Brown Girl in the Ring

When you look around for Caribbean writers of speculative fiction—particularly ones that focus heavily on feminism and Afro-Caribbean culture—Nalo Hopkinson's name is pretty much guaranteed to be on the list. Brown Girl in the Ring was her first novel, winning the John W. Campbell Award for

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Best New Writer, the Locus Award for the same, and garnering a Philip K. Dick Award nomination.

Having said that, the novel promised me just slightly more than it actually delivered. I enjoyed it. Good pacing. Wonderful "local" color (I put that in quotes as half of the color is, presumably, Jamaican even though the setting is Toronto). The women who form the story are strong, fascinating and engaging, although the men are either miniscule in character or totally unsympathetic. However, I'd only give the plot a C. It's a fairly straight line from Point A to Point B with no twists, surprises or particular depth.

Since I've had so little exposure to vodoun beliefs, it was fresh and appealing and I will certainly try something else of hers at some point. Recommended if you like speculative, feminist fiction not set in mainstream Western mythology.

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An urban fantasy novel set in futuristic dystopian Toronto, this gets points for the worldbuilding and the cast (lots of women, lots of POC). And the religious/magical scenes are particularly well done and engaging. However, the story itself feels a little disjointed, with scenes shoved in to serve

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as plot points later, and the plot doesn't have much in the way of twists -- straightforwardly A to B, as another reviewer says. And Ti-Jeanne, the main character, spends a frustrating amount of time ignoring her grandmother's pleas that she learn about her heritage, dump her thieving, drug-addict hitman boyfriend as the major conflict (obvious to the reader) hurtles towards her. Fairly solid for a first novel.

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Brown Girl in the Ring takes place in a future where the inner part of Toronto has been abandoned. The wealthy have fled to the suburbs, putting up roadblocks behind them. Yet people still survive in the inner most city by farming, hunting, or trading. One of these remaining people is Ti-Jeanne,

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who experiences strange visions. Brown Girl in the Ring combines a science fiction setting with Caribbean magic to create something very different from the norm in speculative fiction.

One of the best ways I can think of to describe Brown Girl in the Ring is that it’s a book with a science fiction setting and an urban fantasy story. In this way, it reminded me a lot of Emma Bull’s Bone Dance. While Brown Girl in the Ring had a lot of interesting ideas, it fell flat for me.

I think part of my problem is that Ti-Jeanne didn’t actually do a whole lot. She felt very passive. Most of her involvement in the plot comes from her being possessed by spirits, not her consciously doing something. I did find it interesting that she was a mother, since I can probably count on one had how many “mothers as protagonists” I’ve seen in science fiction and fantasy.

I found the ending anti-climatic, largely for the issues described above. Brown Girl in the Ring is a book I found “all right” overall. It wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t horrible either. It’s solid, it’s just lacking in some way.

Part of me wonders if my dissatisfaction has anything to do with Brown Girl in the Ring being a debut novel. Debut novels can sometimes be rough, and I really liked some of Hopkinson’s short stories, so I will definitely try another book by her.

If you have a particular interest in seeing the use of Caribbean magic in SFF, then you’d probably like Brown Girl in the Ring. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, but I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.

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This is an excellent alternative reality book featuring a post-econolyptic Toronto where the wealthy have flown to the suburbs and sealed off the city to protect themselves from "that element". Featuring afro-carribean themes and magical realism. Truly cool and well-written.

I read this book because it being one of the books featured on Canada Reads 2008. Normally I would not read anything Science Fiction, but have to admit I was a bit curious to find out if I just might enjoy it? I’m sorry to say I didn’t. It did spark an interest to learn more about the Caribbean

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culture and myths though!

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This is a science fiction (or speculative fiction) book about post eco-crisis Toronto. All the wealthy people have fled to the 'burbs and sealed off the City.

I don't often read this kind of novel, but enjoyed this one. The main character, Ti-Jeanne comes from generations of seer women and

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"inherits" an obligation to deal with the mafia-like drug lord of the inner city. This book is well written with good character development.

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If you're looking for a great post-apocalyptic sf/f book by a PoC, I read Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson and found it wonderful. She does incredible, interesting and juicy stuff in her writing weaving magic and spirituality through the story.

In one possible future for Toronto, the inner-city has been abandoned to the poor and under-privileged. Ti-Jeanne is one of these, grand-daughter of a Caribbean woman with the ability to call on the spirits, and Ti-Jeanne must learn those powers when her ex-boyfriend gets into trouble with the

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local crime boss and her family gets dragged into the conflict. While I didn’t like this quite as much as another of Hopkinson's novels, /Midnight Robber/, I still enjoyed it a lot. Again, Hopkinson made me care about the protagonist. Again, her world is interesting, a difficult future for its characters, who find varied ways to cope. The Caribbean magic is dark and different. Ti-Jeanne is also a young mother, and I found her troubled attitude towards her baby very believable. I could have seen a little less thinking about her ex, and the bad guy felt a little too extreme in his evil-ness; still, this one I also recommend.

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Due to an economic collapse, the wealthy and powerful have abandoned central Toronto, and sealed themselves off in the suburbs. The city has had to reinvent an older form of society; farming, barter, herbal medicine. The rich come slumming occasionally, or send their Vulture Squads to steal organs,

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but for the most part the poor are left to fend for themselves. Top dog in this harsh world is the dreaded kingpin Rudy, said to meddle with obeah – black magic.

Ti-Jeanne has just given birth to a baby boy, but isn’t too sure about motherhood. Not only is the baby constantly nagging for attention, his father is also a no good dope fiend running with the mob. As if that wasn’t enough, grandmother Gros-Jeanne is pestering Ti-Jeanne to learn her craft as medicine woman without any regards to what she wants for herself. And lately, she’s been having these weird visions of a tall, skinny man in a top hat…

Ti-Jeanne is about to discover the truth about her ancestry and the spirit world her grandmother deals with. And a lot of it isn’t going to be pretty.

There’s a lot to like here. Hopkinson writes urban fantasy with the same kind of taste as Neil Gaiman, where old gods and spirits inhabit a space just next to ours, effortlessly blending with the mundane. She writes from a casually post-colonial perspective, and obviously knows the culture she describes well. And Caribbean mythology is fascinating as always (even though I’d love if another Loa than Papa Legba got to be in focus for once. Don’t get me wrong, I love top hats and skulls, but there seems to be so much more there too…)

But this is also an obvious first novel. The characters are mostly fine, with believable flaws like being hopelessly attracted to bastards or irritated at babies. The pace is high and the story exciting. But the plot is moving a little too straight, things are a little too seamlessly connected, and in the end the cast feels slightly overused and intertwined. With that said though, Hopkinson’s voice is fresh and exciting and I’m looking forward to reading more from her.

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I forgot that I'd read this before until well into the first chapter. It was pretty good, good enough that I'll probably read the rest of Nalo Hopkinson's books. I'm a little sad that this isn't part of a series, because we only got hints and clues about burned-out alternate/near history Toronto,

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and it sounded like an interesting fictional world.

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Hopkinson’s first novel is set in a future Toronto that has been abandoned by all but those too poor to escape and is populated by drug addicts, street kids and immigrants. The city is run by a “posse,” who are contracted to find a human heart “donor” for Ontario’s premier from among

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the city’s inhabitants. Meanwhile, a young girl is having visions of a voodoo god, who will show her how to bring the posse down. I thought this was a promising story that ultimately didn’t really deliver. Hopkinson doesn’t take full advantage of the world she has created, and her characters come across as one-dimensional. But she knows her stuff when it comes to voodoo, and her descriptions of the loa and rituals are fascinating. I only wish they had been embedded in a more compelling story.

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Following economic collapse, Toronto dissolves into such chaos that the central city, known as "the burn", is abandoned by Canadian government. Those who live there do so without proper infrastructure, no electricity or plumbing, no hospitals, no police, etc. Yet, these people manage to create

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lives in the slums, small businesses built in what ways they can (one person fixes shoes by replaces the soles with old tires), and doing what they can to avoid the dangerous gangs that proliferate.

