New Releases by Nalo Hopkinson

"Veycosi, in training as a griot (an historian and musician), hopes to sail off to examine the rare Alamat Book of Light and thus secure a spot for himself on Cynchin''s Colloquium of scholars. However, unexpected events prevent that from happening. Fifteen Ymisen galleons arrive in the harbor to force a trade agreement on Cynchin. Veycosi tries to help, hoping to prove himself with a bold move, but quickly finds himself in way over his head. Bad turns to worse when malign forces start stirring. Pickens (children) are disappearing and an ancient invading army, long frozen into piche (tar) statues by island witches is stirring to life--led by the fearsome demon known as the Blackheart Man."--

Two monumental works from the SFWA Grand Master who is "preparing to take her place among the world''s most celebrated black women writers" ( Toronto Star). Experience the rich imagination and genre-defying writing of multiple-award-winning author Nalo Hopkinson with this special volume, which includes both her epic novel spanning time and place, and her first collection of short fiction. The Salt Roads When an Afro-Caribbean goddess of sexual desire and love is manifested on a nineteenth-century Caribbean island, she explores her newfound powers by traveling through time and space, inhabiting a midwife, a mixed-race Parisian dancer, and an enslaved prostitute in ancient Alexandria. "Should be required reading for the next century. An electrifying, bravura performance by one of our most important writers." —Junot Díaz Skin Folk With works ranging from science fiction to Caribbean folklore, passionate love to chilling horror, this story collection illustrates why Hopkinson received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Entertaining, challenging, and alluring, Skin Folk is not to be missed. "A marvelous display of Nalo Hopkinson''s talents, skills and insights into the human conditions of life, especially of the fantastic realities of the Caribbean . . . Everything is possible in her imagination." — Science Fiction Chronicle

The time has come for both Erzulie and Poquita to take back the power of their twinned Houses…but Anansi will stop at nothing to keep his treasures! The sweeping epic of Erzulie’s war with the trickster god comes to an explosive conclusion!

Trapped in Guinée, the Land of the Dead, Papa Midnite and Erzulie must join forces to return to their own realms…unfortunately, their mutual foe the trickster god Ananse is in the way, and he’s eager for a rematch!

The divine houseboat that is the House of Whispers has always obeyed Erzulie’s commands-but now it has begun its own journey, trapping Erzulie aboard with her ex-husbands…and sailing on a collision course with an entire fleet of ghostly slave ships bound for Guinée, the land of the dead!

Young Poquita has fled the abusive foster family thatÕs held her hostage...but in an abandoned refugee prison on the southern border, sheÕll find that her traveling companion is not the kindly, grateful kitten she started the journey with. ItÕs an aspect of the Corinthian made flesh...and Erzulie may not hear her cries in time to intervene!

After her encounter with Erzulie, the young girl known as Poquita finally has the strength to stand up to the adoptive family that’s forced her into labor. But is that strength really coming from a benevolent goddess? Or is it the tiny fragment of the Corinthian that’s taken up residence in her life whispering in her ears?

The second year of the most innovative series in The Sandman Universe begins with a terrifying upgrade for one of the world’s worst nightmares! The goddess Erzulie is grieving the loss of one of her husbands, while her remaining spouses are asking themselves if they can remain by her side. But in the darkness, a rival has arrived to vie for Erzulie’s place. The Corinthian has his eyes on a forgotten piece of real estate in the Dreaming, and he’s not above moving into a fixer-upper, if taking control of it can give him power like Erzulie’s. To fend off this threat, Erzulie will need allies-including the mysterious Papa Midnite and the dangerous Shakpana, the contagious god whose last outbreak nearly destroyed the world! And with friends like those...

After fighting a war for their very existence, Erzulie and Ogun want nothing more than a simple moment of domestic married bliss…but where gods walk, normal life flees, and their neighbor Blaise has found her story to be quite entangled with those of the loa. Will her own love story end as happily as theirs? And does she even want it to?

What is it like to have the House of Whispers as the house next door? One young woman may be about to find out, as a very unexpected domestic mishap leaves her in dire need of aid from Erzulie and Ogun… whether she knows it or not.

As the battle rages on in Ananse’s lair, Erzulie makes a spectacular final effort to prevail—but when she multiplies her forces, her authority is divided. With time running out, hundreds of sister-selves must negotiate their powers and learn to work together to free Agwe and turn the tide for the House of Dahomey.

From her bayou, Erzulie scries upon the mortal realm and sees four human girls open a mysterious and magical journal filled with whispers and rumors that, if they spread, could cause a pandemic unlike any the Earth has seen, with the power to release Sopona, the loa lord of infectious disease and cousin to Erzulie, who is currently banned from the human plane. Meanwhile, a mysterious infection doctors are calling “Cotard’s Delusion” spreads, trapping countless souls in the Dreaming and leaving their physical bodies yearning for death. Issues #1-6 of the new series from DC Vertigo are collected here, along with THE SANDMAN UNIVERSE SPECIAL #1.

