesting idea. Poor execution.
“Pocket Universe” copyright © 2020 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Peter Friedl: Rehousing (Sternberg Press, 2020).
Good. A dying woman works with scientists to assemble a virtual house that will embody her memories and feelings.
“Inselberg” copyright © 2016 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Drowned Worlds (Solaris, 2016).
Great. Cool bit of climate change weird fiction told in the voice of a jaded tour guide. Hints of the crazy world interject themselves with the misadventures of stupid tourists. Wryly funny.
“Jamaica Ginger” copyright © 2015 by Nalo Hopkinson and Nisi Shawl. Originally published in Stories for Chip: An Anthology Honouring Samuel R. Delany (Rosarium Publishing, 2015).
Good. In a “Steampunk/Teslapunk” New Orleans, a young black woman is torn between the demands of her ailing father and her work repairing automatons.
“Waving at Trains” copyright © 2017 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in The Boston Review: Global Dystopias Issue, Oct 2017.
Good. A child packs for a hike and slowly the reader starts to realize the devastation around them.
“Repatriation” copyright © 2019 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published online in Current Futures: A Sci-Fi Ocean Anthology XPRIZE (2019).
Good. An ex-carribbean man is taken by his partner on a Caribbean cruise, although he hates cruises, the boat is run down, and the tourists seem more like him than normal wealthy white people. Leading to a pleasant surprise.
“Sans Humanité” copyright © 2016 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in DASH Literary Journal Issue 9. 2016
Poor. A ‘literary’ story directly evocative of “the New Wave” in SF. The narrator describes a gradual unraveling of reality, marked by subtle yet unnerving experiences—dancing lights, strange shifts in perception, and familiar voices calling from the edges of sleep.
“Whimper” copyright © 2016 by Nalo Hopkinson. Originally published in Black Clock 21 (March 2016).
Good. A great fantasy story about a woman who jumps in a river to avoid the “Leggobeasts” that are coming to kill them. She then has existential discussions with all the other people treading water as well.
“Propagation: A Short Story.” Originally read at TEDTalk Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2015. Revised
Average. This isn’t really a story, or isn’t a compete one, as Hopkinson mentions in her introduction. It is her TED talk about storytelling and the black speculation fiction experience. There’s a nice vignette here about a poor Jamaican family who wakes up to popcorn falling from the sky. It is seemingly caused by a science experiment one of the daughters is doing on the roof.
This book will be released on October 29, 2024. Thank you netgalley and Tachyon Publications for the ARC to review on the my blog. https://www.shortsf.com/reviews/jamai...
February 20, 2025
Nalo Hopkinson is one of those authors I always think I should read more of and never quite get around to. So when I saw this collection, I decided that it is time to catch up with her later stories. In the last decade (or so), she had been publishing mainly outside of the normal venues of the genre so I rarely get to read one of her stories in the wild. Most of the 15 stories are steeped into the Caribbean life, history and mythology - sometimes subtly, sometimes more obviously. That makes some of them hard to read - when the whole story (or a big part of it) is written in the local dialect, it is very hard to read it for a non-native English speaker (sounding some of the more confusing sentences helps). Hopkinson provides both a collection introduction and an introduction to each story which are helpful and insightful (and non-spoilery).
And More Slow ("Particulates", Dia Art Foundation, 2018)
A great opening of the collection - two women meet in the fossil body of an alien and mourn its loss (because it is about to be mined for its rare elements). Moody, contemplative and very well written.
Can't Beat 'Em (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2016) available online
A woman is attracted to the plumber who is trying to fix her sink (no, it is not that kind of story). The thing in the sink is an alien - and things get progressively worse from there. I am not sure how the attraction at the start and the end of the story fit together or even make for a unified story - it almost feels like two stories mashed together (and then put into a blender just to get them more evenly split). And the very ending was disturbing (but then I checked to see where it was published and that tracks for this magazine).
Child Moon ("The Decameron Project" on Tor.com, 2020)
A twist on the changeling stories which exist in a lot of cultures - what if instead of your child being changed on you, you end up giving birth to the "other" and then meet the one that should have been yours. A story about motherhood and choices and love.
Covenant ("Planet City" (URO, 2021))
Sometime in the future, humanity had needed to move into refuge cities such as Covenant to escape the disasters caused by climate change. But even these places have origin stories - which may or may not be true. So that's what this is - a story told in a future world.
Ally (Nightmare Magazine, May 2018) available online
Ghosts may not be as obvious as one thinks. Very well executed and even though it was clear where it was going, I still enjoyed the reveals at the end.
Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November-December 2021)
A future Caribbean in which a young woman and her pig go on an adventure and get in trouble. I loved the world building and the slow burn of the story.
Clap Back (Amazon Original Stories (Black Stars Collection))
This story was a lot more heavy handed than anything else in the collection. I can see what Hopkinson was going for but it sounded very clunky and with the message coming ahead of the story. Black Americana is one of those things that makes us cringe these days (look up the term if you are not familiar with it). That is what is at the base of this story - for her final project, a grad student decides to destroy as many pieces of it as possible, regardless of who they belong to. In a different story, weaved into this one, a fashion designer uses nano-technology to imprint stories into fabric. Both things as well as one expects (not). And then we jump ahead in time to the granddaughter of that grad student who wants to use the nanobots of the designer in the future. I liked the idea but the execution was too ragged and the whole thing was just too jumbled.
Pocket Universe ("Peter Friedl: Rehousing" (Sternberg Press, 2020))
After the end of one's life, they need a new house - built from their memories and feelings - to move into. A quiet story about death and what we are afraid of.