Ti-Jeanne is a woman who feels trapped by the burden of her baby son, while wanting to end her relationship with her drug-addicted boyfriend Tony and dealing with her gruff, overbearing grandmother. On top of that, Ti-Jeanne begins having frightening visions, which means she's inherited some of her grandmother's gifts. Ti-Jeanne can't seem to escape her attraction to Tony, especially after he gets in trouble with the gangs and seeks her help.

Nalo Hopkinson draws on her Caribbean roots to infuse this novel with such folk creatures as Jap-Jabs and duppies and other strange spirits. It's a richly textured novel with a well-realized sense of place and community.

Ti-Jeanne is a strong character, a woman who may not always be sure of herself, but has the strength to act when action is required. And as a whole, the characters in this book are complicated and interesting, with the main villain Rudy being truly terrible and terrifying. A really great book that has me wanting read a lot more of Hopkinson's work.

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I'm not sure what to tag this book. It's a little science fiction, but only in setting. It's a lot fantasy, but that could easily be magic realism or urban fantasy. It's a bit of all those things.

I am sure that I enjoyed reading Brown Girl in the Ring. While there are teasing gaps and sometimes a

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feeling of things being skated over, it's a cracking story, full of women being awesome and having real relationships: crotchety, uncomfortable, full of history, misunderstanding, loss and mistakes, love and yearning. I adore that Ti-Jeanne is a mum, that she's not yet comfortable with being a parent, that there's a place for Baby in the narrative and he's never forgotten, not the focus of the story nor convenient.

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Ti-Jeanne has a baby and is living with her grandmother, who raised her. Downtown Toronto is a wasteland, as everyone has moved out to the suburbs. Tony, Ti-Jeanne’s baby’s father, is involved with drugs and a group of people he is trying to get away from. He goes to Ti-Jeanne and her

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grandmother for help in leaving. Ti-Jeanne and her grandmother are both “seers”, and are able to use Caribbean magic to help.

This is urban fantasy/magical realism. It was o.k, but I didn’t think it was anything special.

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An urban fantasy novel set in futuristic dystopian Toronto, this gets points for the worldbuilding and the cast (lots of women, lots of POC). And the religious/magical scenes are particularly well done and engaging. However, the story itself feels a little disjointed, with scenes shoved in to serve

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as plot points later, and the plot doesn't have much in the way of twists -- straightforwardly A to B, as another reviewer says. And Ti-Jeanne, the main character, spends a frustrating amount of time ignoring her grandmother's pleas that she learn about her heritage, dump her thieving, drug-addict hitman boyfriend as the major conflict (obvious to the reader) hurtles towards her. Fairly solid for a first novel.

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This novel is not truly post-apocalyptic, as although the Toronto in which is is set has been abandoned by the government and law enforcement of the nation, the rest of the country is pottering along just fine. Certainly the novel makes use of a number of the post-apocalyptic tropes to good effect,

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especially that of the fabled land of safety and plenty that just needs some special combination of luck and pluck to reach. But the story isn't about leaving, it is about surviving, and more than that, about taking your place in society.

Ti-Jeanne has been trying for years to ignore her grandmother's power, but when visions start to take over her life, she unwillingly starts to learn. At the same time she is juggling a new baby, trying to avoid her ex, and working on keeping it all together. Between the threads of Ti-Jeanne's story are woven a story of a politician who wants a human heart as a transplant and is willing to take advantage of the poor; a belief system in which the gods are real; a man who is willing to trade other people's lives for the boons that those gods will give him; and a woman whose unwillingness to control her power has sent her mad.

All the dialogue is written in what I'm assuming is Caribbean-derived patois which made it a difficult book to get in to for me, as someone who isn't familiar with the speaking style. This is in part because I read aurally, and I spent a lot of time trying to work out how the voices would sound. Once I got that sorted out, it was a very easy read.

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I think I was mostly disappointed by this book because I came to it with really high expectations - I'd read some great reviews of it, comparing Hopkinson favorably to Octavia Butler, etc.
Well, both writers are black and tend to write about black characters, but there the similarity ends.
This is a

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reasonably entertaining voodoo adventure story... a young Canadian woman of Caribbean descent, Ti-Jeanne, must take care of her baby, ditch the loser drug-addict boyfriend she's in love with, learn to work with the voodoo spirits, and defeat the gang leader who is running this near-future Toronto - a gang leader who just happens to be involved with evil voodoo - and is her grandfather.

