Good Minds Suggest—Nalo Hopkinson's Favorite Folklore-Inspired Fiction
Posted by Goodreads on March 4, 2013
Nalo Hopkinson's city of Toronto seethes with magic as mythological gods live, work, and bicker among the "claypicken" humans in the author's new fantasy, Sister Mine. A mere mortal among a family of demigods, young Makeda feels ostracized for her lack of magical ability. She somehow lost her power when separated at birth from her conjoined twin, and at the same time her mother—Canada's own Loch Ness monster—was banished to the waters of Lake Ontario. When her father also disappears, Makeda tries to help and finds that her missing mojo might have been with her all along. The Jamaican-born Hopkinson—who splits her time between Toronto and the University of California, Riverside, where she teaches creative writing—embraces Caribbean supernatural lore in her fantasy and science fiction novels, including Brown Girl in the Ring and Midnight Robber. She shares her favorite books based on age-old stories that get richer with the retelling.
Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
"A hilarious, sharp-toothed novel. Four First Nations ('Native American') elders named Hawkeye, the Lone Ranger, Ishmael, and Robinson Crusoe disappear—again—from a mental institution to achieve a little historical redress by messing with a John Wayne western. Plus Coyote the trickster makes his own havoc, while the First Nations residents of a small Canadian town get on with the usual business of life under occupation."
"A hilarious, sharp-toothed novel. Four First Nations ('Native American') elders named Hawkeye, the Lone Ranger, Ishmael, and Robinson Crusoe disappear—again—from a mental institution to achieve a little historical redress by messing with a John Wayne western. Plus Coyote the trickster makes his own havoc, while the First Nations residents of a small Canadian town get on with the usual business of life under occupation."
Bayou by Jeremy Love
"Gorgeous artwork, gorgeous story. Love does with Jim Crow laws and black folk tales of the American South what Grant Morrison's The Invisibles does with the superhero mythos. Except without the dodgy voodoo priest caricature."
"Gorgeous artwork, gorgeous story. Love does with Jim Crow laws and black folk tales of the American South what Grant Morrison's The Invisibles does with the superhero mythos. Except without the dodgy voodoo priest caricature."
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
"One of the novels in the folklore-inspired series curated by Terri Windling. Excavates the folktale 'Briar Rose' and reinvents it as a searing story about the realities of the Holocaust. Beautiful, unforgettable."
"One of the novels in the folklore-inspired series curated by Terri Windling. Excavates the folktale 'Briar Rose' and reinvents it as a searing story about the realities of the Holocaust. Beautiful, unforgettable."
Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight by Ursula K. Le Guin
"A little girl survives a plane crash and finds herself in a contiguous reality of talking animals and sacred and profane creatures. Another mischievous Coyote story. Or rather, a mischievous story with Coyote in it."
"A little girl survives a plane crash and finds herself in a contiguous reality of talking animals and sacred and profane creatures. Another mischievous Coyote story. Or rather, a mischievous story with Coyote in it." 
The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto
"A human protagonist with an abusive father has been made pregnant by a kappa, a trickster figure from Japanese mythology. Unexpected at every turn and ultimately tender."
"A human protagonist with an abusive father has been made pregnant by a kappa, a trickster figure from Japanese mythology. Unexpected at every turn and ultimately tender."
Vote for your own favorites on Listopia: Best Books About Mythology
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Rebecca
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Mar 06, 2013 08:18AM
This book seems very interesting. It's on my Want to Read list.
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