Welcome to Litsy!

A fun, quick listen about a magical alternative New Orleans after the Civil War. Gods inhabit chosen citizens, airships traffic the sky, and villains seek chaos and destruction.

I enjoyed it, but I do think it ended a little abruptly. It could have gone on for a bit longer. Very interesting concept. Hopefully he plans to write more. Either a sequel or a full novel. I really enjoy this author.

4/5⭐ The lush world and vibrant characters of this alternate history New Orleans sing. Clark plops you down in it alongside Creeper and makes you feel like you've been there all your life. I loved the way the orishas came into play and how it all coalesced into a beautiful, powerful climax. The audiobook narrator really brought the characters to life. #roll100

I wish I had this in my 20s when I was obsessed with steampunk. This is a great classic example of the genre. Strong characters, fast paced actions and dirigibles!
It is a quick fun novella.

#Steampunk. Flying ships. Superweapons. Magic. Powerful goddesses. God-possessed girls. New Orleans.

This is one cool #standalone #alternativehistory #novella 😁

(If only the characters were a match for the worldbuilding...)

Don‘t get me wrong. The characters are fine, just noticeably overshadowed, so the overall balance is a bit off.

Still a pick, though.

3.5/5

#onedayread #smallbooks

This engaging novella set in an alternate history New Orleans with a steampunk vibe has a lot packed in. Fabulous world-building once again by P. Djeli Clark.

Looking forward to a great weekend in Chicago for this year's WorldCon and of course, getting some reading in between sessions.

I'm always amazed at how much story can be packed into a novella. That is a sign of great writing though. I loved the re-imagining of history. Set in New Orleans it has elements of steampunk, sci-fi, magic and adventure. I really enjoyed this one.

Wow, what a great novella, this was such a fun short story that I hope becomes a series, it's magnificent. I loved learning about the captian and her crew of the midnight rider and of creeper! They make a great team and I'd love to know more of their adventures.

🎧 Creeper wants to escape the streets of alternate NOLA to the sky in an airship. She‘s got Oya in her head & nuns in her info network.

The Captain of the Midnight Robber, Ann-Marie might be the escape she‘s looking for. I enjoyed this novella. It‘s also Steampunky.

There‘s a mission, a bad man, a weapon called the Black God‘s Drums that if unleashed could wipe out the city, a doctor & his daughter.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/4

Another winner from Clark. Steampunk fantasy, 1884 NOLA at Mardi Gras. African gods are real and involved in the life of 13-year-old Creeper. The Civil War never ended and there is a plot to blackmail a Haitian scientist to make a weapon of terrible power. The goddess Oya works through Creeper to alert her to impending doom, and her connections in the city will help her fight back. https://cannonballread.com/2021/02/the-black-gods-drums-elcicco/

#popsugarchallenge

Book 7: an afrofuturist book

November reads, read.

“You‘re a smuggler!” I point out, extending my arms to take in the airship.
“But not a thief!” she retorts evenly.
“The name of your ship is Midnight Robber!”
She pauses at this. Shrugs. Then says evenly : “it‘s satire.”

I was blown away by The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and A Dead Djinn In Cairo... so it makes sense to fully explore the authors backlist... and maybe preorder his new book?

Has anyone read this one? #tbrmountain

3.5⭐️

A reimagining of a civil war that didn‘t end, a New Orleans that is free and neutral, and the gods of Haiti living right in the middle of this steam punk world. I loved the concept of this book and the incorporation of a new type of mythology I wasn‘t aware of. The discussion on slavery and a “what if” world of the Confederacy really makes you think of our own history and the roles it‘s places in shaping our future.

A steampunk alternative history that takes place in and around New Orleans, with a 13 year old main character who is beloved by the goddess Oya. Really fast paced with some great characters, and a short novella easily read in a day.

Igor was into it too!

@TheAromaofBooks this was my #bookspin!

An alternate history steampunk novela set in the 1800's of New Orleans.

It has airships. That was all I needed.

Short enough to read in 1 or 2 sittings and completely entertained me with an afternoon of reading.

#IntegrateYourshelf @ChasingOm @Emilymdxn

I'm a pretty lazy tracker of data. I just use the "your authors" page of LibraryThing to get a visual overview of my authors. Now, this is probably a shitty and superficial way of doing it as LGBTQIA+ can't be represented visually. I think this is the As-Ds? (it's alphabetical... Which is also crap data since I could read 4 books by an author and they only get pictured once.)

A steampunk novella with Afro Caribbean flavour set in an alternate 1884 New Orleans, just before Maddi grá. People come to the free port from around the world on dirigibles that dock on the giant protective city walls. Orisha (deities) interact with humans here, amid an uneasy armistice between the unionists & confederates. Overheard information leads a street kid who‘s tied to Oya into international intrigue. #LGBTQ #audiobook

#audiogardening

⭐⭐⭐⭐
I WANT MORE!

Speculative Fiction, Sci-fi and fantasy are genres I struggle with. I believe this novella is considered steam punk. I'm not sure where steam punk falls.

Anyway, I loved this story. The imagery was incredible. I could just see everything like a movie. Creeper was a great character and I would read a whole series about her in this alternative New Orleans. I am a sucker for a female ship capitan and this book has that too.

Having been to New Orleans this made the book even better. New Orleans is one of my favorite places to visit. A mix of fantasy in this story made it interesting. A good book.

P. Djèllí Clark did a wonderful job with this novella. New Orleans, the characters, and the alternative historical aspect gave excitement to this extraordinary fantasy. The plot pace never left me feeling bored, and the story just flowed nicely. Every bit of action within this book left me anticipating the next scene. This is an exhilarating short story that I am delightfully happy I was able to read.

This is an excellent novella set in New Orleans! Creeper is a great character and the story is fast paced. You‘ll love it! Read during #cyoreadathon #blackvoices

Really enjoyed this alternate history SFF novella set in a New Orleans that remains neutral as the American Civil War rages on. An orphan girl, African gods, a Haitian scientist, and airship pilots all play a role.

Those are some impressive numbers @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I have no doubt you‘ll be reaching your goal soon!
1. It was really close between the tagged book and Old Man‘s War by John Scalzi but in the end the tagged book won out.
2. I was really excited for The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James and The Deep by Alma Katsu but they‘ve already been released this year. So I guess I‘ll say The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton.
#5n5giveaway

Carnival season always makes me homesick for South Louisiana, so this short sci-fi/fantasy story set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras was the perfect fix. Great story-telling that will keep you engaged until the end.

I'd love to see more of these characters in the future. 💚💛💜

#SundayShelfie

Here‘s my Fantasy section of my TBR bookshelf at my house. The tagged book is my latest book that was acquired from the local indie bookstore. Great find too since my library doesn‘t have it.

I love this author; his world building is amazing! This time we have a post Civil War New Orleans where, instead of defeat, the Confederacy made a treaty with the Union, so slavery exists. New Orleans however, is neutral and its people are free. It‘s a world of airships, thieves, and pirates. It‘s also magical and some of those thieves and pirates have pieces of old goddesses in them.

I loved the two novellas I read by this author, so this is this evening‘s reading.

Life as been so hectic these past few weeks that I still haven‘t read a book yet this year. Scrapped everything I was reading and will come back later but for now, hopefully something short and sweet will help me out.

#exhausted #busy #behind #moving #newjob #newstate #newlife #helpmytbr #short

First book of 2020 & man it‘s good!

Quick, fast-paced novella set in an alternate Free New Orleans. A wonderful blend of Haitian, Carribean, African and New Orleans influences. Highly recommend. #DiverseReading #OwnVoices

Quick good read. Took me a bit to get used to the dialect, but my biggest disappointment was it was too short. I wanna know more! I got this on a whim on a kindle sale, so wasn‘t too sure of the target audience, but I‘m thinking I‘ll read it to the kids before too long.

An alternative history novella set in New Orleans not long after the Civil War. The city has become neutrally independent of either the North or South. Here is where we find 13 year old thief Creeper who has inherited Oya's power of wind. Creeper's connection to the Orisha sets her on a new path full of secrets, weapons, and airships. This was good novella but I wanted more of the story. I felt like this was only getting started when it ended.

#7days7covers #covercrush

I‘ve been binging P. Djèlí Clark‘s novellas and it has been a TREAT!! I‘m so excited to see him Labor Day weekend at the Decatur Book Festival!!!!

In 1884, a 13 year old orphan, Creeper, has been living on the streets of New Orleans for years. She lives in an alcove, by the ship docks. She sees them coming and leaving and dreams of the day she can escape her life. She decides getting aboard an airship, Midnight Robber is the start to a new life.
This is alternative history done well. Engaging and believable. Creeper is hard not to like. I loved the whimsical writing style of P. Djeli Clark.

Well sadly it's time for the last #24in48readathon challenge. 😔 But I've had a lovely weekend and it's not over yet! For the #hour42challenge this is my favorite book of the ones I've read so far for the readathon. All I can say about it is more please!!!!! 🙏🙏🙏 Haitian sky pirates!!!😍 @24in48

This novella tells the story of a girl named Creeper who wants to gain passage on an airship out of the New Orleans, and has the secret that could pay her way. But Creeper is not the only one who dictates her moves- she also has the Goddess Oya whispering in her mind, and Oya has a different plan for her.

P. Djèlí Clark's writing is wonderful, and I can't wait to read more from him.

Read this for the #24in48 readathon!

ALA book haul no. 3. Castle Waiting isn‘t new but the rep said she loves it so much, she had to bring copies. A nice new hard cover of volume 1! I‘m particularly interested in the Kristen Arnett, the new Jesse Ball, and the tagged title.

This was shorter than I was expecting and Creeper (Jacqueline) was also younger than expected. Liked the mythology and the nuns. Having the captain and Creeper both be vessels for gods worked for the plot. World building was fine, but the dialect wasn‘t my cup of tea. Ending felt abrupt. I could see Mr. Clark doing a follow up with Creeper as an adult. Between a pick and so-so. Liked it, didn‘t love it.

This week‘s library haul. I went in to pick up KID GLOVES and SILVER SPOON VOL 1, then nabbed THE BLACK GOD‘S DRUMS because it happened to be in the New Books section. Somebody‘d misfiled it under Nonfiction.

I LOVED this!! I wish there was more since this is only about 100 pages. Quick, engaging and entirely engrossing. I loved how much world building there was in such a short amount of time, the characters were well done and the plot was fast paced but not forced. Haitian sky pirates, alternate steampunk New Orleans set in the Civil War era, ancient Gods and.....Nuns?? What more could I ask for 😁

This was my novella for #ReadingWomenChallenge and I LOVED IT. The setting, the characters, the mythology, the alternate history, all added up to a great story and I would love to read more in this universe!!

I‘m so impressed by Clark‘s writing. Nothing I‘ve read by him so far has been anything less than totally engrossing and magical! This novella is no exception and I‘m hopeful, once again, that he‘ll write more stories set in this universe.