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How Long 'til Black Future Month?

(Dreamblood 0.5 - The Narcomancer )

N.K. Jemisin (Goodreads Author)

4.30 · Rating details · 6,307 ratings · 1,297 reviews

In these stories, Jemisin sharply examines modern society, infusing magic into the mundane, and drawing deft parallels in the fantasy realms of her imagination. Dragons and hateful spirits haunt the flooded city of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In a parallel universe, a utopian society watches our world, trying to learn from our mistakes. A black ...more

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Hardcover, 400 pages

Published November 27th 2018 by Orbit

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Aug 31, 2016 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it

Shelves: the-shorts, science-fiction, horror

Updated to add additional reviews for stories that are in this collection. "The Storyteller's Replacement" and "Cuisine des Mémoires" are nominated for a 2019 Locus award.

Goodreads has pulled together a couple of my Jemisin short story reviews and dumped them here, since they appear in her new short fiction collection, How Long 'til Black Future Month?. As it turns out, I've already read and reviewed some of her other stories in this collection, and am reading some additional stories I haven't ...more

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Dec 04, 2018 Holly rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-read, fantasy-science-fiction

3.5 stars

I absolutely *LOVED* this author's Broken Earth trilogy (starts with The Fifth Season) so I was really excited to pick up this collection of short stories. However, and it pains me to say this, I am not sure why this collection was published because the majority of the stories didn't particularly 'wow' me. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy some of them, there were a handful I actually REALLY wish were expanded into a full length novel because I enjoyed them so much. But most of them ...more

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Dec 17, 2018 Hiu Gregg rated it it was amazing

This was, I’m ashamed to admit, the first N.K. Jemisin book I’ve ever read. I don’t say this because I subscribe to the belief that there are books which are “required reading” in the fantasy genre (because I absolutely don’t), but rather because on reading the stories in How Long ’til Black Future Month, I was struck by just how damned gifted Jemisin is as a writer. And yet I’m only finding that out now.

But then, “gifted” isn’t really the best word to use here. These stories are very much a This was, I’m ashamed to admit, the first N.K. Jemisin book I’ve ever read. I don’t say this because I subscribe to the belief that there are books which are “required reading” in the fantasy genre (because I absolutely don’t), but rather because on reading the stories in How Long ’til Black Future Month, I was struck by just how damned gifted Jemisin is as a writer. And yet I’m only finding that out now.

But then, “gifted” isn’t really the best word to use here. These stories are very much a reflection of the sort of thing that Jemisin has been saying for years. Some of them explore the concept of black excellence, which isn’t a result of someone being “gifted” so much as it is the result of clawing and scraping and working harder and better than anyone else. Because that’s what it takes for a person of colour to succeed. To be “excellent”, rather than “good enough”.

Nowhere is this emphasized more than in “Valedictorian” — a story about an hard-working, over-achieving black girl who is pressured to underachieve by her family and her society, ostensibly to protect her from some horrible fate that her dystopian world will inflict upon her.

Jemisin crafts a whole bunch of fantastical and science-fictional worlds which serve as a commentary on our own society. These can be contemporary, historical, or completely imaginary… and yet they all have a message that rings true. There’s 22 stories here, and while in most anthologies or collections you would expect to find a few duds, that’s… just not the case here. Sure, there were some that hit me harder than others, but there is genuinely not a weak story in this book, and that’s not an exaggeration.

Through the impressive variety of Jemisin’s worlds, concepts, and characters, there is a tangible undercurrent of real emotion. It would be easy to dismiss or belittle the legitimate anger, but it’s so much more than that.

Yes, there’s a fury there. Some of the criticisms of our world are scathing. But there’s also an undeniable sense of hope. An acknowledgement that, yes, things are pretty shitty at the moment. Yes, some of us are fucking exhausted. But things can, and will, get better.

I don’t believe in required reading, but this book has come the closest yet to changing my mind. ...more

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Oct 11, 2018 Leah Rachel von Essen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: short-story-collections

How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? is simply superb. There wasn’t a story in the twenty-two that didn’t impress. Jemisin is a science fiction and fantasy powerhouse, and that is clear by the sheer variety of tales told—there are a dozen novel-worthy worlds crafted in this volume.

Jemisin opens with “The Ones Who Stay and Fight,” a direct story response to Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” It ends with a parallel—a story about a man defending his city, post-Katrina New ...more

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Dec 09, 2018 Marchpane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories

Based on the title, I was expecting How Long ‘til Black Future Month? to be a little more sci-fi leaning and/or a lot more overtly political. But as Jemisin points out in her introduction, just being a black woman writing sci-fi and fantasy that features black characters is a political act. Occasionally she does reference real-world events, such as the terrific “Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters”, about a young man and his elderly neighbour trying to ...more

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Sep 10, 2016 carol. rated it liked it

Shelves: short-story, multi-culti, fantasy, female-lead, sci-fi

https://www.wired.com/2016/12/nk-jemi...

