Master of Poisons, Andrea Hairston
Master of Poisons, Andrea Hairston
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Master of Poisons

Author: Andrea Hairston

Narrator: Cherise Boothe, Larry Herron

Unabridged: 15 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/15/2020


Synopsis

Award-winning author Andrea Hairston weaves together African folktales and postcolonial literature into unforgettable fantasy in Master of Poisons

The world is changing. Poison desert eats good farmland. Once-sweet water turns foul. The wind blows sand and sadness across the Empire. To get caught in a storm is death. To live and do nothing is death. There is magic in the world, but good conjure is hard to find.

Djola, righthand man and spymaster of the lord of the Arkhysian Empire, is desperately trying to save his adopted homeland, even in exile.

Awa, a young woman training to be a powerful griot, tests the limits of her knowledge and comes into her own in a world of sorcery, floating cities, kindly beasts, and uncertain men.

Awash in the rhythms of folklore and storytelling and rich with Hairston's characteristic lush prose, Master of Poisons is epic fantasy that will bleed your mind with its turns of phrase and leave you aching for the world it burns into being.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com

About Andrea Hairston

Andrea Hairston ran away from the physics lab to the theatre when she was a young thing and has been a scientist, artiste, and hoodoo conjurer ever since. She is a novelist, poet, playwright, and L. Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor Emerita of Theatre and Africana Studies at Smith College. She is the author of Mindscape, a Carl Brandon Award winner and finalist for the Phillip K. Dick and Otherwise Awards; Archangels of Funk, shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction; Will Do Magic for Small Change, a New York Times Editor’s pick and finalist for the Mythopoeic, Lambda, and Otherwise Awards; Redwood and Wildfire, a Washington Post Best Book of 2022, Otherwise and Carl Brandon Award winner; and Master of Poisons on the Kirkus Reviews 2020 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy. Andrea bikes at night year-round, meeting bears, multi-legged creatures of light and breath, and the occasional shooting star.


Reviews

I do want to preface this by saying that if you don't like slow-burn fantasy then this book is not for you because book 1 reads very lengthy and even at times repetitive as it sets up the story that leads to the present day journey. Andrea Hairston is a very descriptive writer which means we got bea......more

4.0 stars This is such a wonderful underhyped epic fantasy standalone. I loved the worldbuilding, which was complex and rich. I would love to read more by this author.......more

"The Bees keel over, clutching each other's legs, asleep. They dream of pools of nectar, clouds of pollen, and evening dew heavy with flower scent. Why dream of anything else?" Written by Andrea Hairston, Master of Poisons is a rare fantasy standalone. Master of Poisons takes place in an African-inspi......more


Awards

  • Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year