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    Redemption in Indigo
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    Redemption in Indigo
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    Redemption in Indigo
    Audiobook6 hours

    Redemption in Indigo

    Written by Karen Lord

    Narrated by Robin Miles

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    This fascinating debut by Karen Lord-a retelling of a Senegalese folktale-earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist and won the Frank Collymore Award. When Paama finally leaves her gluttonous husband, she attracts the attention of the undying spirit Patience, who gives her Chance's Chaos Stick as a gift. But Chance insists that only he should wield the stick's powers. "This is one of those literary works of which it can be said that not a word should be changed."-Booklist, starred review
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 24, 2011
    ISBN9781461804833
    Unavailable
    Redemption in Indigo

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    Reviews for Redemption in Indigo

    4/5

    201 ratings34 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 3/5
      I am sure this is a delightful book if you are in the right mood but this is too much of a fairy tale for me.
    • 5/5
      This story was so fun and whimsical. I love fairy tales and folk tales. It's rare that I find one not European in nature. It was great to hear a tale from such a rich culture.
    • 5/5
      I liked this book: a lot. I've been working on expanding the ethnic/cultural/sociological base of my reading, and this book fits in nicely to that scheme. There is something deeply appealing to me about the African-based/flavored/inspired fantasy I've read.Redemption in Indigo is simply lovely. I didn't buy into the initial "narrator addressing the reader" bit at the beginning, as I tend to doubt novels that lean on the narrator as an additional "character." Often it yields distracting commentary that rubs raw spots in my brain. The narrator works fine in this novel, though, and Lord never lets it get out of control. The actual story-telling voice is very nice. Easy to read, fun to read... I found myself searching out moments to read this little book. The negative part of this is that it's a slim novel, so I was done in a couple short days. Boo! I would have liked more!And yet: we have grown accustomed to novels that are bloated, fattened, full of authorly self-aggrandizement and a perceived preciousness of language, which, in the end, dilutes the core of a story. Lord doesn't do that. This is story, and moral, and magic and love and loss... it's realization and redemption and all of that in a neat 188 page package. How much I respect a novel that doesn't pretend that bigger is better!Redemption in Indigo is just right.
    • 4/5
      Very strange. Some enjoyable characters. Larger dose of mysticism than reality.
    • 5/5
      Captivating and thrilling story. The narrator captured the essence of the story and effortlessly delivered it to the listeners. This story I feel must be listened to, rather than read.
    • 4/5
      A great story, beautifully told. I will definitely try more of Lord's works.
    • 5/5
      I've been meaning to read something by Karen Lord for a while. For some reason, the fact that a group I participate in a lot on GR is reading one of her other books (which I also own) next month made me read this one. I won't question it too much, because I enjoyed this a lot. It's a short/quick read, and it's different: it isn't at all your run of the mill fantasy. I read it without knowing any of the background stuff about it being based on a Senegalese story, and I don't regret that -- instead of looking for the joining places between Lord's story and the original story, I enjoyed the whole thing.It's told fairly simply, in the style of a more or less oral narrative -- there's a conversational narrator, and the basic ideas are easy to lay hold of. I really enjoyed that it was in many ways a domestic story, with cooking and family at its heart. I also enjoyed that I didn't guess every twist exactly right.Because of the fable/fairytale-like tone, I wasn't looking for too much from the characters: the execution matches the form, while still providing likeable/pitiable who you can, to some extent, get to know. Still, if characters, setting, etc, really matter to you, then this might not be for you. I'm normally all about the characters, but this so perfectly hit my soft spots for a) something new and different and b) something that emulates another form well that I couldn't resist it.
    • 4/5
      I liked the narrator on this. This is based on a fable. The story is moved to a modern setting. The way it is updated is very well done. It keeps the feel of a fable.
    • 4/5
      A very refreshing and thoughtful read. Recommended.
    • 3/5
      This was a freebie, or rather a “BONUS BOOK!”, as a strip of paper tucked into the book informed me. I’d ordered a copy of And Go Like This by John Crowley from Small Beer Press (this was not the John Crowley first edition I accidentally ordered twice, by the way), and they included Redemption in Indigo free of charge. All of which is incidental. I was pleasantly surprised by Redemption in Indigo, although to be fair it has had mostly positive reviews. It’s not my favourite type of story – it is, in fact one I generally avoid. The book is structured as a tale told about a woman in a Senegalese-inspired fantasy world who leaves her husband, is gifted with the power of chaos, learns some important lessons at the hands of the god who previously held that power – as does he, of course – before giving the power back and finding contentment. The story is overtly told, and the identity of the narrator is part of the world-building. There’s nothing especially remarkable about either the story or the world-building. While the prose harkens back to older styles of story-telling, it’s a mode that’s been used quite a lot in fantasy fiction. Fortunately, Redemption in Indigo succeeds because it has bags of charm. Its story is not always nice – horrible things happen – but it feels pleasant, and it makes for an enjoyable read. This is a nice book, despite its plot, and the genre needs more of them.
    • 5/5
      Delightful!
    • 4/5
      Excellent novel-length fairy tale! More thoughts to come.
    • 5/5
      Redemption in Indigo is a short novel inspired by African folklore. Paama has left her foolish and gluttonous husband, Ansige, and refuses to return to him. When he tries to win her back and instead makes a complete fool of himself, the djombi (spirits/gods) are so impressed with the way she handles the situation that they give her a gift of great power. But the djombi that it was taken from, the Indigo Lord wants it back, and badly.I love the narrative style of this book – it takes the folktale inspiration and runs with it, it’s just like a storyteller was sitting in the room with you and telling you a story. We meander back and forth in time and point of view, and the narrator is quite opinionated at times. Paama is a terrific heroine, she’s calm, kind, and intuitively knows that the best thing to do with power is not use it. She’s also pragmatic – when the djombi threatens her family and asks her to give him the stick, she immediately hands it over. Of course, things aren’t that simple, since she actually has to believe that he’s the better person to wield it, and that’s the titular “redemption” of the story.On the surface this story seems really simple, but there are a lot of layers and side plots – Anansi’s troubles with tricking people (yes, Anansi’s in this book!), Paama’s self-centered sister and her search for an eligible husband, the extremely competent House of Sisters that help Paama out. There’s not a lot of time spent of these, but they’re full of heart and the author’s deft characterization makes the characters seem like people you know pretty well.Redemption in Indigo is very different from the other Karen Lord book I’ve read, The Best of All Possible Worlds, but it’s just as warm and well-told.Comment
    • 4/5
      This was such a wonderful adventure!

      This is not typical science fiction at all. It's part fable, part folklore with gods and tricksters interfering in the lives of humans all the while.

      I loved Paama. She's a heroine who is particularly difficult to write, unassuming, stoic, quiet, steadfast, vulnerable. How Karen Lord is able to take someone so seemingly ordinary and take all the little details that make her human and show the reader how great she is.

      The narrator is funny, witty, dry and breaks the fourth wall in a way that I adore.

      The only reason I would give this book a lower rating is because I think there are some parts that are so, so exciting and other times there were a few lulls in the action, but I can't complain anymore than that.

      This book is great for its subtlety, for its details, for its depth, for its warmth, for its compassion.

      I'm really, really happy I read this book.

    • 4/5
      Redemption in Indigo is undeniably fantastical, but it more closely resembles a fairy tale or fable than your usual fantasy novel. Based upon a Senegalese folktale, Redemption in Indigo is the wryly humorous account of Paama, a mortal woman who attracts the attention of the djombi, who gift her with the Chaos Stick. However, the original owner of the Chaos Stick is unhappy with this change in ownership.“All my tales are true, drawn from life, and a life story is not a tidy thing.”My favorite thing about Redemption in Indigo was the focus on storytelling and the narrative voice. The unnamed narrator speaks in first person, sometimes addressing the reader directly, mimicking the feel and tradition of oral storytelling. What really makes this work is the subtle humor that shines through the narrator’s voice.“You must never tell people their own stories. They have no interest in them, or they think they can tell them better themselves. Give them a stranger’s life, and then they’re content.”Redemption in Indigo isn’t fast paced or packed with action. Instead, it’s a comfortable book. There’s a sense of warmth to it, and wisdom as well. And despite the occasional mentions of modern conveniences, Redemption in Indigo has a sense of timelessness to it.I also liked Paama as a heroine. She’s brave, hard working, and resilient, and she triumphs more due to her determination and strong moral center than to any more typical means. Throughout the story, she’s shown the petty sides of humanity, often embodied in her lazy and gluttonous husband, but she continues to believe in the good in people.Redemption in Indigo is a very different sort of fantasy story, but it is one well worth reading.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
    • 4/5
      I loved the fantastic elements of this, and Paama's ways of dealing with her husband. Being given the Chaos Stick I'd expected the story to be more about what she does with it, so the path it took instead was unexpected but all the same satisfying. (Though the trope of a human/god relationship is not one I really grok. Here as in [[The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms]] - which I was reminded of for more reasons than this while reading - the power dynamic implications of it just don't work for me; but de gustibus.)
    • 3/5
      Paama leaves her slovenly husband and goes home. Based on a Sengaliese folktale. Paama gets chaor stick and the trickster and blue guy come after her. Gorgeous writing evocative of a storyteller who addresses the reader sometimes -- an oral tradition. (Djombi inhabits people) Funny, visual, good family dynamics
    • 4/5
      Barbadian author Karen Lord takes the Senegalese folk tale "Ansige Karamba the Glutton" and uses it as a way of injecting her main character into her own fable of responsibility and redemption. The story is filled with Anansi tricksters, with personifications of Chance and Patience, and all the other demiurges that make the world work. It is filled with human beings, none perfect, many comical, all of whom recognizable to the reader.It's also filled with a great deal of sly and gentle humor. Plus, of course, the moral lessons. Some readers may find the story a bit bland in the way that those sort of tales often are, and dread the inevitable Point (with a capital P). Lord knows this; as her narrator says, "There are those who utterly, utterly fear the dreaded Moral of the Story...Everything teaches, everyone preaches, all have a gospel to sell! Better the one who is honest and open in declaring an agenda than the one who fools you into believing that they are only spinning a pretty fancy for beauty’s sake."To be honest, I didn't like her saying that. I prefer my parables to be unapologetic and unconfrontational about what they are: Here is what I wrote; if you like it then I'm glad and, if you didn't, then I guess you won't read my next story. Still, it didn't really diminish my enjoyment of this entertaining and humorous tale that seems surprisingly self-assured for a debut novel. There is something of the feel of oral tradition in this book, of the folk tale rather than magical realism — although darned if I know where to draw the line between those two — that appealed to me. I hear her subsequent works are different in tone and style. I look forward to seeing what else she can do as I add her to the growing list of Caribbean authors of speculative fiction whom I appreciate.
    • 3/5
      LONG ASIDE: What's the difference between a "fairy tale" and a "folktale"? (And where does "myth" fit into that?) A fairy tale obviously needn't include actual fairies (is there a single Disney movie with fairies?). I have a sneaking suspicion that we (by which I mean English speakers of European descent) tend to classify as "fairy tales" stories that reflect our own cultural background and as "folktales" those that seem exotic to us. I am therefore deliberately using the term "fairy tale" in this review; I would, however, very much like to hear if others have come to the same conclusion or analyzed the distinction more knowledgeably.

      OKAY, BACK TO THE POINT: This is a charming fairy tale retelling -- of what I'm told is a Senegalese story -- with Lord's (I am now beginning to think) characteristic sense of humor and playfulness. There are no villains, only characters with conflicting motivations. The stakes are not played as particularly high (though I guess many lives are at risk?), which was both refreshing and a bit disappointing. I finished the book thinking of it as not much more than a confection, if a pleasant one.

      So: if you're new to Lord, I'd recommend starting with The Best of All Possible Worlds. If you've already read that and are impatient for the next book, you probably won't be unhappy with Redemption in Indigo.
    • 3/5
      At times delightfully playful with words and descriptions, but for me the style of narrator (fairytale tale-spinner) removed any sense of real danger to the characters and lessened the emotional impact this book could have had. Still delightful, though.
    • 3/5
      This was a good book but too fanciful for my tastes. I had trouble following the many analogies and spirit figures but enjoyed the tale.
    • 5/5
      The Booklist review quoted on the cover: "One of those literary works of which it can be said that not a word should be changed," may have unfairly primed me for this story. On the one hand, nothing makes me go "Aw, yeah?" like such an assertion, but on the other hand...Booklist may well be right. This story seems in some ways above criticism. Even when the reader's suspension of disbelief is aroused or the plot takes a dissatisfying turn, Lord's narrator is prepared to get very in-your-face to defend certain artistic decisions. Since this is for humorous effect rather than browbeating the reader into submission, I rather liked it. Or maybe I was just browbeaten.In more ways than one, Redemption in Indigo is masterfully told, with a light touch and clever awareness of archetypes it plays with. Unlikely coincidences (like the trouble Paama's husband gets himself into, or the denouement of the romance between her sister and a poor poet) become perfectly logical in context, and to say they're silly seems to be missing the point. I've seen at least one disgruntled Goodreads review comparing this story to Paul Coelho's "new agey" writing, but more focused on storytelling than the lesson. I don't think Redemption is supposed to have a lesson at all, and to expect one is to misunderstand it (I also feel like pointing out that Coelho is rarely shelved in the fantasy section, which is where I found Redemption; whether this is a credit to the "Sci Fi Ghetto" I leave for others to debate). It is, above all, a story. This doesn't mean it lacks themes--including the power of choice, the failure of human foresight, the two combining into chaos, plus redemptive arcs (are you surprised?) for several characters, both human and nonhuman (now that surprised me!).And, insofar as it draws directly on the folklore style Coelho is attempting to recreate, I'd say Redemption got there first. Short and fast-paced, the story contains a multitude of very likeable characters, and even the less likeable ones--Paama's obsessed husband and her selfish younger sister--grow sympathetic. Also, Redemption in Indigo is the first time I've ever seen a Trickster achetype have such a character arc. I'll say no more about that, to avoid spoilers. But I will say, while Redemption's mythic undertones make it feel like you should be able to predict the outcome, I was genuinely surprised by the ending. One character did seem to appear out of nowhere (or more properly, reappear--he's there at the opening of the story and pretty much forgotten for the next hundred pages), to the point that I half expected him to be one of the supernatural djombi, too. I think that's the only complaint I can make about the story's construction. While you might be confused at the opening--the setting is modern, in a fictionalized African nation with deep traditional roots, so I was at first unsure of the time period until a character boarded a "five-hour omnibus with nothing more than a small suitcase and a bottle of antinausea, antacid chews" on page 16; and the talking spider is introduced with, as it happens, deliberate nonchalantness--you're well advised to put your trust in Lord and her narrator (if not the talking spider) and watch the story unfold.A longer version of this review appears at Story Addict .
    • 3/5
      "A rival of mine once complained that my stories begin awkwardly and end untidily. I am willing to admit to many faults, but I will not burden my conscience with that one. All my tales are true, drawn from life, and a life story is not a tidy thing. It is a halftamed horse that you seize on the run and ride with knees and teeth clenched, and then you regretfully slip off as gently and safely as you can, always wondering if you could have gone a few metres more." It's a tale of redemption (of course), of a Jaded undying one Chance who has lost of all love of humanity, of Paama who is chosen to take his some of his power by unwittingly being gifted Chaos Stick. A retelling of a Senegalese folk-tale with a cadence and charm all of its own, evocative in its African setting. Gentle and uplifting in feel, not a hard good vs evil feel but full of human nuance.However I am not overly a fan of moral fables, nor of quite simple, extremely passive tales. Purposefully designed perhaps and charming to some but for me failed to really engage. Of course it had other issues.. there is the narrator, a far too intrusive voice who's wry authorial commentary just overwhelms the tale and starts to irritate as well as intrude. This may work better as an audio book of course and I would be interesting in a live telling. Otherwise refutations (like the quote above) stop being amusing and start feeling like being lectured from afar. Then of course when the simplicity of style bleeds into characterisation there goes yet another possibility to hook the reader, I really didn't give a jot what happened especially because I suspected how it would all work out. I guess you know whether this could be a story for you. It's got rave reviews but taste is taste and this one wasn't for me.
    • 4/5
      It's hard to sustain the cadences and colloquialisms of a traditionally told fairy tale for the length of a novel, harder still to make it accessible - indeed comfortable and charming - for the modern reader, and hardest of all if the language and culture from which the story is extracted are foreign to most of its likely audience. And yet, with Redemption in Indigo, Karen Lord has done just that. A Barbadian writer building her story from a Senegalese folk tale, the Caribbean and African rhythms thrum gently from the first page to the last. We can hear them in the amused scolding of children, feel them in the dusty warmth of the breeze, smell them in the mouthwatering odours of her heroine Paama's cooking.

      Most writers in English who work with myth and legend as their source material are firmly based in northern European and Greek traditions; those few who have taken inspiration from what we used to call the Dark Continent have more often than not betrayed - however innocently and unintentionally - their inherited prejudices and presumptions in the way they have recrafted the material. Lord's authenticity, her delight in her characters and her sure handling of the more ambiguous and nuanced moral terrain of these tales, are a breath of fresh air. The central theme of her story is not the grandiose good vs. evil to which we have become accustomed in our modern retelling of myth; it's not even the only slightly more subtle notion of right or wrong. It is the far more real human conundrum of deciding what is better or worse from a range of less than ideal options. It's about choices and consequences, small sacrifices and self-inflicted damage, the dangers of cynicism and the redemptive power of simply trying to do your best. It's told firmly but gently, with a lot of humour and a bit of heartbreak. It's a lovely tale from a wonderful writer. I'm looking forward to more from her.
    • 5/5
      Lovely writing. Lyrical and poetic - like a folktale.
    • 4/5
      Published by Small Beer Press in July 2010 and on several year???s best fantasy lists, Karen Lord???s Redemption in Indigo finally arrived at Audible on June 15, courtesy of a Recorded Books production, narrated by Robin Miles. Miles has 56 Audible titles to her credit, but this was my first, though her 2010 narration of Ekaterina Sedia???s The House of Discarded Dreams is waiting for me on my wish list for one of these days. Redemption in Indigo is a short listen at a shade under six and a half hours, and it???s well worth discovering. The overall arc of the story comes under the frame of a storyteller relating the events, complete with asides (such as ???we???ll learn more about this later???) and informalities (such as ???let us skip forward through time a bit so as to miss the boring parts???) and footnotes and digressions. The story comes across in a playful, light way, the way of an elder telling a favorite story around a village campfire. This is a wonderful change of pace not just from the battlefields and seriousness of much of the rest of fantasy these days, but also in its leisurely pace, delighting on simple surroundings imbued with the mythological references which have been passed down through the generations. As a work of oral storytelling goes, this one???s a keeper, and I???m glad I was able to enjoy it in this format.
    • 5/5
      This book gives you exactly the same feeling of enchantment you get from listening to a really great storyteller, which is a very hard thing to capture in print. It's got all the right pauses and asides, the right amounts of humor and suspense and romance and intrigue, and an uplifting but uncheesy moral. Absolutely magical.
    • 4/5
      Lovely. It is very much a "fairy tale" in structure and tone - the narrator is a distinct voice, and regularly breaks the fourth wall, and the characters are as much archetypes as they are individuals - but it was based on an entirely different mythology and culture than I am familiar with, and that was a delightful change. The writing is engaging and deft, and Lord does some very smart and interesting things with the timing of various revelations that gives a lot of punch to what could have been a very pat ending.
    • 4/5
      I've long complained that too much fantasy has run the tropes of Arthurian legend into the dirt, or otherwise assumed that the only body of mythology that exists is European. This novel, by a Barbadian writer, takes a Senegalese folktale and gives it a Caribbean twist (djombi and baccou are eastern Caribbean rather than explicitly Senegambian). It is a finely told tale that combines quest, redemption, cooking, humour, trust, and Bildungsroman. Lord is a wonderful addition to the numbers of West Indian sff writers, and I look forward to more from her.
    • 5/5
      The premise: ganked from BN.com: Karen Lord’s debut novel, which won the prestigious Frank Collymore Literary Prize in Barbados, is an intricately woven tale of adventure, magic, and the power of the human spirit.Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makende, now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones -- the djombi -- who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, a wrathful djombi with indigo skin believes this power should be his and his alone.Bursting with humor and rich in fantastic detail, Redemption in Indigo is a clever, contemporary fairy tale that introduces readers to a dynamic new voice in Caribbean literature. Lord’s world of spider tricksters and indigo immortals, inspired in part by a Senegalese folk tale, will feel instantly familiar -- but Paama’s adventures are fresh, surprising, and utterly original.My Rating: ExcellentThis is one of those books I can see myself re-reading in the future. It's short and sweet, but with a whole lot packed into its pages. While I finished it quickly, Redemption in Indigo had a lot of depth and constantly surprised me with its characters and story decisions. Other authors would've taken a more convention route, but not Karen Lord, resulting in yet another utterly enjoyable read for my book club. Well, utterly enjoyable for me. We'll see how all of you book-clubbers liked it, but I will say if you've haven't had the opportunity to read this book, you're certainly missing out. Also, reading this book will make you hungry. That is all. :)Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. It's a book club selection, which means spoilers are a go. If you haven't yet read the book, please do NOT read the full review, as it spoils the end. However, if you've read the book, feel free to join in on the discussion! As always, comments and discussion are most welcome!REVIEW: Karen Lord's REDEMPTION IN INDIGOHappy Reading!