Inselberg (Drowned Worlds, Solaris, 2016)
A jaded tour-guide tells the story to the latest group of tourists in a weird world (and there is a missing pig...). Mix stupid tourists who do not listen to warnings and a world that actively wants to kill (or maim) them and you get a funny weird horror story which may even make you laugh in places.
Jamaica Ginger (with Nisi Shawl) (Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany, 2015)
Read the introduction before you go for the story - or you may miss what is really happening (unless you know what Jamaica Ginger is). In a Teslapunk New Orleans, a young woman needs to decide what she will do with her life. A very enjoyable story with some interesting twists.
Waving at Trains (The Boston Review: Global Dystopias Issue, Oct 2017)
A very short story which starts in a place that could have been here and now with two children planning for a hike. And then the story slowly pulls the lens back to show us the real world it is set in. Beautifully done.
Repatriation (Current Futures: A Sci-fi Ocean Anthology XPRIZE , 2019)
Going on a cruise turns into saving the world, literally. I liked some of the ideas but I found the premise a bit problematic - someone making a decision for their partner had always bugged me. And in this case, it really did not need to be done that way.
Sans Humanité ("DASH Literary Journal, Issue 9, 2016")
Very short, totally incomprehensible. Something about reality dissolving but I neither got the point (if there was one) nor enjoyed reading this piece.
Whimper (Black Clock 21, March 2016)
When your time comes, a Leggobeasts comes for you. Unless you get into the water -- where our narrator ends up, together with a LOT of other people. And while sitting there, clinging to life, they discuss life, death and what may be happening in their world.
As a story written specifically to fit into the theme of the last issue of Black Clock (the title had to be Whimper or Bang and it had to end in the middle of a sentence), I was not sure what to expect. It ended up a lot better than I expected and I was sorry that we never got the ending - the story fades away in the middle of a word leaving the reader to decide what happens next. And yet somehow it does not feel incomplete - in a way it shows how you can write incomplete stories which feel like they were designed to be so. Although I hope we get a part 2 of this story one day - I really want to know what happens next.
Propagation: A Short Story (Originally read at TEDTalk Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2015)
In the introduction of the story, Hopkinson explains that this story really works better when read. She is not wrong. It is half of a story followed by an essay about what the story needs to be (and explains the part that we do get). It sounds a bit like something an instructor will use to teach storytelling and there is just not enough story here to actually be a story - more of a vignette with extra notes maybe. I wish it was not closing the collection - because it is by far the weakest entry in the whole book. It may be worth hearing it (with code switching and all) but on paper, it is just... average.
If you are looking for a newish speculative fiction collection, especially in the Afrofuturism subgenre, this collection is worth checking. Overall it is a solid collection of mostly very short stories. And as short as most of these pieces are, they pack a lot of things that will stay with you.
And More Slow ("Particulates", Dia Art Foundation, 2018)
A great opening of the collection - two women meet in the fossil body of an alien and mourn its loss (because it is about to be mined for its rare elements). Moody, contemplative and very well written.
Can't Beat 'Em (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2016) available online
A woman is attracted to the plumber who is trying to fix her sink (no, it is not that kind of story). The thing in the sink is an alien - and things get progressively worse from there. I am not sure how the attraction at the start and the end of the story fit together or even make for a unified story - it almost feels like two stories mashed together (and then put into a blender just to get them more evenly split). And the very ending was disturbing (but then I checked to see where it was published and that tracks for this magazine).
Child Moon ("The Decameron Project" on Tor.com, 2020)
A twist on the changeling stories which exist in a lot of cultures - what if instead of your child being changed on you, you end up giving birth to the "other" and then meet the one that should have been yours. A story about motherhood and choices and love.
Covenant ("Planet City" (URO, 2021))
Sometime in the future, humanity had needed to move into refuge cities such as Covenant to escape the disasters caused by climate change. But even these places have origin stories - which may or may not be true. So that's what this is - a story told in a future world.
Ally (Nightmare Magazine, May 2018) available online
Ghosts may not be as obvious as one thinks. Very well executed and even though it was clear where it was going, I still enjoyed the reveals at the end.
Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November-December 2021)
A future Caribbean in which a young woman and her pig go on an adventure and get in trouble. I loved the world building and the slow burn of the story.
Clap Back (Amazon Original Stories (Black Stars Collection))
This story was a lot more heavy handed than anything else in the collection. I can see what Hopkinson was going for but it sounded very clunky and with the message coming ahead of the story. Black Americana is one of those things that makes us cringe these days (look up the term if you are not familiar with it). That is what is at the base of this story - for her final project, a grad student decides to destroy as many pieces of it as possible, regardless of who they belong to. In a different story, weaved into this one, a fashion designer uses nano-technology to imprint stories into fabric. Both things as well as one expects (not). And then we jump ahead in time to the granddaughter of that grad student who wants to use the nanobots of the designer in the future. I liked the idea but the execution was too ragged and the whole thing was just too jumbled.
Pocket Universe ("Peter Friedl: Rehousing" (Sternberg Press, 2020))
After the end of one's life, they need a new house - built from their memories and feelings - to move into. A quiet story about death and what we are afraid of.
Inselberg (Drowned Worlds, Solaris, 2016)
A jaded tour-guide tells the story to the latest group of tourists in a weird world (and there is a missing pig...). Mix stupid tourists who do not listen to warnings and a world that actively wants to kill (or maim) them and you get a funny weird horror story which may even make you laugh in places.
Jamaica Ginger (with Nisi Shawl) (Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany, 2015)
Read the introduction before you go for the story - or you may miss what is really happening (unless you know what Jamaica Ginger is). In a Teslapunk New Orleans, a young woman needs to decide what she will do with her life. A very enjoyable story with some interesting twists.
