Mojo: Conjure Stories

I love exploring different mythologies, and this anthology of fantasy stories provides a good fictional introduction to those growing out of the West African cultures from which many of the New World’s slaves were taken. Stories such as Barbara Hambly’s “The Horsemen and the Morning Star” and Eliot Fintushel’s “White Man’s Trick” also show how the unimaginably painful experience of slavery reshaped and added to those beliefs. Narrators/main characters of the stories range from children to old men, and settings include both Africa and the Americas, though the latter predominate. Not surprisingly, many of the stories are rather grim, though a few, such as Andy Duncan’s “Daddy Mention and the Monday Skull” add a welcome note of humor. As is almost unavoidable in short stories, most of the characters are not as developed or memorable as they might be in novels; the best, to my mind, are those in Hambly’s relatively long story (she is also the author of the excellent Benjamin January mystery series, set, like this story, in slavery-era Louisiana) and the little girl in Kiini Ibura Salaam’s “Rosamojo,” who gets a well-earned revenge for her incest-rape.

Great shipping, great deal, fantastic sound, and seriously comfy. I got this during a black friday sale for 70 ish dollars, and while I would never pay the full price, this made the perfect gift for my boyfriend.

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The introduction of Mojo: Conjure Stories warns the reader to beware, to adorn their protective beads, to pocket their jujubags and sets the stage for the mystical anthology contained therein. The novel, edited by Nalo Hopkinson, is comprised of nineteen short stories from noteworthy authors such as Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, and Barbara Hambly. All tales are colorful, creative, and rooted in "mojo" - a tricky, powerful, and dangerous magic with a West African flavor.This is a diverse collection in that it traverses time to provide stories from the slave ships, the antebellum South, the Jim Crow era, the 1960's and even present day. Some stories are rooted in folklore, e.g. Andy Duncan's "Daddy Mention and the Monday Skull", while others address moral and societal issues such as incest, revenge, love, lust, and greed. One of my favorites is Barbara Hambly's "The Horsemen and The Morning Star" in which plantation slaves garner strength and call upon their ancestor's gods to ride their weary backs to fight the master's resurrection of the devil to save one of their own. Jarla Tangh's "The Skinned" references the recent Rowandan tragedy and delivers a powerful message against the backdrop of the modern American inner city. Another noteworthy mention is Jenise Aminoff's "Fate" in which a mother with the gift of sight tries desperately to alter her son's destiny and pays a high price in the end.This reviewer found some stories a bit more challenging to follow than others, but believes there is enough variety in subject matter and writing style to satisfy even the most critical reader. This book covered multiple dimensions of conjuring: from using black magic to control spirits, outwitting the tricksters, initiating curses, belief in shape-shifting to the making and manipulation of zombies. It was an engaging and interesting read about a mystical and magical heritage. One can surely gain hours of reading pleasure with this book.PhyllisAPOOO BookClub

A few of these fell kind of flat for me, but overall I found this to be a great collection. Oddly, my favorite of the bunch was Lark Till Dawn, Princess - the one about the drag queen. I say "oddly" because it was probably the least creepy out of a group of stories that generally seemed to be going for hella creepy. Instead it was campy, hilarious, and sweetly poignant.

Okay, everyone has heard it before about wicca, voodo, satanic rituals, all of that. Juju is the type of magic that takes very experienced people to do, and unlike most spell magic, like wicca's three fold rule (every spell you commit will come back to you 3times) Juju however has spells where you dont have to worry about coming back at ya. This book has sum excellent, chillin stories and makes you get goosbumps. Especially the story called "The Skinned" by Jarla Tangh, i see she is one worth watching her descriptions, use of worlds, and over all theme (won't spoil it, gotta read it to "feel" it) puts the reader in such a state to understand, and also get slightly jumpy at that. I tried seeing if Jarla wrote other novels, but i believe that this is her first publication, but from the story among the others, i can expect a awesome future nover coming from her. This is a great book if you are curious about Juju folklore, exploring the possibilty of praticing it or just learning, and if you want a good scary bone chilling story, please read I promise,you won't be disappointed.

Canadian science fiction is hot, and Nalo Hopkinson is one of the hottest names. Here she has collected a number of tales dealing with voodoo, all the way from its African roots to modern day. Slavery and racism are all too obvious in these stories, but also resistance and hope. However brilliant they are as horror stories, and many of them are, they are also highly political. Behind the fictional horrors of duppies and plateyes lurks the very real horrors of slavery, poverty, ignorance, bigotry, and racism.Another book that succeeds in combining fiction and fact.

Book arrived quickly and in excellent condition.