A tenacious curator fights to save her beloved library and a new, groundbreaking archive in this epic Afrofuturist debut.
"But the Earth is falling (apart), not just the sky, but humans too. They are tuned out. Appear to have given up. Some are preparing to flee; some are preparing for war. Where I stand, I’m not quite sure."
The year is 2035, and Los Angeles County is awash in a tangelo haze of wildfire smoke. Xandria Anastasia Brown spends her days deep in the archives of the Huntington Library as the curator of African American Ephemera and associate curator of American Historical Manuscripts, supported by an array of AI personal assistants and health bots. Descended from a family of obsessive collectors who took part in the Great Migration, Xandria grew up immersed in African American ephemera and realia: boots worn by Negro Troopers during the Civil War, Black ATA tennis rackets, bandanas worn by the Crips....
Although Xandria’s work may preserve collective memory, she is losing a grasp on her own. Evren, her new health bot, won’t stop reminding her that her symptoms of long COVID are worsening; not to mention that severe asthma, chronic fatigue, grief, and worrying lapses in reality keep disrupting progress on a new Octavia E. Butler exhibition, cataloging the new Diwata Collection, and organizing the Huntington against a stealth corporate takeover. Then, one morning a colleague Xandria can’t place calls to wish her a happy birthday—and the library goes into an emergency lockdown.
Sequestered in the archive with only her adaptive technology and flickering intuition, Xandria fears that her life’s work is in danger—the Diwata Collection, a radical blueprint for humanity’s survival. Up against a faceless enemy and unsure of who her human or AI allies truly are, she must make a choice.
A lyrical and strikingly original saga, The Ephemera Collector announces Stacy Nathaniel Jackson as a singular new voice in fiction.
Genre: Science Fiction
"But the Earth is falling (apart), not just the sky, but humans too. They are tuned out. Appear to have given up. Some are preparing to flee; some are preparing for war. Where I stand, I’m not quite sure."
The year is 2035, and Los Angeles County is awash in a tangelo haze of wildfire smoke. Xandria Anastasia Brown spends her days deep in the archives of the Huntington Library as the curator of African American Ephemera and associate curator of American Historical Manuscripts, supported by an array of AI personal assistants and health bots. Descended from a family of obsessive collectors who took part in the Great Migration, Xandria grew up immersed in African American ephemera and realia: boots worn by Negro Troopers during the Civil War, Black ATA tennis rackets, bandanas worn by the Crips....
Although Xandria’s work may preserve collective memory, she is losing a grasp on her own. Evren, her new health bot, won’t stop reminding her that her symptoms of long COVID are worsening; not to mention that severe asthma, chronic fatigue, grief, and worrying lapses in reality keep disrupting progress on a new Octavia E. Butler exhibition, cataloging the new Diwata Collection, and organizing the Huntington against a stealth corporate takeover. Then, one morning a colleague Xandria can’t place calls to wish her a happy birthday—and the library goes into an emergency lockdown.
Sequestered in the archive with only her adaptive technology and flickering intuition, Xandria fears that her life’s work is in danger—the Diwata Collection, a radical blueprint for humanity’s survival. Up against a faceless enemy and unsure of who her human or AI allies truly are, she must make a choice.
A lyrical and strikingly original saga, The Ephemera Collector announces Stacy Nathaniel Jackson as a singular new voice in fiction.
Genre: Science Fiction
Praise for this book
"Both a masterful formal experiment and an exhilarating science fiction epic, The Ephemera Collector is a fractal of a novel-folding endlessly and effortlessly into itself in perfect synchronization with its parts: the journey of an archivist searching for meaning in the near future, a vision of humanity's reckoning with its complex history and its ultimate fate, and a meditation on the complexity of memory, both human and cultural, that survives us in the objects left behind." - Jinwoo Chong
"The Ephemera Collector is page-turning, wildly creative, and smart as hell. This impressive debut novel reads in part like 'if Octavia Butler lived through COVID,' while also being something boldly original in its voice, vision, and genius. Remember the name Stacy Nathaniel Jackson-this is an author to watch." - Mat Johnson
"Reading The Ephemera Collector is like uncovering an archival box from the future! Stacy Nathaniel Jackson gives us the gift of Xandria Brown, a dedicated archivist with a unique perception of time, to weave a mind-bending and layered novel that takes us through the scorched earth of California, ocean civilizations, the cosmos, and even the inner lives of bots. Jackson's powerful imagination blends technology, nature, and revolutionary vision to craft a blueprint for another world." - Marytza K Rubio
"A transcendent map through the afropast, the afropresent and, of course, the afrofuture. I guarantee you've never read anything like it. Brilliant, bioluminescent work." - Rion Amilcar Scott
"The Ephemera Collector is page-turning, wildly creative, and smart as hell. This impressive debut novel reads in part like 'if Octavia Butler lived through COVID,' while also being something boldly original in its voice, vision, and genius. Remember the name Stacy Nathaniel Jackson-this is an author to watch." - Mat Johnson
"Reading The Ephemera Collector is like uncovering an archival box from the future! Stacy Nathaniel Jackson gives us the gift of Xandria Brown, a dedicated archivist with a unique perception of time, to weave a mind-bending and layered novel that takes us through the scorched earth of California, ocean civilizations, the cosmos, and even the inner lives of bots. Jackson's powerful imagination blends technology, nature, and revolutionary vision to craft a blueprint for another world." - Marytza K Rubio
"A transcendent map through the afropast, the afropresent and, of course, the afrofuture. I guarantee you've never read anything like it. Brilliant, bioluminescent work." - Rion Amilcar Scott
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