1. the fifth season of n.k. jemisin
essun comes home one day to find that her husband has killed her son and kidnapped her daughter. She must travel across a shattered and war-torn world to find and save her daughter, all during the collapse of the almighty empire that has ruled the world for a thousand years.
5 star review: “this book is amazing: smart, witty, well crafted, timely, full of great characters and great scenes. i love fantasy, but it really lets me down. sometimes I feel like it’s the same plot repeated over and over again. Season 5 is unlike anything I’ve ever read.” —jamieson
You are reading: Sci fi books by black authors
2. riot baby by tochi onyebuchi
Set in ’92 Angels, she has what she calls a “thing”: the ability to see things that haven’t happened yet. Her older brother, Kev, wants to protect her from herself, but after he ends up incarcerated, she struggles with her ability to face the past and the future, knowing that a revolution might be the only path forward.
5 star review: “Onyebuchi’s writing is stunning. His evocation of American history, in all its mess and grime, will blow your mind. I don’t know what else to say about this book. , except it sets a new standard for the urban fantasy subgenre.” —jenna gin
3. dark matter: a century of speculative fiction from the african diaspora, edited by sheree thomas
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This anthology brings together fiction and essays from classic black science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction writers such as Octavia Butler, Samuel R. delany, nalo hopkinson, walter mosley and more.
5 star review: “This book blew my mind. There are stories in it that I have never forgotten and still think about to this day, particularly ‘The Space Traders’ from Derrick Bell. I love it.” —alecia
4. sunrise of octavia e. butler
The first novel in the Xenogenesis series, Dawn introduces us to Lilith, a woman whose son and husband died in the fires that destroyed the earth. she is one of the few humans who were rescued at the last minute by the Oankali, an alien race that survives by genetically merging with other civilizations. They have kept Earthlings alive, in a deep sleep, for centuries, but now they want Lilith to help them get their ship back to a now habitable Earth so they can merge her two races. but some of the humans are not happy with this deal, even if it means the destruction of their own race. Lilith will have to decide who to side with, especially when all of humanity is at stake.
5 star review: “Totally riveting, provocative, grim and captivating. Butler’s understated, unadorned, focused prose carries her mysterious and haunting story forward with bracing clarity. Like herself. ” —anthony
5. a cruelty of ghosts by solomon rivers
Aster was born into slavery and is trying to escape the brutally segregated spaceship that for generations has been trying to escort the last humans from a dying planet to a promised land. As he uncovers clues about the circumstances of his mother’s death, he also learns disturbing truths about the ship and his voyage.
5 star review: “Incredible, relevant, heartbreaking and riveting, this is the story of a young woman in the lower class of a brutally stratified generation ship. aster’s voice is so solid, its experiences read like tangible, every surface and texture feels real both physically and emotionally readers of dystopias exploring race, gender, disability, sexuality and class won’t want to miss this one it will be on my shelf alongside my butler, jemisin, le guin, okorafor, leckie. one of the most humane explorations of the possibilities of our repressive future and the hope of a hard-won rebellion i have ever read.” —gretchen
6. who fears death by nnedi okorafor
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In post-apocalyptic 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, which means “who is afraid of death?” – And both she and onye quickly realize that he seems to have special abilities. When Onye discovers on a spirit visit that someone powerful is trying to kill her, she makes it her goal to get to the would-be killer first and find out more about who exactly he is along the way.
5 star review: “the first thing that struck me about he who fears death is the really clear and subtle communication that nnedi makes of the emotions of his characters.avoid showing when and how they are suffering, and how their feelings are expressed in their bodies, whether through a feeling of tightness in the chest or an outburst of overt violence.it is important because his novel is full of emotional violence , and without this human lens, without them making me feel what her characters feel, I think I would have been desensitized.a lot of terrible things happen in this story and it’s a testament to the mastery of nnedi that she does. Everyone has an impact.” —barbecue
7. brunette girl in the ring by nalo hopkinson
The rich and privileged have abandoned an alternative Toronto, leaving the rest of the population behind barricades and unable to escape. there, the inner city reverts to an older way of life: farming, bartering, herbal medicine, and mysticism, until the rich decide to prey on impoverished communities for organ donation, and a young mother must resort to spiritism and ritual to save her. family.
5 star review: “compelling from start to finish, I see how hopkinson places Caribbean culture within the realm of science fiction/fantasy, analyzing race and gender in ways that resonate with current realities for many poc. her work deserves the same acknowledgment and reverence as octavia butler. hopkinson is a masterful storyteller and gives us characters we can relate to and will remember long after we put the book down. i only regret not reading this one again back in ’98 when it was released.” —inda
8. the intuitionist by colson whitehead
empiricists and intuitionists are at war within the elevator inspection department in a bustling, unnamed city. Lila Mae, an intuitionist who is also the city’s first black inspector, is at the center of a scandal: an elevator in a major building has crashed during her shift, and while trying to clear her name, she discovers a network of secrets
5 star review: “I’d give this six stars if I could. I’m not easily impressed by a book, but it was magnificent. unlike anything I’ve ever read, and a brilliant racial allegory I feel like a book hangover is coming on.” —tineke dijkstra
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