Every year, the Wheel of the Infinite must be remade to ensure peace and harmony. And every hundred years, the Wheel and the world become one. But now a blac storm ravages the beautiful mandala, and a woman with a shadowy past-an exile, murderer, and traitor-has been summoned back to put the world right. For if Maskelle and the swordsman Rian cannot stop the Wheel's accelerating disintegration-then all that is, was, and will be...will end.

Jezebel's sexual lasciviousness, Mammy's devotion, and Sapphire's outspoken anger -- these are among the most persistent stereotypes that black women encounter in contemporary American life. Hurtful and dishonest, such representations force African American women to navigate a virtual crooked room that shames them and shapes their experiences as citizens. Many respond by assuming a mantle of strength that may convince others, and even themselves,...

"Hubert, Seth, and their ultra-rich heiress friend Natalie are getting a little old to hang out at the "Communist parties," techno-raveups in abandoned industrial spaces, full of insta-printed drugs and toys. And Natalie was finished, years ago, with her overcontrolling zillionaire dad. And now that anyone can manufacture food, clothing, shelter with equipment comparable to a computer printer, there seems to be little reason to to stick with the world...