Songs for the Shadows
by Cheryl S. Ntumy
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Pub Date Nov 12 2024 | Archive Date Not set
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Description
Your feelings are of no consequence.
Shad-Dari has escaped her past, her dreams now in reach. An excavator of the valuable old sounds of Órino-Rin, she steals tiny, unheard fragments of the sacred songs to erase the painful echo of her home planet, Ekwukwe. In one rebellion too far, she sets off a chain of events that severs her from time itself, forcing her, without another way forward, to face her past.
A Note From the Publisher
Advance Praise
"Set in the Sauúti universe and tightly packed with rich worldbuilding, Songs for the Shadows is crafted in beautiful prose and depth, meditating on silence and sound and song as powerful cultural entities—a magic system of sound excavation and the folding and manipulation of time that blew me away!” — Tlotlo Tsamaase, Caine Prize Finalist and author of Womb City
“In Songs for the Shadows, Ntumy continues the work of the Sauúti Collective, in immersing the reader into an expansive and complex world in which the magic and power of the oral—prayers, wails, chants, songs, words, and therefore stories—have been elevated to the most valued cultural artifacts. I was mesmerized by this world and by the rule-breaking, self-inventing Shad-Dari who, in seeking to drown out the echoes of her past loses everything she thought she needed.” - Gothataone Moeng, 2024 Whiting Award winner for Call and Response: Stories
"Cheryl's writing is magical, lyrical and breath-taking. Imagine a world created by and out of sound - and that sound is linked to our very beings. Plus the beautiful evocations on the non-linearity of time and how we deal with the voices from the past. Bravo!" - Joyce Chng, author of Fire Heart
Marketing Plan
We are a very and currently overwhelmed small press taking on this wonderful story. If you enjoy it, your help in its promotion is essential to our ability to fund more comprehensive marketing, communication, and sales activities. Thank you.
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781961654174 |
| PRICE | |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Ani L, Reviewer
"Songs for the Shadows" is a stunning, poetic, beautifully imagined novella set in the collaborative Afrofuturist Sauútiverse world. I hadn't heard of the Sauútiverse before this novella came across my radar, but I will be eagerly anticipating other works in this universe moving forward!
Summary: In a world where sounds and song exist as powerful artifacts, Shad-Dari is the captain of a ship of excavators who find and capture rare, dangerous sounds. She is haunted by tangible echoes of her lost loved ones, and steals and listens to illicit sound fragments in order to forcefully suppress those echoes. We follow Shad-Dari's tragic past, rebellious present, and strange future as she navigates what these echoes mean to her, and if she'll ever find a way to escape them.
The prose is vivid, poetic, and engaging; there's a lot of worldbuilding to set up in order to understand Shad-Dari's context, and Ntumy does so masterfully. The supporting characters, especially Bed-Shek and the mysterious Mahu Mahadii, leap off the page, and the slow unfolding of Shad-Dari's story rewards your investment with the expansive imaginative palette of a true storyteller right in her element.
I read the novella in one sitting and wished there was more! Very much looking forward to checking out the other Sauútiverse works. If you're a fan of great writing and Afrofuturism, I can't recommend Songs for the Shadows enough.
Kathryn M, Reviewer
I loved the blend of African culture and how sound was used as a power in this novella. The story was wonderfully done and enjoyed that the concept worked overall. The characters felt like well rounded characters and how they worked in this universe. Cheryl S. Ntumy has a way with words and had me engaged from start to finish.
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