Brown Girl in the Ring

by Nalo Hopkinson

Audible

English language

Published Dec. 18, 2006 by Recorded Books.

(20 reviews)

It is the late 21st century, and due to the economic breakdown and rising crime rate, nearly every citizen has fled Toronto. The city is a slum, populated by the homeless, the poor, and criminals like Rudy, who uses the power of voodoo to help him control the booming drug market. But also left behind are people like Ti-Jeanne, who hope to use voodoo to help rebuild the city, even as Canada's privileged population turns to Toronto to begin harvesting human organs. To uncover the future voices of science fiction, Time Warner Publishing sponsored a contest that attracted hundreds of submissions. Brown Girl in the Ring was the winning entry, announcing author Nalo Hopkinson to the world as a tremendous new talent.

2 editions

Ex dente leonem reviewed Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

Review of 'Brown Girl in the Ring' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

A masterpiece of postcolonial literary sf, rightfully belonging alongside those of Octavia Butler, Ursula le Guin, and the dystopias of fellow Canadian Margaret Atwood, and Hopkinson is as powerful a storyteller as her peers. Seeing through the eyes of Brown Girl's Jamaican and Caribbean characters might be challenging at first for certain readers more accustomed to the voices almost always given precedence in conventional literature, but its story is as fully immersive as a ceremonial drum rhythm. With its Afrofuturistic elements and its initially bleak but ultimately hopeful vision of a city after/beyond local collapse of the nation-state, I would even call Brown Girl in the Ring a foundational classic not just of the still-emerging solarpunk movement, but also of its younger sibling lunarpunk, a darker and more mystical imagining of how such futures may unfold.

Erin reviewed Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

Review of 'Brown Girl in the Ring' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This was good! The writing was nothing fancy, but I enjoyed the story and was pulled along. I’m somewhat familiar with Haitian Vodou, so I was mixing up my lwa, but I enjoyed how the story pulled those elements in. It’s a nice change from the typical fantasy. Maybe this would be more magical realism? Not sure.

I was genuinely surprised a few times in this story. I wish there were /more/ of the story. One of my complaints would be that it felt like she could have said more about the setting. The little side plot with the Premier feels incomplete.

My other main complaint is that I didn’t really buy the appeal of Tony. I needed to see more sweetness from him or something. I do appreciate that he doesn’t get back with Ti-Jeanne at the end. After he killed her grandma, I was like, please do not tell me she forgives him and opens herself back up to him. That was one of the surprises of this story for me - Tony is not really redeemed at the end, doesn’t come to the rescue. He fails. She saves herself with her power. Love that!

I actually started Midnight Robber before this but found the Creole too difficult, so I tried this book instead. Given that I enjoyed this one, I think I’d give Midnight Robber another try.