The City of Factories
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Pub Date Oct 13 2026 | Archive Date Oct 30 2026
Ruadán Books | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
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Description
Set in an alternative steampunk Nigeria, Naomi Eselojor’s Africanfuturist novella is a tale of community sheltering, resistance, and technological responsibility, for fans of Nnedi Okorafor, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, and Wole Talabi.
1859, Nigeria. In the fishing village of Itu Agan, nine-year-old Alabi and his inventor father test a new steamboat prototype when a platoon of automaton soldiers raid their village. The metal invaders execute the village chief and capture Korede, Alabi’s father, leaving him and his mother alone and devastated.
There is no choice but to accept the new order. All the village boys begin work as fishermen and plantation farmers as soon as they become teenagers and, for nine long years, Alabi must put the promise of invention nurtured in his childhood to rest.
When he discovers that his father Korede is alive, working for the colonizer regime, Alabi is determined to reconnect with him. After years of hard work to obtain a travel permit and with threats of his mother’s imprisonment should he not return in two months, Alabi sails to the city of factories, unprepared for the resistance that is brewing and the adventure that awaits…
A Note From the Publisher
Ebook: 9781968143213
Audiobook: 9781968143220
Additional Book Formats with (ISBN-13):
Ebook: 9781968143213
Audiobook: 9781968143220
Advance Praise
“Eselojor’s vivid transformation of Apapa into a cacophonous city of factories is enthralling while attentive to the colonial history that bore the real city. If you’re looking for Afrocentric steampunk with earnest and scrappy heroes, in the tradition of Tobi Ogundiran and P. Djélì Clark by way of Arcane, you'll find it here.”
—Suyi Davies Okungbowa, award-winning author of Lost Ark Dreaming and The Nameless Republic trilogy
“Written with a sure voice and masterful pacing, Eselojor’s story of young Alabi seeking to rescue his father from the clutches of oppression highlights the painful and sometimes doomed choices one must make in the face of tyranny. A riveting story from a writer to watch!”
—Tobi Ogundiran, British Fantasy and Ignyte Award-winning author of the Guardians of the Gods series
“The City of Factories is a soulful steampunk tale of automation and industrialism, mortality and the cost of our decisions, the search for family, challenging binaries and biases, and resistance.”
—Ai Jiang, Ignyte, Bram Stoker, and Nebula Award-winning author of Linghun
“The City of Factories is a complex father-son relationship and coming-of-age story ensconced in a larger tale of oppression, resistance, and reclamation. It feels like being pulled into a beautifully vivid, alternate 19th-century world where clockwork and culture mix. The narrative handles massive themes of colonial subjugation and family fracturing with a surprising gentleness and intimacy that keeps you rooted in Alabi’s perspective.”
—Somto Ihezue, Nebula finalist and Locus Award-winning author of We Begin Where Infinity Ends
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781968143206 |
| PRICE | $12.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 208 |