Waving at Trains (The Boston Review: Global Dystopias Issue, Oct 2017)
A very short story which starts in a place that could have been here and now with two children planning for a hike. And then the story slowly pulls the lens back to show us the real world it is set in. Beautifully done.
Repatriation (Current Futures: A Sci-fi Ocean Anthology XPRIZE , 2019)
Going on a cruise turns into saving the world, literally. I liked some of the ideas but I found the premise a bit problematic - someone making a decision for their partner had always bugged me. And in this case, it really did not need to be done that way.
Sans Humanité ("DASH Literary Journal, Issue 9, 2016")
Very short, totally incomprehensible. Something about reality dissolving but I neither got the point (if there was one) nor enjoyed reading this piece.
Whimper (Black Clock 21, March 2016)
When your time comes, a Leggobeasts comes for you. Unless you get into the water -- where our narrator ends up, together with a LOT of other people. And while sitting there, clinging to life, they discuss life, death and what may be happening in their world.
As a story written specifically to fit into the theme of the last issue of Black Clock (the title had to be Whimper or Bang and it had to end in the middle of a sentence), I was not sure what to expect. It ended up a lot better than I expected and I was sorry that we never got the ending - the story fades away in the middle of a word leaving the reader to decide what happens next. And yet somehow it does not feel incomplete - in a way it shows how you can write incomplete stories which feel like they were designed to be so. Although I hope we get a part 2 of this story one day - I really want to know what happens next.
Propagation: A Short Story (Originally read at TEDTalk Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2015)
In the introduction of the story, Hopkinson explains that this story really works better when read. She is not wrong. It is half of a story followed by an essay about what the story needs to be (and explains the part that we do get). It sounds a bit like something an instructor will use to teach storytelling and there is just not enough story here to actually be a story - more of a vignette with extra notes maybe. I wish it was not closing the collection - because it is by far the weakest entry in the whole book. It may be worth hearing it (with code switching and all) but on paper, it is just... average.
If you are looking for a newish speculative fiction collection, especially in the Afrofuturism subgenre, this collection is worth checking. Overall it is a solid collection of mostly very short stories. And as short as most of these pieces are, they pack a lot of things that will stay with you.
January 12, 2025
This collection of short stories caught my eye on NetGalley because they were written by a notable author from the Caribbean who writes stories combining fantastical, folklore and sci-fi elements. But let’s be honest, the mention of a cyborg pig sold it to me! I was only too delighted to request a digital ARC, which in no way influenced my review. These stories are brilliant and I loved every one of them!
Nalo Hopkinson writes short introductions to each of her pieces. She explains that the first time she did this, when she submitted a previous collection, she thought this was standard practice. In fact, this is usually only done for multi-author anthologies. However, the reactions to it were so positive, that she decided to do the same for this collection. This really appeals to me. It’s like the personal snippets of information in blogposts that are often the best parts of a blog, making a personal connection, however tenuous, with the author.
She also tells us that she now rarely writes a story unless it is commissioned for a particular publication or event. Even though she writes down ideas for future use, she has no stock of stories ready to go. This makes her writing fresh and exciting because she’s not adapting something to fit a brief, but starting from scratch every time, pulling something from her inventive snd random brain. Here are the notes I made on each story.
And More Slow
After the discovery of an alien skeleton on the moon, two female scientists imagine how the creature lived, before life on Earth began.
Inspired by Particulates, a huge installation by visual artist Rita McBride at the Dia Art Foundation gallery in New York, filling the space, with an accompanying anthology curated by Hopkinson.
Can’t Beat ‘Em
A twist on the trope of woman falls in lust with a hunky workman who comes to her house, in this story the plumber who comes to unblock a woman’s sink is a sexy butch woman. In a further twist, the blockage is a lifeform known as a glup that cannot be killed…
Child Moon
A woman takes her baby to the spring in the mountains to be cured on the darkest night of the lunar month; a child with pointed teeth and a faint covering of fur, who drinks mixed milk and blood when it suckles.
Beautiful nature writing. A compelling, dark fairytale.
Covenant
The whole of humanity lives in a single city to allow the rest of the Earth to regenerate. One day, a woman pots up the eye of a potato and grows a plant with unexpected properties. She tries others with similar results. When she puts them on her groundfloor balcony, people start to interact and create community. Then the plant turns into something magnificent that will change their lives. All from one eye of a potato.
Ally
After a funeral, the dead man’s husband invites his trans woman friend Sally to meet for a drink. They used to be close, but after her transition seven years ago, their friendship had cooled. He tells her of how his foster mother used to physically and verbally abuse him, but how she suddenly changed one day.
The thing that stands out to me is that the trans woman is acutely aware of two women staring at her and doesn’t want to go to the toilet because they have “segregated bathrooms”.
“When one lives in a world in which large portions of it want one dead, every minute is a triumph, every breath a defiance, and, if one’s jib is cut that way, every statement a manifesto. The everyday vagaries of life and love are just writ that much larger because they mean that much more.”
This is a ghost story, or a story of possession, but I only know that because it was written for a collection of ghost stories, for which it was not picked. It is outstanding because of the trans angle, especially the final part.
Broad Dutty Water: a Sunken Story
The title comes from a Jamaican folk song:
De river ben come down
And how you cross over
De broad dutty water?
This story was awarded the Theodore Sturgeon Award in 2022, awarded by the University of Kansas Center for the Study of Science Fiction for the best science fiction short story in English.
A world where the seas have risen so much that many people have taken to living on artificial floating islands. Jacquee is flying her ultralight back home after having an operation to install new software in her brain. With her, her pet pig, Lickchop, who also has technology implanted so that he can communicate with a limited vocabulary. But then they hit a storm.
I enjoyed the Caribbean patois in this, even though I didn’t understand every word. I would have liked a little more explanation of the imaginary words such as taz.
Clap Back
An angry story inspired by researching ‘Black Americans’; I imagine butler trays held by a Black figure dressed as a servant. Indeed, in 2032, a student makes a display of objects made in the image of imaginary Black and Asian people, including a Jemima cookie jar.
Book serendipity: novelty cookie jars
One was just such a cookie jar next to someone’s bed in a Netflix series, the other was in Bonnie Garmin’s Lessons in Chemistry.
Pocket Universe
Somehow a woman’s memories of her bodily sensations (taste, touch, etc.) create an image that can be used to create a design for a personalised urn for her ashes; she is dying of breast cancer.
Inselberg
A guided tour of the “little nipple of mountain top that is all left of my country” and “Submerged cities, underwater skyscrapers, and an audience with the Wise Old Fish of the Mountaintop. If you ask him nice, maybe ‘im let us come down from the peak. But be polite, you hear me?” Tourists who ignore the tour guide’s warnings have a heavy price to pay.
Jamaica Ginger
A collaboration with Nisi Shawl, a story for a collection in honour of Samuel R. Delany (aka Chip), a Black author of speculative fiction. It was Hopkinson’s idea to feature Jamaica Ginger, a tonic sold during prohibition that caused nerve damage to hands and feet, ‘Jake leg’. In the intro to the story, she (they?) say that “we both liked the idea of going teslapunk with the piece by mainstreaming some of the technological advances the doomed inventor Nikolai Tesla [sic] was never able to take to market.” I’m intrigued!
We start right in with a mechanical man, George, that walks as if he has jake leg. This reminds me very much of Dr Coppelia’s mechanical doll (CHECK DETAILS). Plaquette works in Msieur’s workshop, correcting problems with the clockwork designs. She is also has to looking after her invalid father, who used to work as a porter on international trains, nicknamed a George. As a young woman, Plaquette is considering marrying the poor delivery man for love or perhaps marrying Msieur in a ‘left-handed marriage’, where her children would not be acknowledged by her richer but miserly husband.
This story was great! A strong female protagonist with brains and courage, refusing to be caught between impossible choices, but setting out for an adventure.
Waving af Trains
A disease has hit town… Very short but definitely not sweet.
Repatriation
This wonderful story features a real-life miracle cure for dying coral reefs: creating Biorock on a steel frame, growing a new reef just beyond the depleted and drowned natural reef, allowing natural regeneration land deposition of new beaches. Wow!
San Humanité
A spooky weird story.
Whimper
Dreams can be powerful and are often cut off short.
Propagation: a Short Story
“Strict science fiction protocols and narratives that assume cultural ownership of the means of technological progress often don’t fit quite fit stories total of perspective of marginalised communities.
Nalo Hopkinson writes short introductions to each of her pieces. She explains that the first time she did this, when she submitted a previous collection, she thought this was standard practice. In fact, this is usually only done for multi-author anthologies. However, the reactions to it were so positive, that she decided to do the same for this collection. This really appeals to me. It’s like the personal snippets of information in blogposts that are often the best parts of a blog, making a personal connection, however tenuous, with the author.
She also tells us that she now rarely writes a story unless it is commissioned for a particular publication or event. Even though she writes down ideas for future use, she has no stock of stories ready to go. This makes her writing fresh and exciting because she’s not adapting something to fit a brief, but starting from scratch every time, pulling something from her inventive snd random brain. Here are the notes I made on each story.
And More Slow
After the discovery of an alien skeleton on the moon, two female scientists imagine how the creature lived, before life on Earth began.
Inspired by Particulates, a huge installation by visual artist Rita McBride at the Dia Art Foundation gallery in New York, filling the space, with an accompanying anthology curated by Hopkinson.
Can’t Beat ‘Em
A twist on the trope of woman falls in lust with a hunky workman who comes to her house, in this story the plumber who comes to unblock a woman’s sink is a sexy butch woman. In a further twist, the blockage is a lifeform known as a glup that cannot be killed…
Child Moon
A woman takes her baby to the spring in the mountains to be cured on the darkest night of the lunar month; a child with pointed teeth and a faint covering of fur, who drinks mixed milk and blood when it suckles.
Beautiful nature writing. A compelling, dark fairytale.
Covenant
The whole of humanity lives in a single city to allow the rest of the Earth to regenerate. One day, a woman pots up the eye of a potato and grows a plant with unexpected properties. She tries others with similar results. When she puts them on her groundfloor balcony, people start to interact and create community. Then the plant turns into something magnificent that will change their lives. All from one eye of a potato.
Ally
After a funeral, the dead man’s husband invites his trans woman friend Sally to meet for a drink. They used to be close, but after her transition seven years ago, their friendship had cooled. He tells her of how his foster mother used to physically and verbally abuse him, but how she suddenly changed one day.
The thing that stands out to me is that the trans woman is acutely aware of two women staring at her and doesn’t want to go to the toilet because they have “segregated bathrooms”.
“When one lives in a world in which large portions of it want one dead, every minute is a triumph, every breath a defiance, and, if one’s jib is cut that way, every statement a manifesto. The everyday vagaries of life and love are just writ that much larger because they mean that much more.”
This is a ghost story, or a story of possession, but I only know that because it was written for a collection of ghost stories, for which it was not picked. It is outstanding because of the trans angle, especially the final part.
Broad Dutty Water: a Sunken Story
The title comes from a Jamaican folk song:
De river ben come down
And how you cross over
De broad dutty water?
This story was awarded the Theodore Sturgeon Award in 2022, awarded by the University of Kansas Center for the Study of Science Fiction for the best science fiction short story in English.
A world where the seas have risen so much that many people have taken to living on artificial floating islands. Jacquee is flying her ultralight back home after having an operation to install new software in her brain. With her, her pet pig, Lickchop, who also has technology implanted so that he can communicate with a limited vocabulary. But then they hit a storm.
I enjoyed the Caribbean patois in this, even though I didn’t understand every word. I would have liked a little more explanation of the imaginary words such as taz.
Clap Back
An angry story inspired by researching ‘Black Americans’; I imagine butler trays held by a Black figure dressed as a servant. Indeed, in 2032, a student makes a display of objects made in the image of imaginary Black and Asian people, including a Jemima cookie jar.
Book serendipity: novelty cookie jars
One was just such a cookie jar next to someone’s bed in a Netflix series, the other was in Bonnie Garmin’s Lessons in Chemistry.
Pocket Universe
Somehow a woman’s memories of her bodily sensations (taste, touch, etc.) create an image that can be used to create a design for a personalised urn for her ashes; she is dying of breast cancer.
Inselberg
A guided tour of the “little nipple of mountain top that is all left of my country” and “Submerged cities, underwater skyscrapers, and an audience with the Wise Old Fish of the Mountaintop. If you ask him nice, maybe ‘im let us come down from the peak. But be polite, you hear me?” Tourists who ignore the tour guide’s warnings have a heavy price to pay.
Jamaica Ginger
A collaboration with Nisi Shawl, a story for a collection in honour of Samuel R. Delany (aka Chip), a Black author of speculative fiction. It was Hopkinson’s idea to feature Jamaica Ginger, a tonic sold during prohibition that caused nerve damage to hands and feet, ‘Jake leg’. In the intro to the story, she (they?) say that “we both liked the idea of going teslapunk with the piece by mainstreaming some of the technological advances the doomed inventor Nikolai Tesla [sic] was never able to take to market.” I’m intrigued!
We start right in with a mechanical man, George, that walks as if he has jake leg. This reminds me very much of Dr Coppelia’s mechanical doll (CHECK DETAILS). Plaquette works in Msieur’s workshop, correcting problems with the clockwork designs. She is also has to looking after her invalid father, who used to work as a porter on international trains, nicknamed a George. As a young woman, Plaquette is considering marrying the poor delivery man for love or perhaps marrying Msieur in a ‘left-handed marriage’, where her children would not be acknowledged by her richer but miserly husband.
This story was great! A strong female protagonist with brains and courage, refusing to be caught between impossible choices, but setting out for an adventure.
Waving af Trains
A disease has hit town… Very short but definitely not sweet.
Repatriation
This wonderful story features a real-life miracle cure for dying coral reefs: creating Biorock on a steel frame, growing a new reef just beyond the depleted and drowned natural reef, allowing natural regeneration land deposition of new beaches. Wow!
San Humanité
A spooky weird story.
Whimper
Dreams can be powerful and are often cut off short.
Propagation: a Short Story
“Strict science fiction protocols and narratives that assume cultural ownership of the means of technological progress often don’t fit quite fit stories total of perspective of marginalised communities.
November 9, 2024
My previous exposure to Hopkinson is not as extensive as that of other readers; I read PM Press’s *Report From Planet Midnight* a couple of years ago, and haven’t read much else (I know!). And so this was my fun introduction to Hopkinson’s style. It’s a collection of quite varied short fiction; each story begins with the author’s note about how it came about, or something about its subject or theme.
*Can’t Beat ‘Em* has a “queer butch” woman, in the author’s words, as an “object of desire.” She’s a plumber who’s come to deal with a cosmic sink throat monster. *Covenant* is a creation myth about a post-apocalyptic city that all of humanity has retreated to. *Broad Dutty Water* is a wonderful, also post-apocalyptic tale that reminds me of Kevin Costner’s *Waterworld*: ocean levels have risen, and people live on moveable islands. This story is cool because it’s also a bit about multispecies futures. *Clap Back* is a clever and troubling story about the horrible knickknacks Hopkinson refers to as ‘Black Americana’ (so glad for my lack of exposure to these). *Inselberg* is brilliant and hilarious and horrific, I think my favourite story among many contenders; it’s about post-apocalyptic tourism, a bus tour.
The story *Jamaica Ginger* was co-written with Nisi Shawl, for inclusion in an anthology celebrating Samuel R. (“Chip”) Delaney. It’s delightful clockpunk that also, in Hopkinson style, doesn’t shy away from complicated themes: in this case, the talented young protagonist is considering becoming her employers mistress so as to help her family out of poverty, but this is also a story about mechanisation and labour. *Waving at Trains* is a piercingly sad story set after a terrible epidemic—yep, more post-apocalypse. *Repatriation* is a hopeful vision of a time when we can restore coral reefs, and is about homecoming (to the Caribbean, again). And then, *Whimper* is incredibly surreal, and fun because it ends in the middle of a sentence. (Please, what fun things are leggobeasts?!)
Hopkinson builds alternative and just worlds, where people are free to be themselves; and when she isn’t doing that, she’s creating critical commentary on the unjust one we* have built. I love the freedom in these stories, sometimes hard-won, but always won (Hopkinson must be an optimist, and this feels like hopepunk; there's joy in these stories!). I love, too, that these characters are gritty and determined, and very rarely cuddly. And I love the sensibility (often Caribbean-flavoured) that Hopkinson brings to her stories, particularly the ones about a changed climate.
Many thanks to Tachyon Publications and to NetGalley for early access.
