Best Selling Books by Nalo Hopkinson

A "[d]eeply satisfying" [The New York Times Book Review] story of a father who has committed an unbelievable crime and a daughter who must then fight to save her own life. "Caribbean patois adorns this novel with graceful rhythms...Beneath it lie complex, clearly evoked characters, haunting descriptions of exotic planets, and a stirring story...[This book] ought to elevate Hopkinson to star status." --Seattle Times It''s Carnival time and the Caribbean-colonized planet of Toussaint is celebrating with music, dance, and pageantry. Masked "Midnight Robbers" waylay revelers with brandished weapons and spellbinding words. To young Tan-Tan, the Robber Queen is simply a favorite costume to wear at the festival--until her power-corrupted father commits an unforgiveable crime. Suddenly, both father and daughter are thrust into the brutal world of New Half-Way Tree. Here monstrous creatures from folklore are real, and the humans are violent outcasts in the wilds. Tan-Tan must reach into the heart of myth and become the Robber Queen herself. For only the Robber Queen''s legendary powers can save her life . . . and set her free.

The SFWA Grand Master’s award-winning collection “combines a richly textured multicultural background with incisive storytelling” (Library Journal). In Skin Folk, with works ranging from science fiction to Caribbean folklore, passionate love to chilling horror, Nalo Hopkinson is at her award-winning best, spinning tales like “Precious,” in which the narrator spews valuable coins and gems from her mouth whenever she attempts to talk or sing. In “A Habit of Waste,” a self-conscious woman undergoes elective surgery to alter her appearance; days later she’s shocked to see her former body climbing onto a public bus. In “The Glass Bottle Trick,” the young protagonist ignores her intuition regarding her new husband’s superstitions—to horrifying consequences. Hopkinson’s unique pacing and vibrant dialogue sets a steady beat for stories that illustrate why she received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Entertaining, challenging, and alluring, Skin Folk is not to be missed. Praise for Nalo Hopkinson and the World Fantasy Award–winning Skin Folk “Hopkinson’s prose is vivid and immediate.” —The Washington Post Book World “An important new writer.” —The Dallas Morning News “Her descriptions of ordinary people finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances ring true, the result of her strong evocation of place and her ear for dialect.” —Publishers Weekly “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

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.

From the SFWA Grand Master, a“sexy, disturbing, touching, wildly comic . . . tour de force” that blends fantasy, women’s history, and slavery (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). In 1804, shortly before the Caribbean island of Saint Domingue is renamed Haiti, a group of women gather to bury a stillborn baby. Led by a lesbian healer and midwife named Mer, the women’s lamentations inadvertently release the dead infant’s “unused vitality” to draw Ezili—the Afro-Caribbean goddess of sexual desire and love—into the physical world. As Ezili explores her newfound powers, she travels across time and space to inhabit the midwife’s body, as well as those of Jeanne—a mixed-race dancer and the mistress of Charles Baudelaire living in 1880s Paris—and Meritet, an enslaved Greek-Nubian prostitute in ancient Alexandria. Bound together by Ezili and “the salt road” of their sweat, blood, and tears, the three women struggle against a hostile world, unaware of the goddess’s presence in their lives. Despite her magic, Mer suffers as a slave on a sugar plantation until Ezili plants the seeds of uprising in her mind. Jeanne slowly succumbs to the ravages of age and syphilis when her lover is unable to escape his mother’s control. And Meritet, inspired by Ezili, flees her enslavement and makes a pilgrimage to Egypt, where she becomes known as Saint Mary. With unapologetically sensual prose, Nalo Hopkinson, the Nebula Award–winning author of Midnight Robber, explores slavery through the lives of three historical women touched by a goddess in this “electrifying bravura performance by one of our most important writers” (Junot Díaz).

A breathtaking novel from the award-winning author Nalo Hopkinson about two women, two worlds, fated to encounter one another. Sheeny lives in a world scoured clean by the glass wind that comes roaring out of the empty space where a mountain used to be. A wind whose gusts can strip flesh from bone and whose breezes leave a dust of glass so fine it accumulates in the lungs with every sip of air. Delpha lives in an otherwhere, an otherwhen in which no glass wind blows. Her world is poised on the precipice of its reality, needing only the faintest push to fall. And if that should happen, there will be no picking up the pieces. Two women, two worlds, rush toward a shattering collision. Unless...

