Sister Mine

"Acclaimed novelist Nalo Hopkinson is well-known for her unique postmodern mythos, often drawing on Caribbean folklore, and placing complex characters smack in the center of worlds whose magic isn't always kind and in which decisions are rarely easy. Her newest novel, Sister Mine, has a lighter edge than some of her previous work; it's an engaging, messy fable about the interconnectedness of even the little things in our lives...This is a book about family, and Sister Mine remains a suitably imperfect and vibrant story of family in all its unfathomable wonders and annoyances, and the power it holds over us - or gives us."

"She's a powerful writer with an imagination that most of us would kill for. I have read everything she has written and am in awe of her many gifts. And her protagonists are unforgettable - formidable haunted women drawn with an almost unbearable honesty - seriously, who writes sisters like Nalo? Takes courage to be that true."

"Hopkinson's most wildly imaginative novel since Brown Girl in the Ring.... and some of her most accomplished prose to date; at one point, she conveys the multivalent perceptions of Makeda through stunning passages of pure synaesthesia."

"While the fantastical is ever-present, it's the personal and familial that make Sister Mine engaging and captivating. Self-doubt, interpersonal conflict and the struggle for acceptance are just as powerful as the novel's magical objects. Hopkinson's deeply saturated, poetic language is perfect to relate this story, which is deeply felt."

"The comingling of the fantastical and the real world in this urban fantasy is seamless and surprisingly credible . . . complex relationships and knotty family ties, all with a tasty supernatural flavor."

"Hopkins writes in the tradition of African-American science fiction authors like Samuel R. Delany and Octavia Butler, but her approach is singularly expansive, a mythography of the black diaspora. (There are parallels with fellow Caribbean native Junot Diaz's work, not to mention King Rat, China Mieville's similarly musical urban fantasy.) . . . Hopkinson's prose intermingles the quotidian settings and cosmic mysticism with sly, assured ease."

"Hopkinson is extremely talented at crafting complicated protagonists, and Makeda is no exception...Her books always feel like glimpses into worlds that are fully detailed and stand on their own...Another great novel from one of the best fantasy authors working today."

"The author of sci-fi classics The Salt Roads (2003) and Brown Girl in the Ring (1998), conjures up another hit with Sister Mine."

"As audacious as it is addictive."

"Hopkinson has lost none of her gift for salty, Caribbean-Canadian talk...and the relationship between Makeda and Abby always rings true: resentment and anger enduringly intertwined with love and loyalty."

"Sister Mine explores kinship, twinship, and the intense rivalry and intimacy unique to sisters...a fast-paced, slyly transgressive, satisfying supernatural adventure."

"A most impressive work . . . vivid and richly nuanced, utterly realistic yet still somehow touched with magic."

"With sly humor and great tenderness, Hopkinson draws out the hope residing in age and change."

"[A] considerable talent for character, voice, and lushly sensual writing . . . her most convincing and complex character to date."

"A book of wonder, courage, and magic . . . an electrifying bravura performance by one of our most important writers."

"Sexy, disturbing, touching, wildly comic. A tour de force from one of our most striking new voices in fiction."

"Vibrant . . . stunning . . . Hopkinson puts her lyrical gifts to good use."

"Hopkinson has already captured readers with her unique combination of Caribbean folklore, sensual characters, and rhythmic prose. These stories further illustrate her broad range of subjects."

"Succeeds on a grand scale . . . Hopkinson's narrative voice has a way of getting under the skin."

"Rich and complex . . . Hopkinson owns one of the more important and original voices in SF."

"Excellent . . . a bright, original mix of future urban decay and West Indian magic . . . strongly rooted in character and place."

"Utterly original . . . the debut of a major talent. Gripping, memorable, and beautiful."