***Hey, Great job, Goodreads! This review was for a single short story, The Evaluators, but maybe also for another short story, "The Narcomancer." Idk, because my links are broken and the you re-shelved my review under a collection of short stories. So I should probably delete this review because I have no idea what it's reviewing. Jerks.---carol. 5/19

While I had links to the stories, it appears Jemisin had to pull it them from the website and there were, ...more

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Jun 10, 2019 Anthony rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, short-stories, fantasy, time-traveler-challenge, locus-award-winners, 7-kingdoms-challenge, tbr-challenge-2019

Impressively varied in tone, voice, subject, and style, this short story collection was wonderfully entertaining and provocative. N.K. Jemisin writes with enormous confidence, takes big risks, and doesn’t settle for the easy way out. Well worth reading.

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Jan 20, 2019 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, sci-fi, heptarchate-challenge

I finished and it only took 5 days. Go me!

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this. From Jemisin I’ve only ever read The Fifth Season, and my relationship with that was only lukewarm. I did know that she had some fantastic ideas for worlds and narrative choices though, so I was hopeful.

I’m happy to say that every single story in this book reaffirms what I’ve stated above. Jemisin is truly a creative genius and her writing is top notch. (And best of all, I didn’t come across any that were ...more

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Dec 29, 2016 Mir rated it really liked it

Shelves: short-stories, science-fiction

This was a pretty awesome, original short story about alien contact. It was told in the form of fragmentary documents: reports, IMs, recorded conversations, etc. There were also visual and formatting elements, but unfortunately I was unable to read this on the WIRED site because of pop-ups, so I pasted it into a text document and was not able to see the images. Still really enjoyed it, though, and would read more set in this world.

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Feb 07, 2019 Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasybookreview

Review to follow

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Jul 17, 2018 Hannah marked it as on-hold

I don’t think I could be more excited for this.

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Apr 22, 2019 Sahitya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopia, 2019-read, 4-star

Jemisin is a phenomenal writer and every story of hers reflects her talent. She has a knack for telling stories and creating worlds with a lot of depth and meaning and lot of parallels to our real world. This collection of short stories has its own share of some great ones and some not so good ones, but my main problem was that there were a few I just didn’t understand. I’ve felt this before about the author’s works - she writes on a whole other level which is very complicated and not easy for ...more

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Jun 30, 2017 Jokoloyo rated it really liked it

The art and the web design is reinforcing the atmosphere of the story. One of my better read for SF short story on 2017. A fascinating contact-with-another-species story with web style storytelling. I admit I add 1 star due to the design.

Maybe only I did the mistake, but when first time I read it, I was confused with the timeline. Please make sure you notice the time record of each section/chapter.

For the title art, if the page art seems too large, I use this link to watch it: (view spoiler) ...more

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Dec 15, 2019 Mara rated it really liked it

Shelves: physical-owned, recommended-to-me

This book makes me so excited to try more from NK Jemisin. There are definitely highs and lows, as is true for most short story collections, but overall, this showcases the range of her imagination and, even more intriguingly to me, her consistent thematic content

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Apr 20, 2019 CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian rated it really liked it

Shelves: black, reading-in-colour, american, short-stories, fiction, fantasy

A majestic collection of fantasy and sciencefiction short stories from N.K. Jemisin, one of my favourite authors. There's incredible variety in here, from a world where "quantum proliferation" has propelled everyone into separate looping realities to a magical recipe that keeps you forever young to a restaurant that can serve any meal from any day in history to an uncanny exactness. Some stories are stronger than others, but overall an excellent book.

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Jun 02, 2017 Caro the Helmet Lady rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-reads, online-reads

Stories like this one are the reason I love sci-fi.

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Dec 06, 2018 Rana rated it it was amazing

Is there even any doubt that this would be fucking fantastic?

