03/29/2021
Roy (The Hotel Alleluia) turns to speculative fiction for the first time with this lyrical, Afrofuturist hero’s quest set in the not-too-distant future. The “Civil War Sequel” led to the reinstitution of slavery in the Homestead Territories; now plantation owners import Black folks from the Cradle to work and breed multiracial laborers. The spunky Jellybean “Ji-Ji” Lottermule has found a way out: as the fastest runner in Planting 437, she’ll compete in the Freedom Race. If she wins, she and her family would be emancipated. But to enter, she must first win her mother’s support and get ratified for the race—and these tasks prove to be just the first of many hurdles for Ji-Ji. Things get off to a slow start; Roy front-loads the story with extensive background for the “disunited states” and an elaborate lexicon of new racial classifications, creating a steep learning curve for readers. But once the world is established and Ji-Ji’s story takes off, her harrowing but profoundly spiritual quest for sovereignty against all odds impresses. Readers who stick with this will appreciate both the tenacious heroine and Roy’s intricate prose stylings. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary. (July)
02/01/2021
In two-time Nebula Award winner Benford's Shadows of Eternity, earthlings have established a SETI library on the moon in two centuries hence to interpret messages from alien societies, and beginner Librarian Ruth is encountering their hostility (35,000-copy first printing). Begun with the LJ Best SF/Fantasy The Grey Bastards, the "Lot Lands" trilogy now wraps with The Free Bastards and inevitable war. In A Brief History of Living Forever, an edgy, politically informed follow-up to Kalfař's multi-finalist debut, Spacemen in Bohemia, a young woman in surveillance-heavy 2029 America must convince the Czech brother she's never met to help her find the remains of their mother, buried in a mass grave for immigrants (35,000-copy first printing). Set in 1345 China, debuter Parker-Chan's big-buzzing She Who Became the Sun follows a peasant girl who adopts her brother's identity after his death to enter a monastery as a young male novice (125,000-copy first printing). Activist/author Roy turns to speculative fiction with Freedom Race, with a new slave trade from Africa instituted after a second Civil War and a young woman named Ji-ji Lottermule the key to challenging the power of the Homestead Territories of the Disunited States (125,000-copy first printing). In Van Loan's The Justice in Revenge, second in a series begun with the LJ-starred The Sin in the Steel, young toughie Buc has won a seat on the board of Kanados Trading Company and plans to destroy the gods that have caused so much suffering (75,000-copy first printing).
Praise for The Freedom Race
“Gut-wrenching read.... This powerful, riveting novel provides a glimpse into a nightmarish future that’s all too similar to our past.”—BuzzFeed
“Every now and then a work comes along that makes you wonder whether you are reading or dreaming. And you’re not sure it matters which.”—Nikki Giovanni
“Roy’s comprehensive worldbuilding and immersive language creates a tapestry.... Ji-ji’s journey is a story of resilience and hope rooted in a place where Octavia Butler and Rivers Solomon intersect with The Handmaid’s Tale.”—Booklist
“You ever have the feeling that if you don’t read something, you may be missing out on something momentous happening? . . . I got that vibe from the first page of The Freedom Race. It has a prescience about it in the tradition of Octavia Butler. . . . If ‘resilience’ was a book, it would be The Freedom Race.”—Maurice Broaddus, author of Buffalo Soldier
“Roy... turns to speculative fiction for the first time with this lyrical, Afrofuturist hero’s quest set in the not-too-distant future. ...[Ji-Ji's] harrowing but profoundly spiritual quest for sovereignty against all odds impresses. Readers ... will appreciate both the tenacious heroine and Roy’s intricate prose stylings.”—Publishers Weekly
“The future Lucinda Roy calls up in The Freedom Race is a fierce, unsettling riff on our past and present. Instead of watching democracy evaporate and justice fail, Ms. Roy challenges us all to get over ourselves and join the race for freedom.”—Andrea Hairston, author of Will Do Magic for Small Change
“American magic-realism meets the outcome of the Second U.S. Civil War in a well-told, but brutally jolting, strangely prescient, and soul-haunting narrative.”—L. E. Modesitt, Jr., bestselling author of the Saga of Recluce series
Adjoa Andoh’s heartfelt narration enriches this speculative story set in a near-future America after a second civil war. Ji-ji Lottermule endures horrific abuse as a “kitchen seed” on Planting 437, one of many plantations in the Homestead Territories of the Disunited States. Ji-ji’s only hope of escape is to compete in the Freedom Race, through which she could win emancipation for herself and her family. Andoh’s character voices are mesmerizing as they capture the breadth of the plantation’s inhabitants—spunky and vivacious Ji-ji; her mam, who speaks with a lilting African accent; and her father-man, whose voice is laden with oily menace. Andoh’s emotional narration is dotted with exclamations, exhortations, and agonizing expressions of grief, all of which heighten the impact of this heartbreaking yet hopeful story. S.A.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Adjoa Andoh’s heartfelt narration enriches this speculative story set in a near-future America after a second civil war. Ji-ji Lottermule endures horrific abuse as a “kitchen seed” on Planting 437, one of many plantations in the Homestead Territories of the Disunited States. Ji-ji’s only hope of escape is to compete in the Freedom Race, through which she could win emancipation for herself and her family. Andoh’s character voices are mesmerizing as they capture the breadth of the plantation’s inhabitants—spunky and vivacious Ji-ji; her mam, who speaks with a lilting African accent; and her father-man, whose voice is laden with oily menace. Andoh’s emotional narration is dotted with exclamations, exhortations, and agonizing expressions of grief, all of which heighten the impact of this heartbreaking yet hopeful story. S.A.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
