Publishers Weekly
06/17/2024
Hairston’s magnificent third novel in the sequence that began with Redwood and Wildfire is a multisensory plunge into a dystopian future of climate crisis and warfare over who controls the water. When told from protagonist Cinnamon Jones’s point of view, however, the plot skews cozy, focused on personal concerns about weaving meaning from history to create a coherent future. In Cinnamon’s case, this means revitalizing the Next World Festival, an annual celebration established by her elders in her youth. Almost 60 now, Cinnamon struggles to make the upcoming event worthy of this heritage. Her plotline is rendered three-dimensional by the interpolated narration of characters with fewer existential concerns but more holistic viewpoints, particularly the AIs and dogs who are her main interlocutors—and who manifestly connect, in ways Cinnamon can’t quite bring herself to trust, with the “haints” of her history. The most impressive feat here is the language; Hairston’s prose is a dynamic collage of real and invented cultures spiked with italics, inventive capitalization, and musical allusions (“Nobody rescued Cinnamon either. And Saving Your Own Self was a Hard Problem”). Ecocatastrophe and cyberthreats are familiar territory for sci-fi, but Hairston puts a beautiful twist on both in this exploration of “waiting for love to come on back in style.” Agent: Kristopher O’Higgins, Scribe Agency. (May)
From the Publisher
Praise for Archangels of Funk
“The old world has died and the new world has yet to be born; in that suspended space Hairston suggests that we make the new by performing it. The result is a novel about art and play as visionary act — riotous, hilarious, joyous. We save ourselves, as our heroine says at the start; and she shows how that can happen.” —Kim Stanley Robinson
“Archangels of Funk is a tour de force of Afrofunkilicious Black Girl Magic. Like all great speculative fiction, it's about our world as well as this lush imaginary one. Don't miss the majesty of Andrea Hairston in this new call for resistance.” —Tananarive Due, author of The Reformatory
“Andrea Hairston creates original, layered, complex worlds that are a treat to explore, but what I love most is the people she creates for them. Archangels of Funk is brimming with characters who face adversity with love, hope, art, stories, history, and their bonds with each other. It's a celebration of radiant creativity as a bulwark against despair.” —Martha Wells, author of the Murderbot Diaries
“Full of magical technology and theater kid drama, Archangels of Funk is an utter delight. Andrea Hairston welcomes us into a future of ambient queerness and eco-anarchy, where subversive heroes outsmart dystopia-chasing capitalists with their Funkadelic vibes. Reading this book gave me good dreams — and in these dark times, that is no small feat.” —Annalee Newitz, author of The Terraformers and Autonomous
“The music of Hairston’s prose and her characters’ approach to conflict set the novel apart...This cross between Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler and Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono deserves a place in every library.” —Library Journal, starred review
“A post-apocalyptic groove of a novel that reads like magic and feels like a song. Hairston’s prose pulls the reader in with pop-culture references and wild metaphors...Recommended for fans of Nalo Hopkinson and Nnedi Okorafor.” —Booklist
More Praise for Andrea Hairston
“[A] beautifully multifaceted story...with deep, layered, powerful characters. Highly recommended.” —The New York Times on Will Do Magic for Small Change
“This is one of those books you start and realize you've been waiting to read for a long, long time without knowing. Will Do Magic for Small Change is a deep breath, a good friend, a heartbreaking, game-changing, life-affirming, truth-telling powerhouse. I love this book.” —Daniel José Older
“Andrea Hairston's vision is breathtaking. She weaves sweeping historical narratives and mythology with the wisdom of the elders, and shines light on the pressing issues of the day. In her hands, language is a blessing, and the familiar and the fantastic become magic, one and the same.” —Sheree Renée Thomas on Will Do Magic for Small Change
“The entire work is filled with magic, celebrating West Africans, Native Americans, art, and love that transcends simple binary genders. Hairston's novel is a completely original and stunning work.” —Publishers Weekly on Will Do Magic for Small Change
“This book glitters with West African magic, unconventional love, and creatures you won't forget.” —BuzzFeed
“This book’s lyrical language and unsparing vision make it a mind-expanding must-read.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review on Master of Poisons
“This is an urgent, gorgeous work.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review on Master of Poisons
Master of Poisons voted a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2020
Library Journal
★ 02/01/2024
Hairston's (Will Do Magic for Small Change) latest novel of hoodoo and physics revolves around the Next World Festival that welcomes everyone to share their past and choose their future. This is especially important for a world at the edge of the apocalypse, with climate disasters and corporate greed destroying it. Cinnamon Jones thought she could save the world, but now she's feeling alone, despite her loving community. She's considering canceling the festival, but the ghosts of her family, her living friends, her circus-bot creations, and her dogs—one living, one cyber-revenant—aren't going to let her forget to seek her beautiful future. Along the way, her coding skills, magic, and found family will overcome kidnappers, entitled tech bros, and duplicitous exes and will put on a danged good show. The music of Hairston's prose and her characters' approach to conflict set the novel apart. Opponents are offered understanding and forgiveness before escalation, and there's a sense that even the most recent mistakes don't have to tarnish someone if they're willing to listen and learn. VERDICT This cross between Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler and Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono deserves a place in every library.—Matthew Galloway
