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Rising science fiction and fantasy star P. Djèlí Clark brings an alternate New Orleans of orisha, airships, and adventure to life in his immersive debut novella The Black God's Drums. Alex Award Winner!
In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air—in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie's trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God's Drums. But Creeper also has a secret herself: Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, speaks inside her head, and may have her own ulterior motivations. Soon, Creeper, Oya, and the crew of the Midnight Robber are pulled into a perilous mission aimed to stop the Black God's Drums from being unleashed and wiping out the entirety of New Orleans. "A sinewy mosaic of Haitian sky pirates, wily street urchins, and orisha magic. Beguiling and bombastic!"—New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Rising science fiction and fantasy star P. Djèlí Clark brings an alternate New Orleans of orisha, airships, and adventure to life in his immersive debut novella The Black God's Drums. Alex Award Winner!
In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air—in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie's trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God's Drums. But Creeper also has a secret herself: Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, speaks inside her head, and may have her own ulterior motivations. Soon, Creeper, Oya, and the crew of the Midnight Robber are pulled into a perilous mission aimed to stop the Black God's Drums from being unleashed and wiping out the entirety of New Orleans. "A sinewy mosaic of Haitian sky pirates, wily street urchins, and orisha magic. Beguiling and bombastic!"—New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Born in New York and raised mostly in Houston, P. DJÈLÍ CLARK (he/him) spent part of his childhood in Trinidad and Tobago, the homeland of his parents. He is the author of the novel A Master of Djinn and the novellas Ring Shout,The Black God's Drums, and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. He has won the Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards and been nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Sturgeon Awards. His stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Daily Science Fiction,Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Apex, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies, including Griots, Hidden Youth, and Clockwork Cairo. He is also a founding member of FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and an infrequent reviewer at Strange Horizons.
Reviews-
Starred review from June 25, 2018 Clark masterfully rewrites history in this spellbinding post–Civil War fantasy. America is 15 years past an armistice between the Union, where slavery is illegal, and the Confederacy, where it still reigns, and New Orleans remains the only free and neutral port in all the land. Thirteen-year-old Creeper is an orphan surviving on the margins of New Orleans whose fortunes change when she uncovers a Confederate plot to recreate the titular otherworldly weapon, which ensured devastating victory for Haitian revolutionaries, and use it against the Union. With help from Ann-Marie St. Augustine, an airship captain who could be Creeper’s ticket out of New Orleans, and the goddess Oya, Creeper must prevent Confederate soldiers from unleashing the wrath of a furious god upon a city and a nation that will not see it coming. Clark employs fervent, emotive prose to construct an elaborate world populated by diverse, complex people. The story is thrillingly original and will enthrall fans of alternate histories.
August 1, 2018 Making his debut, Clark creates a riveting world, taking his readers to the neutral city of New Orleans in 1871. The American Civil War, fought with steampunk ships and weapons, ended with an armistice, with no big tussles between the Confederates and the Union in the ensuing 15 years. Creeper, the protagonist, is not big on schooling but knows enough to get by on the streets of New Orleans. She knows who to avoid, who to steal from, and who to sell information to. She also receives messages from Oya, the African orisha of wind and storms, and knows there's danger afoot when she overhears Confederate soldiers discussing a weapon called the black god's drums. What she learns from Captain Ann-Marie when she trades that information worries her even more. The weapon is tied directly to various orishas and is virtually uncontrollable when unleashed. With the captain's help, she must discover what different parties intend to do with the weapon and how to prevent its devastating effects from being unleashed. A must-read for alternate history fans. For more Afrofuturist titles, see page 52.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
Scott Westerfeld, New York Times bestselling author
"A sinewy mosaic of Haitian sky pirates, wily street urchins, and orisha magic. Beguiling and bombastic!"
Daniel H. Wilson, bestselling author of Robopocalypse and The Clockwork Dynasty
"Definitely do not miss this lightning fast romp through the steampunk bayous of an alternate New Orleans. Clark's story bleeds with style, elaborate language, and unforgettable characters who are pulled by the undercurrents of hidden gods."
Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Clark masterfully rewrites history in this spellbinding post-Civil War fantasy.... This story is thrillingly original and will enthrall fans of alternate histories."
Locus magazine
"This delightful novella is a breath of fresh air, and promises good things for P. Djèlí Clark's career – though I should note that he already has no mean streak in shorter fiction.... Renegade scientists, feral girls, nuns whose knowledge is this side of disturbing: Djèlí Clark creates a setting that feels vivid and alive, and populates it with interesting, complicated characters – even if we only really meet Creeper and Ann-Marie up close. The Black God's Drums is, in short, a delight. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I'll definitely be looking up P. Djèlí Clark's other work."
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