The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. The title “The Prey of Gods” is written at the bottom of the cover in large white caps. Directly lower right below this, the name of the author “Nicky Drayden” in slightly smaller white caps. The background shows art of a large metal robot and a small black girl in a white dress standing in the foreground, in front of a city in the far back. /end]

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Content Warning:

• Child Abuse
• Violence
• Murder
• Death
• Sexual Assault
• Rape
• Torture
• Loss of A Loved One
• Transphobia
• Child Death
• Bombing
• Slavery
• Genital Mutilation
• Sexual Content

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Summary:

In South Africa, the future looks promising. Personal robots are making life easier for the working class. The government is harnessing renewable energy to provide infrastructure for the poor. And in the bustling coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the economy is booming thanks to the genetic engineering industry which has found a welcome home there. Yes–the days to come are looking very good for South Africans. That is, if they can survive the present challenges:

A new hallucinogenic drug sweeping the country . . .

An emerging AI uprising . . .

And an ancient demigoddess hellbent on regaining her former status by preying on the blood and sweat (but mostly blood) of every human she encounters.

It’s up to a young Zulu girl powerful enough to destroy her entire township, a queer teen plagued with the ability to control minds, a pop diva with serious daddy issues, and a politician with even more serious mommy issues to band together to ensure there’s a future left to worry about.

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Notes:

This book won the Compton Crook Award in 2018. It was also nominated for the 2017 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ SF/F/Horror, and the 2018 Locus Award for Best First Novel.

There is an audiobook.

There is an ebook. There is a kindle edition.

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Archivist Comments:

“Absurd” feels like the best way to summarise this book after the reviews I have read. It works for some people, it doesn’t work for others, but the general consensus agrees that the plot is just so incredibly chaotic.

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