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Nov 20, 2018 Liz Barnsley rated it it was amazing

I’ve recently been making my way through this authors ” Broken Earth ” trilogy – one book to go- and the way she writes is so creative, beautifully done, so as a fan of short stories generally I was looking forward to this.
There is an art to the short story form, not every author no matter how talented can pull them off, but N K Jemisin certainly can. In this collection we have varying lengths but each one is a small gem unto itself, exploring many themes, a lot of them melancholy and thought ...more

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Dec 11, 2018 Makeda / ColourLit rated it it was amazing

Review pending...just know I loved this collection. to buy The Inheritance Trilogy and Dreamblood Duology! ...more

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May 18, 2019 André Oliveira rated it it was ok

yup, I just found out that I don't like short stories, which is a bummer :(

So don't take this review seriously. If you like short stories, definitely try this book, it has some interesting ideas

I am still really excited to read The Broken Earth trilogy!!!

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Jan 05, 2019 Hannah rated it it was amazing

HOW DOES SHE DO IT?! How in the world is her mind so freaking brilliant? I demand an answer...

This is definitely my absolute favorite short story collection I've read so far. I was head over heels for 19 of the stories and only didn't enjoy 3 of them. I can still say with certainty that they were all strong, stunning, and breathtaking (yes, even the unfortunate 3. Just because I didn't like them as much didn't mean they weren't amazing in their own way). The stories are extremely accessible and HOW DOES SHE DO IT?! How in the world is her mind so freaking brilliant? I demand an answer...

This is definitely my absolute favorite short story collection I've read so far. I was head over heels for 19 of the stories and only didn't enjoy 3 of them. I can still say with certainty that they were all strong, stunning, and breathtaking (yes, even the unfortunate 3. Just because I didn't like them as much didn't mean they weren't amazing in their own way). The stories are extremely accessible and each pack such a punch for its short nature. Every one of them addresses an element of modern society that really makes you pause and think. In general, it's hard to successfully build a world in a 400+ page fantasy novel and even harder to limit yourself to about 15-20 pages -- but Jemisin makes it look soooo easy.

It was ridiculously difficult to pick a few favorites among the 19 but here are a few:

"The Ones Who Stay and Fight" - A brilliant opener of a utopia set in a parallel universe that watches and learns from our own flawed world.
"Red Dirt Witch" - A chilling tale set in Alabama during Jim Crow of a black mother fiercely protecting her only daughter from the hands of a fey.
"L'Alchimista" and "Cuisine des Memoires" - Two stories that feature magical food and made my stomach (and mind) hunger for more.
"The Storyteller's Replacement" - A storyteller recounts a tale of a king who eats the heart of a dragon and suffers the dire consequences.
"Stone Hunger" - A young girl seeks vengeance for the death of a city. An absolute delight to venture back into the world of the Broken Earth trilogy and see the seeds of how the series developed.
"The Narcomancer" - A priest struggles to choose between his vows to the Goddess and his heart amongst the backdrop of village politics and an intriguing magic system. According to other reviewers, this acts as the seeds of the Dreamblood Duology which I am more than excited to tackle soon.

Honorable Mentions: "The Trojan Girl", "Walking Awake", and "Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters" and honestly all the other stories hah.

The three I didn't like as much were:

"The Effluent Engine" - While I loved the idea of a lesbian Haitian spy seeking enhanced technology to maintain the freedom of their country post-Revolution, her bold romantic advances just didn't seem very necessary to the plot. Maybe if this was a full-fledged novel where the romance was built over a period of time, I would've cheered along.
"On the Banks of the River Lex" - With mankind gone, Death and other deities wander New York City as they try to get by with their lives. While there wasn't anything particularly wrong, it was just a little dull.
"Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows" - This was a just little bit too weird and confusing for my taste. ...more

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Apr 19, 2019 Lauren Stoolfire rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hubchallenge19, sci-fi, fantasy, short-stories

Wow! This is a fantastic collection of diverse short stiries. I need to read anything and everything from N.K. Jemisin stat!

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Jan 15, 2019 The Captain rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, sci-fi

Ahoy there me mateys! I have read five of the author’s novels but had never read any of her short stories. N.K. Jemisin has been making waves by doing cool things like winning the Hugo award three years in a row for every book in her Broken Earth trilogy (which I haven’t read yet!). So when I saw she was publishing this short story collection I got excited. And after listening to the audiobook, I can say that I adored it.

This collection has 22 varied tales. Now here’s the thing, for the majority ...more

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Aug 31, 2016 Jen rated it it was ok

Shelves: short-freebie

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Review makes no sense because GoodReads took reviews of short stories from this anthology that were posted separately and smushed them together under the anthology, without being nice enough to at least put each review under the title of the short story to which it was referring.

Nice that GoodReads just does what it wants without telling you what they did and why. Would be nice to be told so things can be amended before the change occurred. Probably in the fine print. I bet they can take your Review makes no sense because GoodReads took reviews of short stories from this anthology that were posted separately and smushed them together under the anthology, without being nice enough to at least put each review under the title of the short story to which it was referring.

