Midnight Robber (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Oho. Like it starting, oui? Don't be frightened, sweetness; is for the best..." (more)
Key Phrases: mako jumbie, douen people, halwa tree, Dry Bone, Robber Queen, New Half-Way Tree (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nalo Hopkinson's first novel, Brown Girl in the Ring, was selected from almost 1,000 entries to win Warner Aspect's First Novel Contest, and after publication it received the Locus Award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award. So expectations have been pretty high for her second book, and Midnight Robber lives up to them; it's a beautifully written, innovative, demanding, and wonderful novel.

On the Caribbean-colonized planet of Toussaint, Carnival is a Lollapalooza of music and dance, a Mardi Gras, a masquerade; and the Robin Hood of Toussaint legend, the Robber Queen, is just another costume, Tan-Tan's favorite. Then Tan-Tan's corrupt politician father commits a crime that sends them into exile on the extradimensional planet New Half-Way Tree, Toussaint's untamed quantum twin. As she struggles to survive the violent criminals, mysterious aliens, and merciless jungles of New Half-Way Tree, Tan-Tan finds herself taking on--or being taken over by--the mythic persona and powers of the Robber Queen. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly

The sounds and rhythms of the Caribbean and Carnival suffuse Hopkinson's second novel (after Brown Girl in the Ring). On the Carib-colonized planet of Toussaint, Antonio Habib, the scheming, philandering mayor of Cockpit County, murders his wife's lover in a rigged duel and must then flee his high-tech planet, taking with him only his young daughter, Tan-Tan. The pair end up on New Half-Way Tree, Toussaint's alternate-universe twin, a primitive and dangerous world inhabited primarily by Toussaint's exiled criminal class and the douen, an alien race reminiscent of creatures from Caribbean folklore. There, Antonio's life lacks purpose, and although he remarries, he gradually degenerates into an angry, sexually predatory drunk. Growing to adulthood, Tan-Tan is deeply scarred by her father's assaults on her. Eventually she kills him in self-defense and, pregnant with his child, flees into the forbidding bush that surrounds their small settlement. Tan-Tan is kept on the run by Antonio's jealous widow, seeking vengeance for her husband's death. Hiding among the trees, Tan-Tan learns the secrets of the douen and gradually transforms into another figure out of Caribbean folklore, the Midnight Robber, who dresses in black, spouts poetry, steals from the rich and gives to the poor. Hopkinson's rich and complex Carib English can be hard to follow at times, but it is nonetheless quite beautiful; her young protagonist, at once violent and vulnerable, is extremely well drawn. Both Toussaint, a world almost awash in nanotechnology, and the more primitive New Half-Way Tree are believable, lushly detailed worlds. Like its predecessor, this novel bears evidence that Hopkinson owns one of the more important and original voices in SF. Agent, Don Maas. (Feb.) FYI: Brown Girl in the Ring won a Locus Award for Best First SF Novel.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446675601
• ISBN-13: 978-0446675604
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #366,093 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book, wonderful language, March 19, 2000

By	Suzette Haden Elgin (Huntsville, Arkansas USA) - See all my reviews

I've just finished this book, and I enjoyed it tremendously, even the heartbreaking parts. Even the parts that pose major moral questions for which nobody has any answers. It's a great read, like all books by this author. It's also unusual because although it's written in a dialect (a Creole dialect) the language never gets in the way of the story or distracts the reader. On the contrary; the dialect is an advantage rather than a drawback. I recommend _Midnight Robber_ without reservation.

Suzette Haden Elgin [e-mail]

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was a great read, March 13, 2000

By	A Constant Reader (Earth) - See all my reviews

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Patois speaking frilled lizard creatures, succulent fruits, deadly plants, a problematic father and a main character with fire in her soul. This book was hard to put down as soon as I cracked it open. The blend of Caribbean folklore and the sci-fi genre was very cool and unique. It also teaches you some patois as you read. If you want to be taken somewhere realistically fantastic, check out this book!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb second novel, June 29, 2000

By	Farah "Farah" (Reading United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

Occasionally one is privileged to stumble across a new writer who has it all: plot, style, wit and emotion. Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring was a startling debut. Midnight Robber is even better. Midnight Robber is a fast paced sf novel which moves between two different worlds; between reality and myth making; and between human and alien. The language is a delight, intrinsic to a plot in which each character appropriates metaphor and sound for their individual purpose. One of the best sf books of the year.