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author Reading Order

Andrea Hairston Books in Order

12 Books
3 Series & collections
2004 – 2024 Published
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Reading order

Where to Start Reading Andrea Hairston

For readers new to Andrea Hairston’s rich, lyrical prose, the best starting point is her award-winning historical fantasy Redwood and Wildfire (2011). It serves as the foundational root of her loosely connected Cinnamon Jones trilogy, introducing the magical lineage and cultural themes that define her most famous narrative thread. If you prefer high-stakes epic fantasy dealing with environmental collapse and African folklore, Master of Poisons (2020) is also an excellent standalone starting point.

The Cinnamon Jones Trilogy (Chronological Order)

While Andrea Hairston's novels are often marketed as standalones, three of her books share a generational connection and follow the lineage of the protagonist Cinnamon Jones. Reading them chronologically offers the most satisfying experience as you watch a family's magical and artistic heritage unfold over a century.

  • 1. Redwood and Wildfire (2011): Set at the turn of the 20th century, this novel follows Redwood Phipps, a Black hoodoo root worker, and Aidan "Wildfire" Cooper, a Seminole-Irish performer. They escape the Jim Crow South and journey to Chicago, discovering how to survive and create art in a world of harsh realities. This book serves as the historical anchor.
  • 2. Will Do Magic for Small Change (2016): Set in 1980s Pittsburgh, this novel centers on Cinnamon Jones, the teenage granddaughter of Redwood and Wildfire. Cinnamon is a young performer who discovers her family's hidden magical legacy through a mysterious text called The Chronicles of the Great Wanderer, which links her back to her grandparents' history.
  • 3. Archangels of Funk (2024): Subtitled Episodes from the Continuing Drama of Cinnamon Jones: Scientist, Artiste, and Hoodoo Conjurer, this novel jumps to a near-future, post-Water Wars Massachusetts. An elder Cinnamon Jones, now in her sixties, uses her combined scientific knowledge, theatrical arts, and hoodoo conjuring to protect refugees in a cooperative community threatened by "nostalgia militias" and corporate syndicates.

Andrea Hairston's Standalone Novels

For readers looking for self-contained speculative fiction, Hairston has written two distinct novels that do not share characters with the Cinnamon Jones timeline:

  • Mindscape (2006): Hairston's debut novel is a science fiction story set on a future Earth divided by an alien Barrier. The story follows a cast of diplomats, artists, and activists attempting to bridge the divides in a deeply polarized society.
  • Master of Poisons (2020): This epic fantasy draws heavily on West African folklore and mythology. It depicts a world ravaged by expanding poison deserts and follows a griot and a spymaster fighting to heal their environment and save their people.

Publication Order of Andrea Hairston's Novels

If you prefer to experience Hairston's growth as a writer and how her themes of Afrofuturism, performance, and community evolved over time, read her novels in their original order of publication:

  1. Mindscape (2006)
  2. Redwood and Wildfire (2011)
  3. Will Do Magic for Small Change (2016)
  4. Master of Poisons (2020)
  5. Archangels of Funk (2024)

Non-Fiction Collections and Play Anthologies

Because Hairston is also an accomplished playwright and theatre scholar, her non-fiction collections are essential for readers who want to understand the creative theory behind her fiction. These collections contain plays, essays, and convention speeches:

  • Impolitic! (2012): Co-authored with Debbie Notkin, this collection features Hairston's short story "Griots of the Galaxy" and her essay "Prophetic Artists," exploring the political power of performance and speculative fiction.
  • Lonely Stardust: Two Plays, a Speech, and Eight Essays (2014): A compilation highlighting her academic and creative intersections, containing her WisCon Guest of Honor speech, essays on media like District 9, and two of her original stage plays.

What to Know Before You Start

Before reading, it helps to understand that Andrea Hairston's background is deeply rooted in theatre, dance, and music. Her prose is highly poetic, dialogue-driven, and structurally complex. She does not write traditional, linear sci-fi adventure; instead, she blends African folklore, historical struggles, hoodoo, and futuristic technologies into singular tapestries. While the books in the Cinnamon Jones sequence can be read independently, skipping Redwood and Wildfire will lessen the emotional impact of Cinnamon's journey in the later volumes.

Frequently Asked

QWhere is the best place to start reading Andrea Hairston?

Start with Redwood and Wildfire. It is her most critically acclaimed novel, winning the James Tiptree Jr. Award, and establishes the family legacy that connects her other major works.

QAre Andrea Hairston's novels standalone or part of a series?

Most of her novels are technically standalones, but Redwood and Wildfire, Will Do Magic for Small Change, and Archangels of Funk share a family lineage and characters, making them a thematic trilogy centered around Cinnamon Jones.

QCan I read Archangels of Funk without reading the previous books?

Yes, Archangels of Funk is designed to stand on its own, but you will have a much deeper understanding of Cinnamon's history and magical abilities if you read Redwood and Wildfire and Will Do Magic for Small Change first.

QWhat is the relationship between Cinnamon Jones and Redwood?

Cinnamon Jones, the protagonist of Will Do Magic for Small Change and Archangels of Funk, is the granddaughter of Redwood Phipps and Aidan Cooper, the main characters in Redwood and Wildfire.

QWhere can I read Andrea Hairston's plays?

You can find her plays in her collection Lonely Stardust (which includes two plays) or in the anthology Geek Theater (which features her play Thunderbird at the Next World Theatre).