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*a note on ‘we’: just some humans, not all of us
*Can’t Beat ‘Em* has a “queer butch” woman, in the author’s words, as an “object of desire.” She’s a plumber who’s come to deal with a cosmic sink throat monster. *Covenant* is a creation myth about a post-apocalyptic city that all of humanity has retreated to. *Broad Dutty Water* is a wonderful, also post-apocalyptic tale that reminds me of Kevin Costner’s *Waterworld*: ocean levels have risen, and people live on moveable islands. This story is cool because it’s also a bit about multispecies futures. *Clap Back* is a clever and troubling story about the horrible knickknacks Hopkinson refers to as ‘Black Americana’ (so glad for my lack of exposure to these). *Inselberg* is brilliant and hilarious and horrific, I think my favourite story among many contenders; it’s about post-apocalyptic tourism, a bus tour.
The story *Jamaica Ginger* was co-written with Nisi Shawl, for inclusion in an anthology celebrating Samuel R. (“Chip”) Delaney. It’s delightful clockpunk that also, in Hopkinson style, doesn’t shy away from complicated themes: in this case, the talented young protagonist is considering becoming her employers mistress so as to help her family out of poverty, but this is also a story about mechanisation and labour. *Waving at Trains* is a piercingly sad story set after a terrible epidemic—yep, more post-apocalypse. *Repatriation* is a hopeful vision of a time when we can restore coral reefs, and is about homecoming (to the Caribbean, again). And then, *Whimper* is incredibly surreal, and fun because it ends in the middle of a sentence. (Please, what fun things are leggobeasts?!)
Hopkinson builds alternative and just worlds, where people are free to be themselves; and when she isn’t doing that, she’s creating critical commentary on the unjust one we* have built. I love the freedom in these stories, sometimes hard-won, but always won (Hopkinson must be an optimist, and this feels like hopepunk; there's joy in these stories!). I love, too, that these characters are gritty and determined, and very rarely cuddly. And I love the sensibility (often Caribbean-flavoured) that Hopkinson brings to her stories, particularly the ones about a changed climate.
Many thanks to Tachyon Publications and to NetGalley for early access.
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*a note on ‘we’: just some humans, not all of us
February 5, 2025
Nalo Hopkinson’s newest short story collection, Jamaica Ginger & Other Concoctions, is an immersive and enjoyable read. Within these fifteen stories you’ll find ghosts, aliens and cyborg pigs alongside discussions about the impact of climate change on the Caribbean and anti-Black racism. Amidst it all is the importance of hope, which is woven through the stories alongside queerness, humour, and grief.
I love the unique concepts of these stories—they captivated and fascinated me. Many of the stories focus on creating something new, whether it’s new cities or worlds, or new opportunities for a different life. The characters embrace wonder and possibility, and the stories are more hopeful because of it. This is especially true of the title story “Jamaica Ginger,” a story that’s about defying expectations and forging your own path. Other stories, like “Can’t Beat ‘Em,” “Covenant,” “Repatriation,” and “Propagation: A Short Story” defy reader expectations and imagine new futures.
I love most of these stories and my favourites are:
“Child Moon,” a story about motherhood and sacrifice.
“Covenant,” a story that focuses on community and healing the earth.
“Clap Back,” a story about injustice and truth that addresses anti-Black racism.
Overall, this is a well balanced and exciting collection full of inventive stories that dream of new futures and contemplate healing during times of grief and climate catastrophe. I highly recommend this book, especially if you’ve never read any of Nalo Hopkinson’s other works. This is a great introduction to her imagination!
Thank you Tachyon Publications and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC to review.
Rating: 4.5/5
I love the unique concepts of these stories—they captivated and fascinated me. Many of the stories focus on creating something new, whether it’s new cities or worlds, or new opportunities for a different life. The characters embrace wonder and possibility, and the stories are more hopeful because of it. This is especially true of the title story “Jamaica Ginger,” a story that’s about defying expectations and forging your own path. Other stories, like “Can’t Beat ‘Em,” “Covenant,” “Repatriation,” and “Propagation: A Short Story” defy reader expectations and imagine new futures.
I love most of these stories and my favourites are:
“Child Moon,” a story about motherhood and sacrifice.
“Covenant,” a story that focuses on community and healing the earth.
“Clap Back,” a story about injustice and truth that addresses anti-Black racism.
Overall, this is a well balanced and exciting collection full of inventive stories that dream of new futures and contemplate healing during times of grief and climate catastrophe. I highly recommend this book, especially if you’ve never read any of Nalo Hopkinson’s other works. This is a great introduction to her imagination!
Thank you Tachyon Publications and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC to review.
Rating: 4.5/5
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June 12, 2024I can't love this book in the same way as Hopkinson's previous collection, Falling In Love With Hominids. Not through any fault of the author's, but of the world's; that came out nearly a decade ago, in times a little less bleak, and my word does it show. And when I say times are tougher, I do so as a white guy, fairly straight-presenting, without much in the way of chronic health conditions - none of them luxuries Hopkinson shares. So little wonder if the mood here is more embattled, the mixture more science fiction and less fantasy, the horizons on that SF a lot closer, stories focused on survival in the coming decades instead of curators from distant eons. Not that it's a catalogue of despair, by any means: among other things this is fiction as resistance, with an eye to the spaces that can be carved out as the old order crumbles. Sometimes, especially in the shortest stories, there's a powerful sense of consolation; the one I found most moving was a working around how much is lost each time someone dies, and whether there might be a better way to memorialise them than name, numbers and platitude on a flat stone. There's also a delightfully icky new twist on that old standby of the plumber who's come to have a look at your...pipes. But for the most part the waters are rising, the authorities coming, the miracles about to be mined away. I'm not holding my breath, but I can at least daydream about another, much more upbeat Hopkinson collection a couple of decades down the line, and what that might imply.
