Redemption in Indigo

Description

'A clever, exuberant mix of Caribbean and Senegalese influences' New York Times Paama's husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents' home in the village of Makendha, but now he's disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones - the djombi - who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, not all the djombi are happy about this gift. The Indigo Lord believes this power should be his and his alone, and he will do anything to get it back. Chaos is about to reign supreme . . . 'The perfect antidote to the formula fantasies currently flooding the market' - Guardian A clever, contemporary fairy-tale, a masterful, magical retelling of an African folk taleset in a fresh, surprising and utterly original world. 'A fairy tale for the new generation, filled with spirits, magic and touches of African and Caribbean folklore' the Voice

Karen Lord was born in Barbados. She has been a physics teacher, a diplomat, a part-time soldier and an academic at various times and in various countries, before returning to Barbados, where she is now a writer and research consultant. Her debut novel, Redemption in Indigo, won a slew of awards, including the Frank Collymore Literary Award, the William L. Crawford Award, the Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award for Best Debut Novel and the Mythopoeic Award, and was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award. Redemption in Indigo, The Best of All Possible Worlds and its sequel, The Galaxy Game, are published by Jo Fletcher Books.

A clever, exuberant mix of Caribbean and Senegalese influences . . . Lord manages to compress her story while balancing the cosmic and the personal - all with a verve that would be the envy of many veteran novelists * New York Times Book Review * The perfect antidote to the formula fantasies currently flooding the market * Guardian * You can almost hear the beat of African drums as the rhythm of the prose reverberates through your mind, and you will almost wish that you were listening to someone reading it aloud, the way folk tales are meant to be told * Book Monkey * This is one of those literary works of which it can be said that not a word should be changed * Booklist * Redemption in Indigo . . . combine[s] comedy, a sense of mythic-ness, gravity, and sheer elegance * Charles Tan * The characters are beautifully drawn . . . the adventure points beyond itself to insights about human experience in general * Fantasy Faction * The impish love child of Tutuola and Marquez. Utterly delightful * Nalo Hopkinson * The whole thing is enormous fun, thanks not least to a chatty, companionable narrator . . . Ace. * SFX * This retelling of a Senegalese folk tale packs a great deal of subtly alluring storytelling into this small package * Publishers Weekly * Redemption in Indigo is a fairy tale for the new generation, filled with spirits, magic and touches of African and Caribbean folklore * The Voice * Sprightly from start to finish, with vivid descriptions, memorable heroes and villains, brisk pacing - clever storytelling * Caribbean Review of Books * Charmingly told * Sunday Telegraph * Karen Lord is doing something different and that's to be applauded * Independent on Sunday * Karen Lord is one of the hot writers of the day in SF . . . Redemption in Indigo marries Caribbean and Senegalese traditions into a fable not dissimilar in tone to Jose Saramago's Cain, which likewise deploys humour and parable-like set pieces to peel back layers of myth. It's a beautiful work of fiction * staffersbookreview.com *