NUBIA

In 2098, as Nubian teens awaken to immense supernatural powers, they may become their people’s saving grace—or confirm the prejudices of those who vilify them.

The struggling Nubian Quarter, dubbed the Swamp, which exists in the remnants of lower Manhattan behind a precarious sea wall, houses Black and brown Caribbean refugees displaced by the climate emergencies of the 2080s. More privileged New Yorkers largely live in the Up High, a floating Jetsons-like marvel of future tech, away from the gang violence and rampant drug use. At High School 104, bookish Uzochi tries to ignore the biased, selectively taught history, remaining committed to his academic goals as a path out of the Swamp. When his powers of telepathy emerge, the accompanying responsibility is daunting. His cousin, Lencho, caught up in gang life, develops the ability to drain people’s energy; he turns away from family and community in pursuit of power. Zuberi’s powers allow her to see spirits and people’s futures, but even she is unprepared for the coming threat. As powers once thought lost forever are rediscovered by younger Nubians, evil, manipulative Up High architect Krazen St. John aims to exploit them for his own purposes—and Lencho is particularly vulnerable to his lies and machinations. Throughout, connections between Nubians and the African diaspora are implied but confusingly explained in this near-future account of racial injustice that errs on the side of underexplained fantasy tropes.

A justifiable critique of today that falls flat in imagining tomorrow.