Things are beyond dire for the House of Dahomey, to the point where Erzulie must call upon the most grim and unforgiving of her sister-selves: Marinette of the Dry-Bones, rider of a pale horse and commander of werewolves!

Erzulie and her two sister-selves face off against the god of stories himself, Ananse, in a storytelling battle for the ages! If Erzulie wins, her husband becomes untangled from her houseboat; if Ananse wins, a prize most delectable comes his way. Meanwhile, the souls of the undeceased return to their bodies, and with them the guilt and pain of the memories of what they did during their soulless time.

A new krewe called the Predeceased has formed, with the hope that with the help of their patron loa they will be able to call their souls back from the Dreaming. But as the epidemic spreads globally, ShakpanaÕs strength only grows stronger.

Things continue to get worse for Erzulie and her followers in the House of Dahomey. Even her warrior sister-self cannot keep off the pains and troubles that follow each of them like the plague. She fears it may be time to unleash another of her feared personae: Erzulie the Red-Eye, dark lady of sorrows.

Collecting issues #1-6 of the new DC Vertigo series! While Tim Hunter is trying to study and attract the cutest girl in his class, there are cultists who want to kill him, believing his magical powers will eventually corrupt him, turning him into a merciless mage who will bring upon the end of magic forever! Luckily, the new substitute teacher at his school wants to mentor him and educate him in the magical arts so that he can discover the secrets behind the Books of Magic...This collection also includes THE SANDMAN UNIVERSE SPECIAL #1!

In these tales from The Dreaming #1-6 and THE Sandman Universe Special #1, Lord Daniel''s absence triggers crimes and calamities that consume the lives of those already tangled in his fate. Until he is found, his realm''s residents must protect its broken borders alone. But the most senior story-tellers are tormented by invasive secrets, Lucien is doubting his own mind, and beyond the gates, something horrific awaits with tooth and talon.

The mysterious infection doctors are calling ÒCotardÕs DelusionÓ spreads, trapping countless souls in the Dreaming and leaving their physical bodies yearning for death. To handle her own case of the disease, Latoya decides to go on risky adventures, believing sheÕll feel alive the closer she gets to death, while her girlfriend Maggie tries to find a true cure. Meanwhile, in the Dreaming, Erzulie Dantor calls her war council of Shakpana, Turtle and Uncle Monday to find a way to take her sister-selfÕs bayou and boat back to their realm. Shakpana, however, seems to be more interested in making his way back to the Waking WorldÉ

What doctors are calling ÒCotardÕs DelusionÓÑthe disease Latoya contracted from the mysterious bookÑis beginning to spread across the Waking World, trapping the souls of its victims in the Dreaming, so that their corporeal bodies are mere husks, waiting for death to take them. Likewise, Erzulie is still trapped within the Dreaming, and her personality begins to shift, expressing fewer of her love-and -desire qualities, and developing more of her warrior persona, known as Erzulie Dantor. She may not be looking for a fight, but what function does a warrior have outside of battle?

An alluring new collection from the author of the New York Times Notable Book, Midnight Robber Nalo Hopkinson (Brown Girl in the Ring, The Salt Roads, Sister Mine) is an internationally-beloved storyteller. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as having "an imagination that most of us would kill for," her Afro-Caribbean, Canadian, and American influences shine in truly unique stories that are filled with striking imagery, unlikely beauty, and delightful strangeness. In this long-awaited collection, Hopkinson continues to expand the boundaries of culture and imagination. Whether she is retelling The Tempest as a new Caribbean myth, filling a shopping mall with unfulfilled ghosts, or herding chickens that occasionally breathe fire, Hopkinson continues to create bold fiction that transcends boundaries and borders.

Nalo Hopkinson--winner of the John W. Campbell Award, the Sunburst Award, and the World Fantasy award (among others), and lauded as one of our "most inventive and brilliant writers" ( New York Post)--returns with a new work exploring the relationship between two sisters in this richly textured and deeply moving novel. We''d had to be cut free of our mother''s womb. She''d never have been able to push the two-headed sport that was me and Abby out the usual way. Abby and I were fused, you see. Conjoined twins. Abby''s head, torso, and left arm protruded from my chest. But here''s the real kicker; Abby had the magic, I didn''t. Far as the Family was concerned, Abby was one of them, though cursed, as I was, with the tragic flaw of mortality. Now adults, Makeda and Abby still share their childhood home. The surgery to separate the two girls gave Abby a permanent limp, but left Makeda with what feels like an even worse deformity: no mojo. The daughters of a celestial demigod and a human woman, Makeda and Abby were raised by their magical father, the god of growing things--a highly unusual childhood that made them extremely close. Ever since Abby''s magical talent began to develop, though, in the form of an unearthly singing voice, the sisters have become increasingly distant. Today, Makeda has decided it''s high time to move out and make her own life among the other nonmagical, claypicken humans--after all, she''s one of them. In Cheerful Rest, a run-down warehouse space, Makeda finds exactly what she''s been looking for: an opportunity to live apart from Abby and begin building her own independent life. There''s even a resident band, led by the charismatic (and attractive) building superintendent. But when her father goes missing, Makeda will have to discover her own talent--and reconcile with Abby--if she''s to have a hope of saving him . . .

