INTRODUCING THIRD MAN BOOKS' FIRST BOOK OF FICTION!
"Transformative, wise and vivid with the quality of fantasy and fable."
—Sheree Renée Thomas, editor Dark Matter
"Kiini Ibura Salaam’s short stories (and the characters who inhabit them) are vital, fantastic in all senses of the word, audacious and tender."
—Kelly Link, author of Get In Trouble and Stranger Things Happen
Excited is not the right word, maybe it's ecstatic, or maybe it's an otherworldly word that we have yet to experience, but might discover while exploring all the worlds and beings in Kiini Ibura Salaam's new collection of speculative fiction short stories, When the World Wounds. In this eagerly-awaited collection, Kiini Ibura Salaam continues her exploration of the dark, the sensual, and the mysterious with fiction that disturbs, delights, and dazzles. The five stories and one novella collected in When the World Wounds examine the tumultuous nature of the human condition through such wild imaginings as sensual encounters with deer, escapism in a dystopia prison, and volcano women. In “The Taming,” a lupine creature is trapped by beasts whose nefarious nature is beyond their prey’s understanding. In “Hemmie’s Calenture,” a woman escaping enslavement is thrust into a war between gods. “The Pull of the Wing” is the prequel to Salaam’s wildly popular "Of Wings, Nectar, and Ancestors" trilogy. “Because of the Bone Man” transports readers to the desolate landscape of post-Katrina New Orleans and the struggle of the city’s culture bearers to carry on. A welcome follow-up to Salaam’s award-winning Ancient, Ancient, When the World Wounds is perceptive and engaging as it examines our world’s callous and perilous landscapes while tickling the imagination and startling the senses.
