Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

It’s Carnival time and the Caribbean-colonized planet of Toussaint is celebrating with music, dance, and pageantry. Masked “Midnight Robbers” waylay revelers with brandished weapons and spellbinding words. To young Tan-Tan, the Robber Queen is simply a favorite costume to wear at the festival–until her power-corrupted father commits an unforgiveable crime.

Suddenly, both father and daughter are thrust into the brutal world of New Half-Way Tree. Here monstrous creatures from folklore are real, and the humans are violent outcasts in the wilds. Tan-Tan must reach into the heart of myth and become the Robber Queen herself. For only the Robber Queen’s legendary powers can save her life . . . and set her free.

“Deeply satisfying…succeeds on a grand scale…best of all is the language….Hopkinson’s narrative voice has a way of getting under the skin.”–The New York Times Book Review

“Caribbean patois adorns this novel with graceful rhythms…Beneath it lie complex, clearly evoked characters, haunting descriptions of exotic planets, and a stirring story…[This book] ought to elevate Hopkinson to star status.” –-Seattle Times