James Nicoll Reviews

Nalo Hopkinson’s 2013 Sister Mine is a stand-alone modern fantasy novel.

The product of a marriage between a mortal human and a demi-god, former conjoined twin Makeda has little to show for her father’s semi-divine status. Alone of her family, she has no discernable magic, a trait that has earned her the no-so-friendly nickname ​“donkey.”

After one argument too many with her twin sister Abby, Makeda decides the time has come to leave the house she co-owns with Abby and strike out on her own. Step one: talking her way past a deplorable credit rating and lamentable job history into a dicey rental in the Cheerful Rest.

Step one is the only step that goes according to plan.

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2021 Amazon’s Black Star series offers six short science fiction pieces by six different Black authors. To quote:

The sky is not the limit. From an alley in New York to an interstellar wormhole, the path to the future looks different for everyone. These cosmic short stories from some of today’s most influential Black authors reveal a universe of possibilities. 

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Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Nalo Hopkinson¹​’s Report from Planet Midnight is a short collection of stories and essays. It is one of almost thirty books in the PM Press Outspoken Authors series².

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Nalo Hopkinson’s 2012 Report from Planet Midnight is a collection. It is the ninth volume in PM Press’s Outspoken Authors series.

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2012’s The Chaos is a standalone young adult urban fantasy novel by Nalo Hopkinson. 

Sixteen-year-old Sojourner Smith leads a far – from- perfect life; she knows it and she knows why. She’s too white to be black, too black to be white, and subject to her parents’ draconian discipline (the same inflexible standards that consigned her older brother to prison). School is something of a refuge: there, she is nicknamed Scotch and admired because she is pretty, flirtatious, and a star performer of the Raw Gyals dance troupe. 

Of course, nothing is perfect, and there are a few problems even there. She’s fallen out with Raw Gyals troupe leader and former best friend Gloria. Scotch is convinced that Gloria has her eye on Scotch’s ex-boyfriend Tafari. Not what a real BFF would do. 

Oh, and there’s Scotch’s new skin condition and the fact that she’s been seeing floating heads lately.… 

A night out with her older brother Rich sounds like a welcome respite from parents and school. Pity the Smith siblings picked the night all hell broke loose in Toronto ¹ Welcome to the Chaos! 

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