I’ll never get to read the works of Ursula K. However, I thank my stars that I’m living in an era when I get to see Jemisin’s career progress in real time. I spend a lot of time these days depressed about the state of American literature, what with publishers merging and literary publications shutting down. Together, the avatars have to fight off a city from another dimension that’s trying to rid the multiverse of humanity. Bronca’s my favorite character-maybe because she rocks steel-toed boots and doesn’t countenance any nonsense, or maybe because my mom’s side of the family came from the Bronx and I spent many childhood summers visiting my great aunt and uncle there. Aislyn, who can’t break free of her white supremacist upbringing, is the avatar of Staten Island, and Bronca is the tough-as-nails artist embodying the Bronx. Brooklyn, a rapper-turned-politician, is the avatar of Brooklyn, while Indian mathematician Padmini is the avatar of Queens. There’s Manny, avatar of Manhattan, who’s ruthless but good at heart. The plot of the two books-which make up The Great Cities duology-is relatively simple, giving them room to explore the lives of New York’s avatars.
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