Trouble the Saints
Trouble the Saints is a 2020 historical fantasy novel by Alaya Dawn Johnson. It was first published by Tor Books/Macmillan Publishers.
Synopsis
In an alternate New York City in the early 1940s, Phyllis LeBlanc works for Victor the crime boss, passing for white as she uses her "saints' hands" — a supernatural skill with throwing knives — to kill people who Victor has told her are evil. When her boyfriend Dev Patil — who can magically foresee threats — tells her of upcoming dangers, they flee the city together, and their lives become much more complicated.
Reception
Trouble the Saints won the 2021 World Fantasy Award—Novel.[1]
Kirkus Reviews praised it as a "nuanced portrait of racism in all of its poisonous flavors" which explores "the incredibly fraught, liminal space of being a light-skinned person of color", extolling Johnson's "musical prose" and "passionate and painful depictions of the love expressed in romance and friendship ".[2] Publishers Weekly found it to "challenging [and] diverse", and a "literary firecracker" with "dynamic characters" and "style to spare", but faulted the plot as "overstuffed".[3]
National Public Radio commended Johnson for transcending "the classic noir tale of an assassin desperate to be done with the life", but critiqued her portrayal of characters who were neither black nor white, asking "how much that part of their identity ([Victor's second-in-command] Walter is Native American and Dev is Indian) was being treated more as window dressing than being Black or white was, for Black and white characters."[4]
Tor.com observed Johnson's choice to forego a "three-act narrative arc" despite having three viewpoint characters (including Tamara, who Phyllis and Dev meet later), noting that "what readers will anticipate is the crux of the story — Phyllis' relationship not only with her mob boss but with Dev" is in fact resolved at the end of the first part, with the rest of the novel being "all consequence and fallout, echoing with the reverberations of trauma".[5] FIYAH considered it a "wonderfully rich blend of a vividly dangerous world, laced with magic in a vibrant presentation of historical reality", with "lyrical writing" and "characters [who] feel real and almost lovable", and recommended it to those who seek "heavily character-driven narrative laced with mysticism", but also described it as "imbalanced", with the viewpoints of Phyllis, Dev, and Tamara "not having the same effect throughout".[6]
References
- ^ World Fantasy Awards 2021, at WorldFantasy.org; retrieved March 19, 2023
- ^ TROUBLE THE SAINTS, reviewed at Kirkus Reviews; published April 13, 2020; retrieved March 19, 2023
- ^ Trouble the Saints, reviewed at Publishers Weekly; published January 27, 2020; retrieved March 19, 2023
- ^ Think Fantasy Is Kid Stuff? Try 'Trouble The Saints', by Danny Lore, at National Public Radio; published July 23, 2020; retrieved March 19, 2023
- ^ Finding Love and Finding Trouble in Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson, by Em Nordling; at Tor.com; published July 21, 2020; retrieved March 19, 2023
- ^ Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson, reviewed by Kerine Wint; at FIYAH Literary Magazine; published July 21, 2020; retrieved March 19, 2023
External links
- The Trouble With "Non-White": Passing, Power, and Complicity in Alaya Dawn Johnson's Trouble the Saints, at Tor.com
- v
- t
- e
- The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip (1975)
- Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson (1976)
- Doctor Rat by William Kotzwinkle (1977)
- Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber (1978)
- Gloriana by Michael Moorcock (1979)
- Watchtower by Elizabeth A. Lynn (1980)
- The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe (1981)
- Little, Big by John Crowley (1982)
- Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea (1983)
- The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford (1984)
- Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock / Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (1985)
- Song of Kali by Dan Simmons (1986)
- Perfume by Patrick Süskind (1987)
- Replay by Ken Grimwood (1988)
- Koko by Peter Straub (1989)
- Lyonesse: Madouc by Jack Vance (1990)
- Only Begotten Daughter by James K. Morrow / Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner (1991)
- Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon (1992)
- Last Call by Tim Powers (1993)
- Glimpses by Lewis Shiner (1994)
- Towing Jehovah by James K. Morrow (1995)
- The Prestige by Christopher Priest (1996)
- Godmother Night by Rachel Pollack (1997)
- The Physiognomy by Jeffrey Ford (1998)
- The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich (1999)
- Thraxas by Martin Scott (2000)
- Declare by Tim Powers / Galveston by Sean Stewart (2001)
- The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin (2002)
- The Facts of Life by Graham Joyce / Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip (2003)
- Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton (2004)
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2005)
- Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (2006)
- Soldier of Sidon by Gene Wolfe (2007)
- Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay (2008)
- The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford / Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (2009)
- The City & the City by China Miéville (2010)
- Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (2011)
- Osama by Lavie Tidhar (2012)
- Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson (2013)
- A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar (2014)
- The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (2015)
- The Chimes by Anna Smaill (2016)
- The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North (2017)
- Jade City by Fonda Lee / The Changeling by Victor LaValle (2018)
- Witchmark by C. L. Polk (2019)
- Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender (2020)
- Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson (2021)
- The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (2022)
- Saint Death's Daughter by C. S. E. Cooney (2023)