DAWN

One woman is called upon to rebuild the future of humankind after a nuclear war, in this post-apocalyptic narrative, deftly exploring gender and race through the eyes of characters struggling to adapt during a pivotal time of crisis and change.

When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. She discovers that the Oankali — a seemingly benevolent alien race —intervened in the fate of the humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then putting them into a deep sleep. After learning all they could about Earth and its beings, the Oankali healed the planet, cured cancer, increased human strength, and they now want Lilith to lead her people back to Earth—but salvation comes at a price.

Book One of The Xenogenesis Trilogy

AN UNKINDNESS OF GHOSTS

Aster was born into slavery, and she's trying to escape from the brutally segregated spaceship that for generations has been trying to escort the last humans from a dying planet to a Promised Land. When she discovers F GHOSTSclues about the circumstances of her mother's death, she also comes closer to disturbing truths about the ship and its journey.

BROWN GIRL IN THE RING

The rich and privileged have abandoned an alternate Toronto, leaving the rest of the population behind barricades and unable to escape. There, the inner city returns to an older way of life — farming, bartering, herbal medicine, and mysticism — until the wealthy decide to prey on the impoverished communities for organ donation, and a young mother must turn to spiritualism and ritual to save her family.

THE INTUITIONIST

The Empiricists and the Intuitionists are at war within the Department of Elevator Inspectors in an unnamed bustling city. Lila Mae, an Intuitionist who is also the city's first Black woman inspector, is at the center of a scandal — an elevator in an important building has crashed on her watch, and, as she tries to clear her name, she uncovers a web of secrets.

WHO FEARS DEATH

In postapocalyptic Africa, a woman gives birth to a baby after being raped by one of the generals who destroyed her village. She names the baby Onyesonwu — meaning "Who fears death?" — and both she and Onye realize very quickly she seems to have special abilities. When Onye discovers in a spiritual visit that someone powerful is trying to kill her, she makes it her goal to get to the would-be murderer first — and find out more about who exactly she is along the way.

THE LESSON

For five years, an alien race called the Ynaa has lived mostly peacefully among humans in the Virgin Islands, working on a secret research mission. But the relationship between the Ynaa and the locals is slowly straining, and when a young human boy dies at the hands of an Ynaa, three families find themselves at the center of a devastating fight.

INVISIBLE MAN

In this deeply compelling novel and epic milestone of American literature, a nameless narrator tells his story from the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be. He describes growing up in a Black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood," before retreating amid violence and confusion.

Originally published in 1952 as the first novel by a then unknown author, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century.