Social commentary permeates these stories of adventure, horror, and suspense.
Between Dystopias
Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Joshua Uchenna Omenga. Caezik SF & Fantasy, Oct.
Africa Is Risen coeditor Ekpeki and debut author Omenga, who are both from Nigeria, contribute essays (all Ekpeki’s) and 13 works of short fiction to this collection of what they term afropantheology. The essays offer craft advice and probe the intersection between Western and African speculative fiction, and stories by both writers address subjects as far-ranging as bodily autonomy, the vagaries of publishing, and the afterlife. PW called this a “riveting collection [that] is sure to tease readers’ imaginations.”
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Convergence Problems
Wole Talabi. DAW, Feb. 2024
Containing new and refurbished stories plus a novella, all set in or relating to Africa, Nigerian author Talabi’s first collection explores the ways in which technologies play off each other. Talabi has edited three anthologies including 2020’s Africanfuturism; his debut fantasy novel, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, pubbed in August and received a starred review from PW.
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years
Shubnum Khan. Viking, Jan. 2024
South African novelist Khan marries a coming-of-age story with gothic horror in her second novel, following 2011’s Onion Tears. A formerly majestic home, now a boarding house for society’s castoffs, sports a bone-littered garden and is haunted by a djinn who loved the home’s former mistress. When Sana and her father come to live at Akbar Manzil, she finds the secrets of the past behind a decades-locked door, under the watchful eyes of a restless spirit.
Kinning
Nisi Shawl. Tor, Jan. 2024
Shawl returns to the alternate world of their debut, Everfair, in which African colonies throw off their imperialist oppressors. Siblings Tink and Bee-Lung travel the world by aircanoe, distributing the spores of a fungus that inspires empathy in those who encounter it. Back in Everfair, members of the royal family battle for control of their country and sow discord among the former European colonizers, who want the lands they stole back in their hands.
Like Thunder
Nnedi Okorafor. DAW, Nov.
The conclusion to Okorafor’s Desert Magicians duology follows the recent reissue of the first volume, 2007’s Shadow Speaker, which PW’s starred review called “a mind-blowing expedition into a not too distant future world.” In the sequel, set in 2077 Niger, rainmaker Dikéogu Obidimkpa and shadow speaker Ejii Ubaid reunite for a new quest.
Out There Screaming
Edited by Jordan Peele. Random House, Oct.
Get Out writer and director Peele edits a collection of new horror by Black writers. Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, N.K. Jemisin, and Cadwell Turnbull are among the A-list roster of contributors; their stories reckon with terrifying demons, whether clad in scales or blue uniforms.
Warrior of the Wind
Suyi Davies Okungbowa. Orbit, Nov.
Nigerian author Okungbowa launched his Nameless Republic trilogy, which draws on the pre-colonial empires of West Africa, with 2021’s Son of the Storm (a “gripping epic fantasy,” per PW’s review). In the second book, Lilong and Danso have fled Bassa and found refuge out of the Red Emperor’s reach, but with a new bounty on their heads, they’re not safe anywhere.
Womb City
Tlotlo Tsamaase. Erewhon, Jan. 2024
In the debut horror novel from Motswana author Tsamaase, Nelah, the wealthy wife of a prominent, controlling policeman in a futuristic Botswana, is awaiting the birth of her daughter, who is gestating in a government lab. After a deadly car accident, a desperate Nelah buries the body, but the victim rises to hunt down everyone Nelah loves.
