book review: how long 'til black future month?
27 Feb 2021
How Long ‘til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin
What are the main ideas?
it doesn’t feel right to simmer a book of short stories down to main ideas like i do with non-fiction. instead i think the question to answer is: what does this book inspire?
- every element of our world can be taken for an imaginative spin if we are willing to look hard enough and long enough.
If I implemented one idea from this book right now, which one would it be?
i love how the short stories here are the root of some of her books. i would love to write a bunch of short stories like this, put them into a collection, and then pick one to deep dive into.
How would I describe the book to a friend?
this book reminds me of how n.k. jemisin described her approach to sci-fi. she didn’t say it in these terms but what i heard was this: a world that has everything the same except for one or two re-imagined elements is a powerful conduit for deep lessons. she does this over and over again and it’s approaches like this to sci-fi that have made me fall back in love with sci-fi. each story is wholly unique though there are themes that run across many. i suggest reading these slowly and letting each one sink into you. some sink in like heat from 92.068 million miles away, others sink into you like the bonechill of a house with a busted furnace.
reminder: book review structure