Lucinda Roy's Blog
July 5, 2022
Flying the Coop
Flying the Coop, the second novel in my Dreambird Chronicles trilogy, is out today.
Many years ago, I conceived of a future world where the U.S. has fractured along racial and rural vs. urban divides to become the Disunited States. It's frightening to see how much closer we are getting to the post-second Civil War world depicted in the novel.
In this series, enslaved so-called "botanicals" (imported labor not classified as human) have invented a game called Fly the Coop that pays tribute to the civil rights movement and the trials of the Middle Passage. The game the enslaved invent is a cross between a gladiatorial colosseum battle, a cage fight, and a circus. Inside an arena-sized cage, battlers "fly" using equipment like the Jim Crow Nest, Rosa Parks Perches, King-Spins, Douglass Pipes and Ellison Wheels. The most accomplished flyer-battlers can make you believe the bars of the cage no longer exist.
The series calls upon the mythology that has shaped those of us from the African Diaspora as characters dream of ways to come to terms with suffering and live courageously in this terrifying and amazing world. The three friends at the core of the novel are living precariously in D.C.--a Liberty Independent: Ji-ji has undergone a remarkable metamorphosis; Afarra the outcast is haunted by vengeful ghosts called Dimmers; and Tiro cannot reconcile himself to the loss of his executed twin brother.
D.C. is one of my favorite cities in the world. Writing about what it could become in the future has been one of the most exciting and troubling experiences in my entire writing career. If we are barreling toward a future like this, I am grateful to have this ensemble cast of characters by my side. And I'm grateful for the stories we tell that give us hope.
Many years ago, I conceived of a future world where the U.S. has fractured along racial and rural vs. urban divides to become the Disunited States. It's frightening to see how much closer we are getting to the post-second Civil War world depicted in the novel.
In this series, enslaved so-called "botanicals" (imported labor not classified as human) have invented a game called Fly the Coop that pays tribute to the civil rights movement and the trials of the Middle Passage. The game the enslaved invent is a cross between a gladiatorial colosseum battle, a cage fight, and a circus. Inside an arena-sized cage, battlers "fly" using equipment like the Jim Crow Nest, Rosa Parks Perches, King-Spins, Douglass Pipes and Ellison Wheels. The most accomplished flyer-battlers can make you believe the bars of the cage no longer exist.
The series calls upon the mythology that has shaped those of us from the African Diaspora as characters dream of ways to come to terms with suffering and live courageously in this terrifying and amazing world. The three friends at the core of the novel are living precariously in D.C.--a Liberty Independent: Ji-ji has undergone a remarkable metamorphosis; Afarra the outcast is haunted by vengeful ghosts called Dimmers; and Tiro cannot reconcile himself to the loss of his executed twin brother.
D.C. is one of my favorite cities in the world. Writing about what it could become in the future has been one of the most exciting and troubling experiences in my entire writing career. If we are barreling toward a future like this, I am grateful to have this ensemble cast of characters by my side. And I'm grateful for the stories we tell that give us hope.
October 8, 2021
Cover for Next Novel in THE DREAMBIRID CHRONICLES
Artist Eli Minaya and the wonderful design team at Tor Books have come up with another striking cover for
FLYING THE COOP, the next book in my DREAMBIRD CHRONICLES trilogy. Like the cover of THE FREEDOM RACE, the color purple--a highly symbolic color for those enslaved on plantings--is featured, as is the attack on the Capitol. Ironically, I conceived of the attack by secessionists long before the Capitol insurrection of January 6th, so it has been troubling to see how close the fractured future I envisioned for the Disunited States is to our current situation. The cover captures the seething discontent and rage that fuels rebellion. But I hope that the novel, with its magical realism and fierce adherence to hope, is a testament to characters' courage rather than their anger, and a celebration of the power of an enslaved people's dreams.
FLYING THE COOP, the next book in my DREAMBIRD CHRONICLES trilogy. Like the cover of THE FREEDOM RACE, the color purple--a highly symbolic color for those enslaved on plantings--is featured, as is the attack on the Capitol. Ironically, I conceived of the attack by secessionists long before the Capitol insurrection of January 6th, so it has been troubling to see how close the fractured future I envisioned for the Disunited States is to our current situation. The cover captures the seething discontent and rage that fuels rebellion. But I hope that the novel, with its magical realism and fierce adherence to hope, is a testament to characters' courage rather than their anger, and a celebration of the power of an enslaved people's dreams.