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.

In this "impressive debut" from award-winning speculative fiction author Nalo Hopkinson, a young woman must solve the tragic mystery surrounding her family and bargain with the gods to save her city and herself. (The Washington Post) The rich and privileged have fled the city, barricaded it behind roadblocks, and left it to crumble. The inner city has had to rediscover old ways -- farming, barter, herb lore. But now the monied need a harvest of bodies, and so they prey upon the helpless of the streets. With nowhere to turn, a young woman must open herself to ancient truths, eternal powers, and the tragic mystery surrounding her mother and grandmother. She must bargain with gods, and give birth to new legends.

"A mainstream magical realism novel set in the Caribbean on the fictional island of Dolorosse. It tells the story of a 50-something grandmother whose mother disappeared when she was a teenager and whose father has just passed away as she begins menopause.

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

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.

The magical island of Chynchin is facing conquerors from abroad and something sinister from within in this entrancing fantasy from the Grand Master Award–winning author 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 Chynchin’s Colloquium of scholars. However, unexpected events prevent that from happening. Fifteen Ymisen galleons arrive in the harbor to force a trade agreement on Chynchin. 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. Veycosi has problems in his polyamorous personal life, too. How much trouble can a poor student take? Or cause all by himself as the line between myth and history blends in this delightfully sly tale by one of greatest novelists.

WINNER OF THE ANDRE NORTON NEBULA AWARD "Nalo Hopkinson is one of science fiction''s most inventive and brilliant writers" -New York Post 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 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 . . .

So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy is an anthology of original new stories by leading African, Asian, South Asian and Aboriginal authors, as well as North American and British writers of color. Stories of imagined futures abound in Western writing. Writer and editor Nalo Hopkinson notes that the science fiction/fantasy genre “speaks so much about the experience of being alienated but contains so little writing by alienated people themselves.” It’s an oversight that Hopkinson and Mehan aim to correct with this anthology. The book depicts imagined futures from the perspectives of writers associated with what might loosely be termed the “third world.” It includes stories that are bold, imaginative, edgy; stories that are centered in the worlds of the “developing” nations; stories that dare to dream what we might develop into. The wealth of postcolonial literature has included many who have written insightfully about their pasts and presents. With So Long Been Dreaming they creatively address their futures. Contributors include: Opal Palmer Adisa, Tobias Buckell, Wayde Compton, Hiromi Goto, Andrea Hairston, Tamai Kobayashi, Karin Lowachee, devorah major, Carole McDonnell, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, Eden Robinson, Nisi Shawl, Vandana Singh, Sheree Renee Thomas and Greg Van Eekhout. Nalo Hopkinson is the internationally-acclaimed author of Brown Girl in the Ring, Skin Folk, and Salt Roads. Her books have been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Tiptree, and Philip K. Dick Awards; Skin Folk won a World Fantasy Award and the Sunburst Award. Born in Jamaica, Nalo moved to Canada when she was sixteen. She lives in Toronto. Uppinder Mehan is a scholar of science fiction and postcolonial literature. A South Asian Canadian, he currently lives in Boston and teaches at Emerson College.

The curse of the shape-shifting soucouyant may be more real—and more immediate—than a skeptical doctoral student may suspect.

This issue features a welcome return by acquiring editor Darrell Schweitzer. He contributes a rare interview with best-selling Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. It originally appeared in Science Fiction Review in 1976—and as Darrell says, “this is somewhere between oral history and paleontology.” Martin discusses such things as the market for fantasy fiction (not much of one...at least in 1976!) and the way he works on stories. Fascinating stuff. For this issue’s mysteries, we have an original story by Steve Liskow, who is one of the best short-story writers currently working in the field, courtesy of editor Michael Bracken. Barb Goffman has selected “The Maine Attraction” (a New England murder mystery) by Cathy Wiley. And there are classics by Day Keene and Mildred Davis. Plus, of course, a solve-it-yourself tale by Hal Charles (the writing team of Hal Sweet and Charlie Blythe). For the fantastic tales, this issue features Nalo Hopkinson’s brilliant “Greedy Choke Puppy,” selected by Cynthia Ward. Simply terrific. Larry Tritten’s SF humor piece, “The Science Fiction Book of Lists” will earn more than a few chuckles. Plus there are classic SF tales by James E. Gunn and Lester del Rey. Plus a ghost story by Richard Wilson. And a story from Weird Tales by Day Keene (which also does double-duty as a mystery!) Here’s the complete lineup: Non-Fiction Speaking with George R.R. Martin, an interview by Darrell Schweitzer [interview] “The Science Fiction Book of Lists,” by Larry Tritten [non-fact article, humor] Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure “The Bridesmaid’s Tale” by Steve Liskow. [short story] “A Robber’s Craft” by Hal Charles [solve-it-yourself mystery] The Suicide Hours, by Mildred Davis [novel] “The Maine Attraction” by Cathy Wiley [short story] “Dead Man’s Shoes,” by Day Keene [short story] Science Fiction & Fantasy “The Science Fiction Book of Lists,” by Larry Tritten [non-fact article, humor] “Dead Man’s Shoes,” by Day Keene [short story] “Greedy Choke Puppy,” by Nalo Hopkinson [short story] “Stilled Patter,” by James E. Gunn [short story] “See Me Safely Home,” by Richard Wilson [short story] “Kindness,” by Lester del Rey [short story]

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!

An all-new corner has been added to Neil GaimanÕs Sandman Universe! Welcome to the House of Dahomey, the houseboat of Erzulie Fru008eda, where the souls of Voodoo followers go when they sleep to beseech the flirtatious and tragic goddess to grant them their heartsÕ desires and counsel them on their futures and fortunes. When you arrive, youÕll find a party is in full swing, filled with all kinds of fabulous and fierce folk, while fish fry and music blasts. 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. But even the fearsome Erzulie cannot be of assistance when her dream river turns tumultuous, tossing her house from her realm and into anotherÉ

The March/April 2018 issue of Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine. Featuring new fiction by Sarah Pinsker, A.T. Greenblatt, Emma Törzs, Sarah Monette, Vina Jie-Min Prasad, and Brandon O''Brien, reprinted fiction by Nalo Hopkinson, essays by R.F. Kuang, Neile Graham, Marissa Lingen, and Karlyn Ruth Meyer, and poetry by Fran Wilde, Cassandra Khaw, Brandon O''Brien, Beth Cato, Sonya Taaffe,Hal Y. Zhang, and Andrea Tang, interviews with A.T. Greenblatt and Vina Jie-Min Prasad by Caroline M. Yoachim, a cover by Nilah Magruder, and an editorial by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.

In these tales from The Dreaming #1-6 and THE Sandman Universe Special #1, Lord DanielÕs absence triggers crimes and calamities that consume the lives of those already tangled in his fate. Until he is found, his realmÕs 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 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, the Corinthian has his eyes on Erzulie’s place. Erzulie will need allies-including Papa Midnite, the dangerous immortal on whom everyone in the afterlife has sworn revenge! Collects House of Whispers #13-22.

The pandemic is spreading, and Erzulie is calling upon all her distant contacts to aid her in stopping Shakpana and his infection. The souls trapped in the Dreaming are restless, seeking any help they can attain to escape from their "predeceased" state. Erzulie calls upon the spider-god of stories, Ananse, to assist her in unraveling the truth behind her own history. But can Ananse be trusted with any truths he finds? Collects House of Whispers #7-12.

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.

Jonathan Strahan, the award-winning and much lauded editor of many of genre’s best known anthologies is back with his 10th volume in this fascinating series, featuring the best science fiction and fantasy from 2015. With established names and new talent this diverse and ground-breaking collection will take the reader to the outer-reaches of space and the inner realms of humanity with stories of fantastical worlds and worlds that may still come to pass. Featuring Paolo Bacigalupi • Elizabeth Bear • Greg Bear • Jeffrey Ford • Neil Gaiman • Nalo Hopkinson • Nisi Shawl • Simon Ings • Gwyneth Jones • Caitlin R. Kiernan • Anne Leckie • Kelly Link • Usman T. Malik • Ian McDonald • Vonda McIntrye • Sam J. Miller • Tamsyn Muir • Robert Reed • Alastair Reynolds • Kim Stanley Robinson • Kelly Robson • Geoff Ryman • Nike Sulway • Catherynne Valente • Genevieve Valentine • Kai Ashante Wilson • Alyssa Wong