That's all fine - and fun - but that's about as far as it goes. This is not great literature - the characters are all fairly one-dimensional, and it gets to be pretty annoying that ALL the women are strong, long-suffering, resourceful and good, and ALL the men are either weak and useless, or outright evil. The main villain is so evil as to be fairly unbelievable.

This was Hopkinson's first book, so I won't write her off completely, but I'm not planning on going out of my way to get more of her work.

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I met the author at ThinkGalacticon and really liked her, so I gave her first book a try. It's awful. I disliked all of the characters, the plot was so simple it was almost unreadable, and the dialog was in dialect, with which I have a real problem.

An excellent story, and apparently Nalo Hopkinson's debut. It's set in a decaying central Toronto where only the poor, or those who simply don't want to move continue to live. A young woman staying with her Grandmother struggles to keep herself and her baby alive, as she reluctantly enters into an

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inheritance of ancient power, coming into conflict with local gangsters on the way. A great mix of science fiction, and magic with much of the dialogue written in the rhythm of patois.

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More of a slow build than Midnight Robber, Brown Girl in the Ring picked up its pace around the 100-page mark and didn't left off the throttle until the end. Once again, I l-o-v-e-d the mashup of science fiction with mythology - in this case, Caribbean-based myths and folklore. And the mystery

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element took the story up a notch. I was on Mami's side about Tony and pretty peeved at Ti-Jeanne for not seeing the obvious. But hey, we've all been young and dumb and in love, and subsequently blind to our love's faults. In the end, though, Ti-Jeanne wised up.

4 stars
(My 2nd by Hopkinson. Can't wait to read another!)

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An engaging book from the very first page. The magical realism added a mystical beauty to the story, and the women were strong, as they are in real life when facing non-stop violence from men. And the violence gets pretty bad, even gory at one point.

This is a story about a woman who claims the

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powers of her ancestors and the land. The characters are complex and the dialogue is absolutely amazing in the way the words flow like music. The world created in this story is realistic and mythological. I didn't want the story to end.

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This is a book that Goodreads has been nagging me to read for aaaaages, but sadly it didn't really work for me. The setting felt too far-fetched – maybe it would've made sense amidst the white flight and urban decay of 1970s North America (even though the book was actually published in 1998), but

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with 2020 vision it's pretty hard to imagine the Canadian/Ontarian governments just abandoning downtown Toronto. None of the main characters are particularly sympathetic; Ti-Jeanne spends most of the book being a fawning idiot over her deadbeat ex Tony, Tony makes terrible decisions at pretty much every turn, and the grandmother, Gros-Jeanne, is a grouchy hardass. Nearly all the dialogue is written in an Afro-Caribbean dialect, which wouldn't be a problem if the book was otherwise engaging but I didn't find it so. And the ending is basically just a deus ex machina (Ti-Jeanne summons the spirits and they fix everything).

Even though I didn't like it, I don't think this is the kind of objectively bad novel that nearly everyone would hate. Horror fans might appreciate it more than me, because (despite Goodreads classifying it as fantasy) it's basically a horror novel in a dystopian/post-apocalyptic setting (with lots of explicit gore). Some people might feel that the richly detailed incorporation of Caribbean culture and legends outweighs the book's flaws. So if you really want to read it, don't let this review stop you… but be warned that characterisation and setting are not really its strong suits.

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Yay! So happy to have *finally* read my first Nalo Hopkinson, and I can't wait to read more. This did have its clunky parts (lots of adverbs, yo), and it took a little bit to get going, but by about a quarter of the way in, I was hooked. I loved the Creole...it was a bit of a learning curve for me

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as I'm not very familiar with Caribbean Creole, but by the end my brain started narrating my everyday chores in it. And oh! The magic! The gods, the rituals! And I loved the complicated characters. Yes, can't wait for another.

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Read Harder: POC goes on a spiritual journey

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This is an amazing book; just read it.