The ninth story introduces vain King Paramenter who slays dragons in an effort to restore his libido, and who's eventually killed by the offspring that libido produced. The eighth story transports to the world of Zinhle where a class valedictorian is forced to choose between her family and freedom. In the sixth story, Nahautu abandons family and community to live in the sky with one of the Sky-People, and in the seventh story, Meroe gains the ability to dream and thus the ability to love. In the fifth story, the setting shifts to New Orleans, where one of Toussaint L’Ouverture’s daughters on a secret mission to bring the brilliance of one of America’s great black thinkers back to Haiti. In the third story, an African American mother living during segregation sacrifices her joy and her freedom so her children will have a chance to succeed, and in the fourth story a talented chef finds herself whipping up the recipe to eternal life. In the first story, readers visit a utopia called Um-Helat in the second story, a homeless man on the streets of New York City fights an unseen force of destruction. Often taking on important societal issues such as rape, pollution, the abuse of power and religion, mediocre educational models, and the fallout from capitalism, Jemisin’s characters grapple with many of the same issues plaguing contemporary society. This collection transports readers to dozens of new worlds, characters, and possibilities.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |