Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston is a work of magical creativity. All Amari wants to do is find her missing big brother. The detectives on the case think her brother is a runaway or into some no-good business. But Amari knows better. She locates a case left by her brother meant only for her. Inside is a secret message that sends her to a school for those with magical abilities, that only certain individuals with the right talent and skills can see and access. Amari doesn’t even know she has magical abilities! From there, it’s a battle to prove herself so she can stay at the school long enough to find clues to locate her brother. It’s an amazing read that will keep you hooked until the very twisted end.
book reviews (5)
black borne by L.L. Farmer is an intriguing fantasy story that mixes seamlessly the brutal history of slavery with demons, angels, magic and witchcraft. If that doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what will. This was an unexpected find for me on Amazon, while searching for fantasy and science fiction books by Black authors. What a find! I loved this story.
Neema, a young girl born into slavery in New York in the 1600s, is suddenly blessed (and cursed) with immortality as she hides in a burial ground from white slavers. Her mother is descended from African warrior women, so Neema is naturally gifted with strength; she learns cunning and the fighting arts from a man named Priest and his village followers. Those skills will help her in her centuries-long battle against demons. The story works its way through Neema’s past into her present, which finds her back in New York city present-day hunting a rogue demon. Her past comes full circle when the police detective she encounters is a former boyfriend, who is not only surprised to see her again, but to see her now having not aged a single day.
black borne is an absolute delight to read and will have you continuing to turn the pages from the very beginning. There are more books in the series, and I look forward to continuing reading about Neema’s journey.
This was a fabulous read for me. A poetry book melding science fiction, robotics, artificial intelligence, futuristic eras and indescribably more. The Ghettobirds by Bryant O’Hara is a wonderful trip through vivid imaginings of humans surviving in turbulent times, sometimes dark times, but always with a dose of humor and dips into Black, African American and African culture and sayings. This was a delight to read, and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in science fiction and science in fiction.
Some of my favorites were: The Silent Station; Convector Howlers; The Needle, The Record (an absolute must read!); and About the Author, his background and inspiration for The Ghettobirds. This hit-one-out-of-the-ballpark poetry read is sold on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ghettobirds-Bryant-OHara/dp/1642510351/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=The+Ghettobirds&qid=1633277994&sr=8-10
Pick up your copy today!
Nicky Drayden is a master weaver of science fiction and fantasy in her novel, The Prey of Gods. Five unique individuals, with their own set of problems, have their story lines come together so seamlessly in the end to save a futuristic South Africa from total destruction. Nomvula, a blooming demigoddess must discover her true potential to fight another demigoddess focused solely on destroying every human being in the township of Port Elizabeth, then the world. Muzi, a queer South African youth, is becoming a man and finding his own path in life and love, all while experimenting with a new drug his best friend’s cousin has begun distributing throughout the populace. Three more characters: Sydney, the other demigoddess; Riya, a pop diva; and Stoker, a politician, also are finding their way amongst a city that fights its own demons (dik diks), as well as fighting their internal demons as well.
The Prey of Gods is a unique combination of: science fiction, with robot engineering, and artificial intelligence that is becoming self-aware thanks to Nomvula; fantasy, with demigods and goddesses; humans who coexist with them all; and everyday battles with drugs, self-doubt and identity. A wonderful read that keeps you intrigued from beginning to the end. #nickydrayden #thepreyofgods
If you're like me and want to write a novel, I would highly recommend this book by Jessica Brody. It is a slam-dunk as far as getting you to understand writing plot points, characters and beats of your story. A few people had told me about this book and suggested it, but I somehow never got around to reading it...until now. Wow! It is amazing. And for a book on writing, and not just a novel to read for fun, it kept me turning the pages, page after page.
Ms. Brody lays out in clear explanation how a great story has an A story and a B story. "The A story is the external story," what happens, the journey your character takes on in order to accomplish whatever goal they are trying to reach. "...the B story is the internal story," whatever internal/personal goal the character must learn in order to grow, adapt, change as they go along on the journey.
I underlined and tagged so many pages, my book looks like it's throwing out confetti! I love how she goes into the details of how stories move the same as movies, through Acts 1, 2 and 3. She even goes further and breaks down Act 2 into 2a and 2b since this is the bulk of any story, the middle, the conflict. I even liked how she gave percentages of much each act should take up in your story.
The examples she breaks down into their respective parts are so thoroughly laid out in clear, clean, concise language that as I was reading, I was thinking, "Wow, okay, I get that now." And you will too, if you're looking for a straightforward way of understanding plot, acts, character development, climax and story end.
She uses a different type of "genre" breakdown. Rather than your standard, science fiction, romance, mystery genre breakdown, she goes into genres of what "type of story" it is. For instance, is your story a "Rites of Passage" story, a "Superhero" story, a "Buddy Love" story or a "Golden Fleece" story? Once you read the book, you'll understand what she means and, hopefully, it will open your eyes as it did for me.
Overall, this book was a knockout for me. Wish I had read it earlier. And, I enjoyed it so much, that I'm planning on reading "Save The Cat!" by Blake Snyder on screenwriting.
My grade: A+ for "Save The Cat! Writes A Novel." Hope you enjoy it and gain as much information from it as I did.
Jackie Cannon