(Netgalley ARC)
(Netgalley ARC)
July 11, 2024
Nalo Hopkinson has an amazing way of writing short fiction. So many of the stories were incredibly engaging and thoughtful.I also really appreciated the introduction to every story, and how we really got to see the thought processes behind each piece. My main advice for readers is not to read this book in one sitting. Each piece is really meant to be given attention and thought about, so trying to read it all in one night doesn't let the stories sink in the way they should.
As with everything anthology, some pieces are stronger than others. My favorites were Clap Back - which was so brilliant and moving - and Inselberg which was haunting in all the best ways. Jamaica Ginger, which Hopkinson cowrote with Nisi Shawl, another amazing writer, was also so well done. San Humanite gave me goosebumps. Meanwhile, many of my less loved stories (but still liked!) were just ones that didn't feel developed enough. I really appreciated the thought and message behind Ally, for example, but felt like it could have used a little more of everything to drive the point home and make it engaging. Waving at Trains also didn't hit me as hard as some of the others. And in the forward of Propagation, Hopkinson notes that it doesn't work as well when you read it as if you listen to it, which makes me wonder if it should have been included or at least published with a link/recommendation to a recording of a live reading.
Overall though, it's a fantastic book and I would absolutely recommend it for anyone looking for thoughtful, unique, speculative fiction.
January 5, 2025
This book made me realize that it's not that I shouldn't tell stories of other people, it's that I can't. My experience of the world and life is too different. There is no literature enough to make me Caribbean, Indigenous, not even American.
Where is this coming from?
Well, some years ago I read a book by a white Caribbean author which I think wasn't doing enough with the material, and I started to think if I could. I'd educate myself by reading authentic Caribbean literature and I asked a group of writers against appropriation if it would be OK. Of course they said it wouldn't be, so I didn't, but it's still in the back of my head. I mean, we are all HUMAN after all, isn't that enough?
No, it's not.
The reactions to events I consider reasonable are not the reactions of people whose reality is not mine. Our past, experiences, the collective memories, reactions of the society around us, all color the values, attitudes, and reactions we consider reasonable, and mine are forever dyed blue and white.
This is why T.J.Klune shouldn't try to tell the story of the indigenous people, this is why E.L.James shouldn't have placed 50 shades in the USA, or why she shouldn't have written about an Albanian woman. It becomes either unintentionally silly and ridiculous, or objectifying and insulting.
Nalo Hopkinson made me see things a lot differently, in ways I've never thought of them.
The stories were also very good 😁
Where is this coming from?
Well, some years ago I read a book by a white Caribbean author which I think wasn't doing enough with the material, and I started to think if I could. I'd educate myself by reading authentic Caribbean literature and I asked a group of writers against appropriation if it would be OK. Of course they said it wouldn't be, so I didn't, but it's still in the back of my head. I mean, we are all HUMAN after all, isn't that enough?
No, it's not.
The reactions to events I consider reasonable are not the reactions of people whose reality is not mine. Our past, experiences, the collective memories, reactions of the society around us, all color the values, attitudes, and reactions we consider reasonable, and mine are forever dyed blue and white.
This is why T.J.Klune shouldn't try to tell the story of the indigenous people, this is why E.L.James shouldn't have placed 50 shades in the USA, or why she shouldn't have written about an Albanian woman. It becomes either unintentionally silly and ridiculous, or objectifying and insulting.
Nalo Hopkinson made me see things a lot differently, in ways I've never thought of them.
The stories were also very good 😁
December 29, 2024
Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions is a collection of short stories by award-winning author Nalo Hopkinson. The fourteen stories in this book were all short fiction submissions to other collections and anthologies. Most of these stories have been previously published, but now they are all in one place. This is Nalo’s fourth collection of her short stories. Ranging from speculative science fiction to pure fantasy that only Nalo could concoct, all these stories are imaginative and thought-provoking. Nalo’s works often focus on social and environmental justice. To say these stories are impactful is an understatement.
Nalo Hopkinson is one of the most influential and essential speculative fiction authors currently writing. The stories in this collection prove why. Though many readers might not agree with the message or delivery, Nalo’s work will make you stop and think. Some tales are short and entertaining, while others are profoundly impactful. And one even has a talking pig named Lickchop. Included with each tale are Nalo’s own thoughts on the story. For fans of speculative fiction and those who believe that works of science fiction and fantasy can relay important messages, give Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions a try.
This Review was Originally Published at https://sanfranciscobookreview.com/pr...
Nalo Hopkinson is one of the most influential and essential speculative fiction authors currently writing. The stories in this collection prove why. Though many readers might not agree with the message or delivery, Nalo’s work will make you stop and think. Some tales are short and entertaining, while others are profoundly impactful. And one even has a talking pig named Lickchop. Included with each tale are Nalo’s own thoughts on the story. For fans of speculative fiction and those who believe that works of science fiction and fantasy can relay important messages, give Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions a try.
This Review was Originally Published at https://sanfranciscobookreview.com/pr...
November 20, 2024
Renowned author and Nebula Award winner Nalo Hopkinson’s latest work is a curated anthology of previously published short stories, available in a single volume for the first time.
As in her previous writings, Hopkinson combines her stellar storytelling talents with elements of fantasy, folklore, science fiction, and magic to create spellbinding speculative fiction rooted in Caribbean culture.
This collection features a diverse range of stories, from optimistic visions of the future to stark portrayals of the consequences of climate change. Readers will encounter a chilling narrative of a mother who gives birth to a wild creature, a story of a mysterious alien excavation, a tale of animated figurines that speaks of deep-seated anti-Black racism, and a touching story about a ghost who transcends death to keep caring for his love one.
