3.5 stars.

I was hooked!

A very near-futuristic California setting that took climate change and pandemics to heart. A successful, career-oriented Black woman protagonist who's suffering from the effects of long covid. And AI bots with varying levels of autonomy.

I liked this novel for its portrayal of a realistic future, and I really liked how the FMC, Xandria, was such a raw and vulnerable character. The mixed media format, with bits and pieces of artwork included, really added to Xandria's character development as an archivist and activist working at the Huntington Museum. Her personality reminded me of Zelu in Nnedi Okorafor's Death of the Author. Both are stubborn, yet driven in the face of adversity. (And by adversity, I mean racism and misogyny.)

There was also a psychological thriller subplot that I was a huge fan of. I thought it was really well done because as the reader, you were almost as lost as Xandria, except you were given hints so you knew beforehand that the situation was even worse than Xandria suspected.

While I loved the worldbuilding and character building, the time jump into the far, far future really confused me. And I'm saying this as someone who loves futuristic space science fantasy.

The story of Diwata literally spanned millennia, but its beginning as a Black Panther Party-inspired organization to its evolution into an actual functioning underwater colony off the coast of California to its future as a society on the verge of collapse was really, really confusing. Especially since the narrative shifted from Xandria's POV to several Diwatan citizens' POVs after a certain point in the book.

It felt like this came out of nowhere, so I couldn't really connect to this new set of characters or their situations. I think it'd be better if they were Xandria's descendants or something along those lines. It read like two interconnected novellas.

Anyway, I'd still recommend this novel if you're into sci-fi, especially if you're looking to diversify your reading. I'd definitely read more from Stacy Nathaniel Jackson!

Thank you to Liveright and NetGalley for this arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book will be published in the US on April 1, 2025 by Liveright / WW Norton.

FULL RATING: 2.75 stars rounded up

There’s so much to admire in The Ephemera Collector—its intricate worldbuilding, its incisive critique of corporate control over historical narratives, and its deeply felt exploration of disability and bodily autonomy. Stacy Nathaniel Jackson crafts a story that is both intensely personal and expansively political, weaving together the life of Xandria Brown, a 23rd-century archivist battling long COVID, with the fate of a separatist underwater city. Yet, despite the novel’s ambitious scope and compelling themes, its execution left me frustrated.

Xandria has spent her life working to preserve marginalized histories, most recently the Diwata Collection—ephemera from a climate separatist community in Monterey Canyon. But when the massive corporation WIKA acquires the Huntington Library, her work becomes threatened by profit-driven motives. As she spearheads the #BlackoutWIKA resistance campaign, an attack on the building leaves her trapped inside, shifting the novel’s focus to the efforts of her AI support bots to save her. This introduces a second narrative thread: a deep dive into Xandria’s fragmented memories, caused by Long COVID inflammation, leading to a mid-novel exploration of her family history and the systemic forces that shaped her lineage. Eventually, the book closes with a long section from the perspective of Diwatan citizens, reflecting on their revolutionary project and the artifacts Xandria has been archiving.

While the novel’s thematic richness is undeniable, its structure felt unwieldy. The perspective shifts—particularly those involving Xandria’s support bots—were often difficult to track, making it challenging to stay grounded in the narrative. The attack on WIKA and the exploration of Diwata’s history felt like two entirely separate books, with Xandria’s personal struggles acting as a bridge that wasn’t quite strong enough to hold them together. The most frustrating aspect was how major plot threads—Xandria’s health, memory distortions, and the corporate interference with her work—were introduced with weighty significance, only to be dropped, then abruptly revisited before being sidelined again.

I wanted to love this book. Its vision of resistance, its commitment to interrogating who controls history, and its nuanced depiction of disability all resonated deeply. But the scattered execution ultimately made it difficult to fully connect. With more structural tightening, The Ephemera Collector could have been a powerhouse. As it stands, it’s an ambitious novel that doesn’t quite cohere.

📖 Read this if you love: speculative fiction that interrogates corporate overreach, radical disability justice, and archival resistance; books by Octavia Butler or Rivers Solomon.

🔑 Key Themes: Memory and Autonomy, The Commodification of History, Environmental Collapse and Resistance, Technology and Surveillance, Disability and Care.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Death of a Parent (minor), Grief (minor), Sexual Harassment (minor), Medical Content (severe), Racism (minor), Bullying (minor), Sexual Content (minor), Animal Death (minor).

_The Ephemera Collector_ by Stacy Nathaniel Jackson is an evocative Afrofuturism book perfect for readers of the genre. Xandria Brown lives in Los Angeles in the near-future and works as an archivist preserving African American ephemera. She suffers from long COVID symptoms while working on the Diwata Collection, fighting to preserve the materials and her own memories. Jackson’s writing is lyrical and thought-provoking, and delves into contemporary issues such as race and the environment. A beautiful read from a debut author.

This is definitely a futuristic and original plot! I was drawn to the synopsis immediately. I appreciated and enjoyed reading about the AI robots, and the Covid-19 after effects were very relatable. This is not a genre that I read often, so a lot of it was way over my head, I found myself looking up a lot of terms and phrases that I didn't know. I will say that this book definitely educated me on the possible future of AI, Diwata, ephemera and also space. Kudos to the author on this enlightening and original read! Thank you Net Galley for the ARC!

Fascinating for many reasons, this is a MUST READ for anyone interested in Afrofuturism, the future of our planet, environmental justice, racial inequality, or libraries and archives. All fantastic subjects! Xandria Brown is an archivist in the near future, with her major project being the Diwata Collection. The format of the book is all you can ask for and more from a book about ephemera. Loved, loved, loved the format.

Stacy Nathaniel Jackson is a gifted author, with a great sense of story and the ability to share that story lyrically. I need more from this author! Most of the book was embedded with a sense of understanding of the feelings the characters were experiencing. It could be read in the air.

This is a great imagination of a possible future, but more so it’s commentary on race, justice, and the environment. The technology of the future included in the book was fascinating to picture. The living situations and working conditions were also really interesting. But the real substance was in addressing the much more serious themes involved. Thank you to NetGalley and to Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton and Company, for the advance copy of this compelling novel.

The Ephemera Collector by Stacy Nathaniel Jackson is a poignant and lyrical exploration of memory, identity, and the fragments of life that shape us. Through beautifully crafted prose and poetic storytelling, Jackson weaves a narrative that bridges personal reflection and universal themes. Each chapter feels like a carefully curated piece of history, urging readers to consider the significance of what we choose to hold onto and what we let go. A profound and moving work of art.

perfect for fans who have been clamoring for more specfic with older protagonists. there were things about this i adored and things i could have done without— from what i can tell this is a debut and it very much suffers for being a concept that is, perhaps, Too Big for the author’s current skillset in terms of craft. however, i see what they wanted to do/achieve with the story.

DNF'd at 27%. While the premise is exciting, the execution falls short. The writing is often confusing and the distinction between Xandria's internal thoughts, the dialogue, and the commands from the AI were not easily delineated.

This book has a really interesting point of view. To be set in the future with a main female who is older using artificial intelligence to help her fight a rebellion in the midst of also losing her memories.

I had a really hard time keeping up with the point of views of the robots. Where there two? One that was helping her and other that was going through files? Honestly I don’t know. I think this book could do a whole lot more on clarity and smoothing out the transitions.

This could be because this is a genre that I do not normally read. It was just unfortunate that I could not connect to anything in this book.