Nice that GoodReads just does what it wants without telling you what they did and why. Would be nice to be told so things can be amended before the change occurred. Probably in the fine print. I bet they can take your kidneys or first borne or soul via fine print too.

Long rant slightly shortened. I didn’t read this whole book, just selected stories of it that apparently didn’t impress me or angered me from plot holes and stupid characters. Wouldn’t mind reading the whole book later. At least to find out what below this refers to which story. Boo GoodReads!!

Second edit: and if she was the only human on the planet and she was there for three years, unless she got jiggy immediately with the alien, HOW did the other humans not immediately ask HOW she got preggers and died in childbirth to begin with?!? No other humans!!! So wouldn't that make the baby suspect in and of itself?? Unless she was preggers when she got to the planet, but if you are sending people to meet with alien races, I would assume that they get a complete physical before they do. And WHY didn't they send another team to the planet after the ship exploded? This short story BUGS me. Too many plot holes that make no sense!

Edit: also, WTF, only Americans are Christians that talk about their religion and try to "convert the natives"?? Last I knew, Christianity was in a LOT more countries than just the U.S. AND other religions like to share their beliefs with others! So would only atheists or those who are willing to NOT talk about their religious beliefs be allowed to meet the aliens?

Makes no sense. Who would delete CRUCIAL information like that to allow a HUGE threat into the human race? Had they been compromised already? If so, it was not made clear at all. Had a decent idea, but needed more to flesh it out. 2, it had potential, stars.

Merged review:

That was messed. Up. Grief and no company of the opposite sex and religious fanaticism can drive one to become desperate and crazy. The young boys all seemed to be idiots except for the one who got sick and died. You would think the mil who lost her son to a water-based parasite wouldn't want to become impregnated by one, but that's where the crazy comes in a suppose. Great short read, but one that will stay with you long after you finish it. ...more

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Dec 21, 2018 La Coccinelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, short-stories

I haven't read any of this author's longer works yet. I figured trying some of her short stories might be a good introduction to her writing (and a quick way to figure out if I'm going to click with it).

Goodreads has decided that my thoughts are too big to be contained (either that, or it's just the fact that there are 22 stories in this book, and I had something to say about all of them). In any case, my review wouldn't fit. Head over to my blog to read the full review.

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Jan 20, 2019 Rose rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, sci-fi

Having spent the last three weeks traipsing across Europe, having a book of short stories by such a fantastic author made the long train and bus journeys bearable.
Some stories were a bit of a miss for me, but the overwhelming majority were fantastic and engaging. My favourites were certainly the ones that had magic and mystique woven in to the world - The City Born Great, Red Dirt Witch, L'Alchimista, and Cuisine des Memoires all stood out beautifully amongst a sea of truly incredible stories. ...more

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Mar 24, 2019 Arielle Walker rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites, bipoc-rep, sci-fi, queer, short-stories-and-novellas, dystopia-and-post-apocalypse, want-to-own, bipoc-author

I’ve been waiting to write a review of this, hoping words would come at some point, but - no. No words.

Just... this is further proof of the pure and utter genius of N.K Jemisin

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Jan 10, 2019 Dawn C rated it really liked it

Shelves: media-kindle, media-audible

Admittedly I’ve only read The Fifth Season but I think I like Jemisin’s short stories better than her novels. She really has a concise way with words that suits this shorter writing exercise so well.

Stories that stood out to me: “Stone Hunger” (marking the early embers of her Broken Earth trilogy), “On the Banks of the River Lex”, “Henosis” and “The Narcomancer” were all extremely good, and “The Narcomancer” also made me really curious to read her Dreamblood books!

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Feb 27, 2019 ☾ h a d e e r ☽ rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2019

There are many things I admire about N.K. Jemisin as a writer, and all of those things come through in this collection of short stories. I want to highlight two of those things:

1. Her innovation and creativity. Put simply, Jemisin just has really cool ideas. Even if she's utilizing a common trope or concept, she still manages to execute it in an original way. I may not always love the direction she takes stories in, but I have to admire just how creative she is, and how her mind works outside of ...more

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Feb 05, 2019 Nadine rated it really liked it

I’m not a fan of short stories since I usually find them to be lacking, but I couldn’t help myself when I learned that N.K. Jemisin published a collection. How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? Is a beautiful collection of stories that cover a range of topics all set within science fiction and fantasy settings.

There are 22 stories packed within this 400-page collection. Each of the stories stand on their own and offer something different to readers. The stories featured themes of rebirth, ...more

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