Hugo award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N. K. Jemisin sharply examines modern society in her first short story collection.

'The most celebrated science fiction and fantasy writer of her generation... Jemisin seems able to do just about everything'
NEW YORK TIMES

'Smart, sharp and very, very timely'
I NEWSPAPER

'An important collection by a rising star'
GUARDIAN

'Jemisin is now a pillar of speculative fiction, breathtakingly imaginative and narratively bold'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

'The most critically acclaimed author in contemporary science fiction and fantasy'
GQ

'One line from [Jemisin's introduction] has tattooed itself on my mind, a sort of manifesto for her ongoing work and all the fiction I love: 'Now I am bolder, and angrier, and more joyful.' I felt, after reading these stories, that I was too'
NPR BOOKS

'N. K. Jemisin is a powerhouse of speculative fiction. So, obviously, you need to read this new short story collection'
BUSTLE

N. K. Jemisin is one of the most powerful and acclaimed speculative fiction authors of our time. In the first collection of her evocative short fiction, Jemisin equally challenges and delights readers with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption.

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 streets 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 mother in the Jim Crow South must save her daughter from a fey offering impossible promises. And in the Hugo award-nominated short story "The City Born Grea