"There are so many characters, cultures, languages, and plot points in this novel, and Hopkinson weaves them together masterfully."

– Booklist, starred review

“Readers are gifted with the rare privilege of transcending limitations when it comes to the possibility of how legendary Black characters can be depicted. In this spell-binding book, myth and history converge taking readers on a fantastical journey.”

– —The Toronto Star

“[T]he unpredictable Blackheart Man is more than worth the wait. Hopkinson has created the ultimate flawed hero.”

– The Washington Post

"“SFWA Grand Master Hopkinson (Falling in Love with Hominids) serves up a rich stew of folklore and history in this delightfully delirious fairy tale of a magical island resisting reconquest...A triumph."

– Publishers Weekly

“Hopkinson fills Chynchin to the brim with immersive details, from the oral tradition of the chantwells, to the tensions between different social groups, to the distinctive and engaging voices of her characters.”

– Kirkus  

“Blackheart Man is here, I’m happy to report that it’s been worth the wait. It’s Hopkinson’s most narratively complex novel since ­The Salt Roads, her boldest re-imagining of Caribbean culture since The New Moon’s Arms…, and her most linguistically inventive work to date."

– Locus Magazine

“Much like the Blackheart Man of legend, readers will be swallowed whole by this novel and reemerge completely changed.”

– Library Journal

"Nalo Hopkinson’s standalone fantasy delights in the tension between different states of being."

– Lithub

"A new novel from award-winning author Nalo Hopkinson is always reason to celebrate!"

– Book Riot

Recipient of the 2021 Damon Knight Grand Memorial Award

from The Science Fiction Writers of America



Praise for Nalo Hopkinson and Blackheart Man

“Blackheart Man is yet another brilliant novel from a master writer. The clarity and rhythms of Hopkinson’s prose are pure pleasure to read, and her ability to examine the nuances of human nature, both good and ill, always dazzles.” -Kate Elliott, author of Unconquerable Sun and Servant Mage

"Hopkinson's narrative voice has a way of getting under the skin." -The New York Times

"Hopkinson owns one of the more important and original voices in SF." -Publishers Weekly

“Hopkinson's stories dazzle.” -NPR


“The power of Hopkinson’s stories lies in their capacity to help us reimagine our own movement through the world and to wonderfully innovate new trajectories for speculative fiction as a whole.” -Los Angeles Review of Books

“Her voice is clearly her own, charged with deep feeling and vast imagination.” -San Francisco Chronicle

"Utterly original...." -Karen Joy Fowler, award-winning author of Booth, and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves