Table Of ContentPraise for
CADWELL TURNBULL
“Magic and monsters roam every corner of this page-turner, but the
real star is Cadwell Turnbull’s breathtaking prose. A perfect hymn to
otherness and the beauty of the strange, No Gods, No Monsters is
so good it reads like music. Simply masterful.”
-SYLVAIN NEUVEL,
author of the Themis Files, The Test, and A History of What Comes Next
“Turnbull delves into the complexities of injustice and identity in this
powerhouse contemporary fantasy…The expert combination of
immersive prose, strong characters, sharp social commentary, and
well-woven speculative elements makes for an unforgettable
experience. Fantasy fans won’t want to miss this.”
-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW)
“A thrilling story…An exciting plot, full characters, complex moral
dilemmas, mystery, mayhem, with a bit of romance. This science
fiction/fantasy story grabs your attention from the beginning”
-KERI COOKS,
Forbes
“Structurally ambitious, intricately imagined.”
-ELIZABETH BEAR,
Hugo Award–winning author
“Like Octavia Butler and Ursula K. Le Guin before him, Turnbull uses
the tools of science fiction to illuminate the human heart.”
-JOHN KESSEL,
Nebula Award–winning author, on The Lesson
“Turnbull is a rising star in the science fiction and fantasy world.”
-THE VERGE
“The Lesson was a perfect debut, and this is a perfect second novel.
Big and bold and ambitious, packed with everything we need right
now: more heart, more monsters, more cooperative solidarity
economies.”
-SAM J. MILLER,
Nebula Award–winning author of Blackfish City and The Blade Between
“An enthralling and audacious novel that takes you on a dizzying ride
deep inside a hidden world existing just beneath the surface of our
everyday reality…Page by page, chapter by chapter, the walls, the
ceiling, the floor of the reality you thought you found yourself in as a
reader, are removed, until you’re falling into the starlit depths of an
entirely different, fearsome, and awe-inspiring universe.”
-MARIA HASKINS,
writer and reviewer
“Turnbull’s second novel, No Gods, No Monsters, the first in a
planned trilogy, expands on the complexities of liberation movements
as competing factions of magical beings decide the course of the
‘monster’ social justice cause…Indispensable work…No Gods, No
Monsters makes room for this more steady-eyed, honest sort of
hope.”
-FICTION UNBOUND
“Turnbull’s prose is captivating, poetic without being pretentious, a
pleasure to read…His story has a painful ring of truth to it, despite
the fantastic creatures that populate it, and a beautifully layered
complexity that makes it difficult to set down. A stunning, enthralling
novel.”
-NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS
“The book makes for excellent commentary on the state of society,
as Cadwell Turnbull follows the implications as those supernatural
creatures and beings make their existence known to the rest of the
world.”
-ANDREW LIPTAK,
Polygon
“Profound and unsettling in the best way…Sharp, insightful social
commentary wrapped up in a tale of the uncanny.”
-REBECCA ROANHORSE,
New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award–winning author
“You’ll stay up all night bingeing this cosmic political thriller…Cadwell
Turnbull has created a fascinating world of supernatural conspirators
whose goals are sometimes unknowable, and sometimes align
perfectly with the mundane, systemic injustices of human life.”
-ANNALEE NEWITZ,
author of The Future of Another Timeline and Autonomous
“A haunting tale…Through a series of diverse, rich, and beautifully
written voices, Turnbull deftly weaves together a story of
supernatural beings, otherworldly entities, magic, and quantum
physics, superimposed onto the social and political challenges of our
mundane world…I could not put it down. You won’t be able to either.”
-P. DJÈLÍ CLARK,
author of Ring Shout
“No Gods, No Monsters is both elegant and violent: a cutting,
clarifying illumination of humanity in all of its magic and
monstrosity…This is a story with blood, brains, and, ultimately,
heart.”
-ISABEL YAP,
author of Never Have I Ever: Stories
“It’s such an expertly crafted novel that I’m almost mad about it; it’s
smart and intense in the best way. Turnbull pulls no punches here,
and the result is something powerful.”
-CHRISTINA ORLANDO,
Tor.com
“Juxtaposing supernatural scenes with themes of otherness and
humanity…Turnbull’s sophomore work (after The Lesson) puts him
at the top of the field of fantasy literary fiction. It reveals social faults
with insightful commentary and intriguing characters.”
-LIBRARY JOURNAL (STARRED REVIEW)
“An epic, meta, Caribbean-inspired fantasy that dives into the dark
and shadowy…This novel is built out of the shadows in the corner of
a dark room, out of disembodied voices and metauniverses, out of
blood, conspiracy, and mind control. Readers will itch for the next
book in the saga.”
-BOOKLIST (STARRED REVIEW)
“The otherworldly aspects of the story act as a lens that brings the
characters’ richly depicted lives and complex relationships into sharp
focus…A deeply human story, beautifully and compellingly told.”
-KIRKUS REVIEWS (STARRED REVIEW)
“This harrowing and lyrical novel combines elements of urban
fantasy with biting social commentary.”
-BUZZFEED
“A distinctive urban fantasy novel, Cadwell Turnbull’s No Gods, No
Monsters is an operatic story involving monsters, magic, and myth…
Its precise language and masterful storytelling make each
character’s story compelling and immediate.”
-FOREWORD REVIEWS
Books by Cadwell Turnbull
The Lesson
Copyright © ���� by Cadwell Turnbull
E-book published in ���� by Blackstone Publishing
Cover design by Kathryn Galloway English
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used
in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons,
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Trade e-book ISBN ���-�-����-����-�
Library e-book ISBN ���-�-����-����-�
Fiction / Fantasy / General
CIP data for this book is available from the Library of Congress
Blackstone Publishing
�� Mistletoe Rd.
Ashland, OR �����
www.BlackstonePublishing.com
To all the ones we’ve lost.