From the imagination of New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman comes this final volume of stories that find him revisiting Morpheus, the Endless, the realm of the Dreaming, and beyond. In the Hugo Award-winning prequel series The Sandman: Overture, illustrated by J.H. Williams III, Gaiman returns to the Sandman Universe after a 17-year break to spin a tale in which Morpheus must save the universe from a rogue star. The comic book version of The Sandman: The Dream Hunters adapts the Dream Hunters prose novel into a lush four-part miniseries drawn by P. Craig Russell. And in The Sandman Universe, plotted by Gaiman, writers Simon Spurrier, Kat Howard, Nalo Hopkinson, and Dan Watters expand upon the characters and worlds Gaiman created for a new generation of readers. The Sandman Book Six is the perfect bookend for Sandman completists and fans of modern fantasy. Collecting The Sandman Universe #1, The Sandman: Overature #1-6, and The Sandman: The Dream Hunters #1-4

From the mind of New York Times #1 bestselling author Neil Gaiman comes a new world filled with dreams, nightmares and wonderful characters living together in a shared universe for a new story unlike anything weÕve ever seen before. A rift between worlds has opened, revealing a space beyond the Dreaming. Meanwhile, a book from LucienÕs library is discovered by a group of children in the waking world where it should not exist. Lucien calls for Matthew the Raven to seek out their master, Daniel, Lord of Dreams. As Matthew flies across the Waking World and others, he finds a young boy named Timothy Hunter who, in his dreams, has become the worldÕs most powerful magician-but in his nightmares he is the worldÕs greatest villain. A new House has appeared in the realm of the Dreaming: the House of Whispers, with its proprietor, a fortune-teller called Erzulie. And elsewhere, Lucifer has fallen again, only this time he might be trapped in a Hell of his own design. Spiraling out of this special issue will be four all-new series set in the Sandman Universe. It all starts here!

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.

This is the one true tale of what befell the Prince of Lies, the Bringer of Light—Lucifer. The blind, destitute old man, who lives in a small boarding house in a quiet little town, where nothing is quite what it seems and no one can leave. He’s trapped, you see? Trapped in a bizarre prison with no memory of how he got there or why. He has no recollection of setting out to find his offspring. He also does not remember that if he does not find him it could be the end of all things. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, a cop who may have brain cancer is tasked with a mission: find and kill Lucifer. Collects Lucifer #1-6 and The Sandman Universe Special #1.

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.

Erzulie shouldnÕt be in the Dreaming; in fact, she isnÕt really sure how she suddenly got stranded there. Worse, she soon learns that she is no longer connected to her worshippers, which, for a deity, means only one thing: death. Against the advice of Cain and Abel, Erzulie steers her houseboat back into the rip between the worlds in an effort to return to her realm. But how will she find her way back, and what danger lies ahead in the otherworldly waters she finds herself sailing? Meanwhile, LatoyaÕs sisters and her girlfriend watch her comatose body in the hospital, praying sheÕll wake up, not realizing theyÕd best be careful what they wish forÉ

The Corinthian has been shattered into thousands of pieces, each one infecting an acolyte of Erzulie, turning their whispered prayers to her into incantations of horror! It falls to Erzulie to pull every one of those shards together and reassemble the Corinthian…but the problem with reassembling him is that, well…then the Dreaming’s worst nightmare is back, and very, very angry!

Unable to connect with the girls Erzulie has sworn to protect, Maggie and Latoya align themselves with Shakpana in hopes that he can defeat ErzulieÑwhom they blame for their Waking DeathÑnot realizing their misfortune is his gain.

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.

Erzulie had abandoned all hope that her lost husband Agwe could return from the grave…though her other husbands Damballa and Ogun have not lost faith. Have they found a way to pull his spirit out of the boards of the House of Whispers? And what terrible price will they have to pay to do so?

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.

To try and understand what is going on in her own story, Erzulie seeks to enlist assistance from the fearsome god of stories: Kwaku Anansi. However, the spider-god has many threads in his web, and who knows what price he may extract in unraveling the secrets of one...

As the life sparks of non-dreamers continue to populate the Dreaming at an alarming rate due to the spreading of CotardÕs delusions in the Waking World, Turtle and Shakpana race to see who can track down Maggie and retrieve the mysterious Book of Whispers first. Turtle, on behalf of Erzulie Dantor, hopes to stop and reverse the epidemic, while Shakpana seeks to control itÉ

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!

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?