Nalo Hopkinson calls her work an attempt at "subverting the [science fiction] genre"; reviewers point to her intriguing blend of African, Caribbean, and Creole folklore with the usual conventions of science fiction and science fantasy; literary analysts put her in the magical realism, post-colonial lit school. Whatever you call Hopkinson's work, speculative fiction, magical realism, or plain old science fiction, the Canadian author has quickly carved out a niche for herself on bookstore shelves with two novels and a handful of short stories. Her 1998 debut novel, Brown Girl in the Ring, won the Warner Aspect First Novel contest, and major publication and distribution. This tale of a decaying urban center in the near future, though a well-plowed field, found new life with Hopkinson's spicy mix of Afro-Caribbean folklore and patois. Her protagonist, Ti-Jeanne, is a single mother who is struggling to come to terms with her past and...