Wednesday, January 27, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

 



Redemption in Indigo is a short novel by Karen Lord, taking Senegalese folktales and adapting them into a cohesive fantasy story for new audience.  Lord's an author who I've read before - her Unraveling is actually a stand-alone sequel to this novel (kinda - it features several recurring characters, but the stories are unrelated) and I read that book a few years back and resolved to come back for this more well known story at some point.  And so when I saw this was available in audiobook on Hoopla, I decided to give it a shot.

And Redemption in Indigo is pretty tremendous - a really fun retelling of folktales in a modern fashion, taking place in an unnamed African nation (again the inspiration is Senegalese folktales, but the country isn't mentioned) at a non-specific time that is both modern and not.  It's a story with a lot of charm and funny moments to make you smile, to go along with a strong tale of a young woman with a good heart and a strong sense of duty dealing with the absurdity of humans and the manipulations of immortals, told by a narrator in a slightly irreverent and yet still respectful tone.  Well worth your time and it won't take much of your time to read.

Note: I read this in audiobook and so if I misspell any of the names of the characters, that's why.  Still, I highly recommend the book in this format, which features the strong voice work of Robin Miles, known for a lot of other great works of audionarration.  

------------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------------
Two years ago, Paama left her husband Ansige and returned to her family's home of Makendha to try and reestablish herself in life.  Paam may be an young woman with an excellent heart and sense of duty - to say nothing of being a legendarily good cook - but Ansige's gluttony and obsession with food was too much to bear.  So when Ansige returns to Makendha to try and ask her back, she grudgingly does her duty to care for him...even as his addiction to eating leads to more and more embarrassing moments.  

Paama's devotion to duty and good nature draws the attention of the Djombi, the undying ones, who present her with a gift: The Chaos Stick, which allows her to use the forces of chaos to control "chance" and possibilities.  But the owner of the stick's original power, a Djombi who sees himself now above humanity, is searching for the stick, with the intention of regaining his power no matter who gets in his way......
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Redemption in Indigo is an adaptation of Senegalese folktales told by an omniscient and sometimes a bit irreverent narrator - making sly comments to the listener/reader on occasion about her own knowledge - which jumps around to always give the reader an idea of what's happening.  That said, this is mostly the story of Paama and the Indigo Lord (the antagonist Djombi who gives the story its name), as they deal with both mortal and immortal difficulties.  And Paama's defining trait, in addition to her good nature, her quick thinking, and legendary cooking skills, is her sense of duty: to society and to others.  

This leads the story in a variety of directions, but all of them are work and are interesting in different ways.  The opening act with Ansige is often hilarious in comedy as Paama tries to do her duty towards him as her husband without actually spending too much time in his presence, and keeps having to find new and creative ways to get him out of his self-inflicted crises without embarrassing him too much.  Then when the chaos stick enters the picture, the story splits into the tale of the Indigo Lord coming to Makendha with a plan to discover the stick and then to get close to Paama's sister (involving an awkward but adoring Poet) while also focusing on Paama attempting to do the right thing with the Stick and trying to figure out how to keep it out of the wrong hands.  Finally, the story becomes a conflict between the Indigo Lord and Paama over the sense of duty and dealing with humans, and the role that chance and unpredictability may have in people's lives.  Again, all of these plots - and there are other subplots, for example one involving the Trickster spider - are really well done and are hard to put down once you get into them, even as their tones are very different.  And a good part of why it works is Paama - who may not be an adventurous or action based hero, but is one who is calm, caring and intelligent and always willing to do the right thing, and is so easy to both care about and be inspired by.  

It should be further noted that as a story involving chance, choices, duty, and chaos, Lord does not attempt to give any of her characters, or humanity in general, an easy way out.  Ansige's gluttony is almost supernatural* in how much he can eat and yet the book makes clear that this is his own fault, not the result of supernatural influences...although it might have been partially caused by how he was raised.  The choices of humans in response to disaster can be horrifying or heartwarming, and can have impact down the line, and no magic can change those choices, no matter how much someone wants.  But these choices - no matter how bad or heartbreaking - are no excuse for giving up on humanity in general, which will overtime persevere in ways that might surprise...if people can do their duty and the right thing.  

*Notably, apparently unlike the original tale he is based upon, his tale does not involved fat-shaming - his gluttony is mocked because all he does is eat and is selfish and slothful in his pursuit of food, not because it makes him fat.*

The result is an entertaining short novel which will draw you in from beginning to end, as Paama and the others in her path deal with both the mortal and the immortal, in a way that both amuses you and makes you think.  And that makes Redemption in Indigo an easy novel to recommend for sure, and well well worth your time.  

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