In all of them, Hopkinson tells the stories of the marginalized with heart and humor. A distinctive feature of this collection is the inclusion of an introduction for each story, providing readers with valuable context and insights from the author herself.
Recommended for fans of speculative fiction with a Black , LGBTQ+ and Caribbean twist.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tachyon Publications for providing me with a complimentary advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
As in her previous writings, Hopkinson combines her stellar storytelling talents with elements of fantasy, folklore, science fiction, and magic to create spellbinding speculative fiction rooted in Caribbean culture.
This collection features a diverse range of stories, from optimistic visions of the future to stark portrayals of the consequences of climate change. Readers will encounter a chilling narrative of a mother who gives birth to a wild creature, a story of a mysterious alien excavation, a tale of animated figurines that speaks of deep-seated anti-Black racism, and a touching story about a ghost who transcends death to keep caring for his love one.
In all of them, Hopkinson tells the stories of the marginalized with heart and humor. A distinctive feature of this collection is the inclusion of an introduction for each story, providing readers with valuable context and insights from the author herself.
Recommended for fans of speculative fiction with a Black , LGBTQ+ and Caribbean twist.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tachyon Publications for providing me with a complimentary advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 28, 2025
tl;dr Though mostly timely and fiercely inclusive, Nalo Hopkinson’s Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions also comes with an unanticipated content warning. Still, most readers will find something that speaks to them in this cohesive collection.
For me, there were too many stories that felt like Hopkins put the idea first and the story second. The somewhat unnecessary and lengthy Gaiman anecdote definitely also didn’t help and gave the collection a bad aftertaste – though I’m sure Hopkinson would have prefaced her story differently, if the timing of publication and allegations had been different. I really did like those little introductions and wish more anthologies and collections would do them. They are like little behind-the-scenes snippets that are interesting and add an even stronger sense of cohesiveness to this well-chosen collection of inclusive, timely stories.
Full review at: https://owlwrite4cake.wordpress.com/2...
For me, there were too many stories that felt like Hopkins put the idea first and the story second. The somewhat unnecessary and lengthy Gaiman anecdote definitely also didn’t help and gave the collection a bad aftertaste – though I’m sure Hopkinson would have prefaced her story differently, if the timing of publication and allegations had been different. I really did like those little introductions and wish more anthologies and collections would do them. They are like little behind-the-scenes snippets that are interesting and add an even stronger sense of cohesiveness to this well-chosen collection of inclusive, timely stories.
Full review at: https://owlwrite4cake.wordpress.com/2...
May 27, 2025
Hopkinson has never been one to stay in her lane, and her fourth collection is proof. These stories bounce between fable and fantasy, twisting into unexpected shapes, though most lean heavily sci-fi. You've got scientists poking around the bones of some ancient sentient creature, a woman tweaking automatons designed to replace Pullman porters who ends up changing her own life, and someone doing literal magic with popcorn.
Even the bite-sized stories pack a punch, but two longer pieces really steal the show: "Broad Dutty Water," set in a flooded future with pigs that kind of talk, and "Clap Back," which is this razor-sharp takedown of how art, race, and power all get tangled up together.
A lot of these stories are about taking things back—reclaiming the world, reclaiming space for Black and queer voices as the inventors and storytellers they've always been. Hopkinson includes little intros to each story that add even more depth to what's already an essential collection.
Even the bite-sized stories pack a punch, but two longer pieces really steal the show: "Broad Dutty Water," set in a flooded future with pigs that kind of talk, and "Clap Back," which is this razor-sharp takedown of how art, race, and power all get tangled up together.
A lot of these stories are about taking things back—reclaiming the world, reclaiming space for Black and queer voices as the inventors and storytellers they've always been. Hopkinson includes little intros to each story that add even more depth to what's already an essential collection.
November 29, 2024
This collection of 15 stories was my introduction to the vast imaginative worlds of Nalo Hopkinson. My favorite short story in this collection was ‘Repatriation’ which follows a same-sex couple celebrating a 40th birthday with a cruise. On this secret birthday trip, the couple returns to their homeland in Jamaica and witnesses the transport used to clean the atmosphere of their home instead of contributing to the pollution and exploitation of their people as it had been for years before.
I love all of the themes this collection of stories encompasses, and I too "dream of a world where a little Black girl can heal the world".
4/5
*ARC from publisher
I love all of the themes this collection of stories encompasses, and I too "dream of a world where a little Black girl can heal the world".
4/5
*ARC from publisher
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2025
Mixed collection! Some highlights (critiques of tourism, climate change especially in "Ingelberg" and "Repatriation," and I liked "Clap Back" a lot, although there are some significant plot holes; my favorite was the first one, "Particulates" about translation, opacity, and extraction), and others felt slap-dashed together (as Hopkinson herself would often indicate in the prefaces/paratexts. Come to think of it--so much paratext throughout. I enjoyed that element, though. Lots of intertextuality, esp with visual art/performance. Is it "ekphrasis"? Or is there a better word?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 12, 2024
4.5 stars. I've been interested in Hopkinson for a while. I highly enjoyed reading most of these stories and was pleasantly surprised by the casual queerness throughout. I loved the format of having an author's note before each which gave context. My favourites were Clap Back, Repatriation, San Humanité (only 2 pages!), and Whimper. Finding effective short stories is always a treat!
Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
November 18, 2024
15 short stories of speculative fiction that remind me of the works of Octavia Butler and Rivers Solomon. Parts are written in patois so it may be difficult to read if not familiar with the Jamaican dialect. It has a lot of environmental themes- how to save the planet, how we have already destroyed it and ourselves...
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