Book Review: Archangels of Funk by Andrea Hairston

This book is the direct sequel to Will Do Magic for Small Change. (Which would explain why I fell into it’s grasp feeling as if I were in the middle of the story. I did not check for other books because sometimes authors just dump you in the middle of the story like that.) Since I haven’t read the previous book or the prequel, which features Cinnamon’s grandparents, most of this review is going to sound like this book is a stand alone. It is not.

Archangels of Funk is a combination of cyber and solar punk, with a huge wedge of voodoo mixed in. Our Protagonist is a woman named Cinnamon who lives out on a farm in the back of beyond during a slow-motion apocalypse and the ensuing collapse of society. Despite “nostalgia militias” and “desperados,” and a nearby gated community with an electric fence and armed guards,Cinnamon’s community is doing well for itself thanks in part to a combination of technology and hoodoo centered around Cinnamon’s farm, and an annual festival that takes place near the farm.

This year though, Cinnamon’s inspiration is lacking, the slow motion apocalypse is speeding up, and desperados have kidnapped one of the robots Cinnamon uses in her performances. On top of that, people from Cinnamon’s past are showing up, making problems and demands. It turns out that before she was a farmer and community organizer, Cinnamon was a hot shot cyber punk programmer who was fired from her job after her girlfriend stole her work. (Which Cinnamon promptly stole right back–along with their new puppy–before blasting off to the family farm.)

This is a fast paced book with the feel of a prose poem. Despite the fast pace, it is not a book I would advise reading quickly. The rhythm is quick, but the poetic aspects of the prose mean you might miss something if you read too fast. (This book took me a long while to finish, it was one of those books where you have go do something else in between pages or chapters while everything stews in the background.)

I was strongly reminded of Pat Murphy’s The City, Not Long After and to a lesser extent, Emma Bull’s Bone Dance. (The former due to the way Cinnamon’s community is centered around the arts and education. The latter due to the use of African Diaspora spirituality, and the idea of preservation of the past and the arts.) I am at some point going to have to check out the other two books, Will Do Magic for Small Change and Redwood and Wildfire.

This review is based on a galley copy received from NetGalley.

fantasy, science fiction, writer: andrea hairston