Nalo Hopkinson has been busily (and wonderfully) “subverting the genre” since her first novel, Brown Girl in the Ring, won a Locus Award for SF and Fantasy in 1999. Since then she has acquired a prestigious World Fantasy Award, a legion of adventurous and aware fans, a reputation for intellect seasoned with humor, and a place of honor in the short list of SF writers who are tearing down the walls of category and transporting readers to previously unimagined planets and realms. Never one to hold her tongue, Hopkinson takes on sexism and racism in publishing in “Report from Planet Midnight,” a historic and controversial presentation to her colleagues and fans. Plus... “Message in a Bottle,” a radical new twist on the time travel tale that demolishes the sentimental myth of childhood innocence; and “Shift,” a tempestuous erotic adventure in which Caliban gets the girl. Or does he? And Featuring: Our Outspoken Interview, an intimate one-on-one that delivers a wealth of insight, outrage, irreverence, and top-secret Caribbean spells.

Navigate between myth and chaos in this “journey filled with peril, self-discovery, and terrifying moments” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Sixteen-year-old Scotch struggles to fit in—at home she’s the perfect daughter, at school she’s provocatively sassy, and thanks to her mixed heritage, she doesn’t feel she belongs with the Caribbeans, whites, or blacks. And even more troubling, lately her skin is becoming covered in a sticky black substance that can’t be removed. While trying to cope with this creepiness, she goes out with her brother—and he disappears. A mysterious bubble of light just swallows him up, and Scotch has no idea how to find him. Soon, the Chaos that has claimed her brother affects the city at large, until it seems like everyone is turning into crazy creatures. Scotch needs to get to the bottom of this supernatural situation ASAP before the Chaos consumes everything she’s ever known—and she knows that the black shadowy entity that’s begun trailing her every move is probably not going to help. A blend of fantasy and Caribbean folklore, at its heart this tale is about identity and self-acceptance—because only by acknowledging her imperfections can Scotch hope to save her brother.

Ha llegado el Carnaval y el planeta de Toussaint, colonizado por caribeños, lo celebra con música, bailes y gran pompa. Personas disfrazadas de "Ladrones de Medianoche" asaltan a los juerguistas, esgrimiendo sus armas y sus fascinantes palabras. Para la pequeña Tan-Tan, la Reina Ladrona no es más que su disfraz preferido, el que llevará al festival... Hasta que su padre, poderoso y corrupto, comete un crimen imperdonable.De pronto, padre e hija son enviados al brutal mundo de Nuevo Árbol a Medio Camino, donde las monstruosas criaturas del folclore son reales y los humanos son violentos proscritos que viven en libertad. Tan-Tan tendrá que internarse en la leyenda para convertirse en la Reina Ladrona, pues sólo los poderes legendarios de esta Reina podrán salvarle la vida... y liberarla.

A landmark work by a brilliant young author, THE SALT ROADS transports readers across centuries and civilizations as it fearlessly explores the relationships women have with their lovers, their people, and the divine. Jeanne Duval, the ginger-colored entertainer, struggles with her lover poet Charles Baudelaire...Mer, plantation slave and doctor, both hungers for and dreads liberation...and Thais, a dark-skinned beauty from Alexandria, is impelled to seek a glorious revelation-as Ezili, a being born of hope, unites them all. Interweaving acts of brutality with passionate unions of spirit and flesh, this is a narrative that shocks, entertains, and dazzles-from an award-winning writer who dares to redefine the art of storytelling.

First it''s her mother''s missing gold brooch. Then, a blue and white dish she hasn''t seen in years. Followed by an entire grove of cashew trees. When objects begin appearing out of nowhere, Calamity knows that the special gift she has not felt since childhood has returned-her ability to find lost things. Calamity, a woman as contrary as the tides around her Caribbean island home, is confronting two of life''s biggest dramas. First is the death of her father, who raised her alone until a pregnant Calamity rejected him when she was sixteen years old. The second drama: she''s starting menopause. Now when she has a hot flash and feels a tingling in her hands, she knows it''s a lost object calling to her. Then she finds something unexpected: a four-year-old boy washes up on the shore, his dreadlocked hair matted with shells. Calamity decides to take the orphaned child into her care, which brings unexpected upheaval into her life and further strains her relationship with her adult daughter. Fostering this child will force her to confront all the memories of her own childhood-and the disappearance of her mother so many years before.