Science fiction has long been a genre that explores the possibilities of the future and the esoteric. Black authors have brought their own unique perspectives and imaginative worlds to the shelves, offering stories that push boundaries and challenge conventional thinking. From exploring alternate realities, sometimes intertwining fantastical fantasies with history, these authors craft narratives filled with rich cultures, vibrant characters, and thought-provoking themes. Whether delving into dystopian landscapes, high-tech societies, or magical realms, Black sci-fi authors have created books that entertain, enlighten, and expand the way we think about race, identity, and the future. If you're looking for fun, exciting, and thought-provoking reads, these authors have something incredible to offer! Here are some great sci-fi books by spectacular Black authors, to add to your TBR:
Bethany Baptiste
The Poisons We Drink
An Indie Bestseller!
In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.
Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.
Natasha Bowen
Skin of the Sea
A way to survive.
A way to serve.
A way to save.
Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata—a mermaid—collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.
But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi does the unthinkable—she saves his life, going against an ancient decree. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy it.
P. Djèlí Clark
The Black God's Drums
E-Book Option
Winner of the 2019 Alex Award
Nebula Award Finalist for Best Novella
In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air--in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie’s trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.
But Creeper also has a secret herself: Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, speaks inside her head, and may have her own ulterior motivations.
Soon, Creeper, Oya, and the crew of the Midnight Robber are pulled into a perilous mission aimed to stop the Black God’s Drums from being unleashed and wiping out the entirety of New Orleans.
Sarah Dass
Rick Riordan Presents: It Waits in the Forest
The very first thriller from Rick Riordan Presents! Drawing from the darkest corners of Caribbean mythology, acclaimed author Sarah Dass crafts a chilling tale of magic, murder, and how far we’ll go to protect what’s ours—perfect for fans of Angeline Boulley and Tiffany D. Jackson.
Unlike the other residents of the small Caribbean Island of St. Virgil, Selina DaSilva does not believe in magic. With a logical mind and a knack for botany, Selina used to dream of leaving the island to study Pharmacology—until a vicious, unsolved attack left her father dead and her mother in a coma.
N.E. Davenport
The Blood Gift Duology (Book 1 & 2)
Blending fantasy and science fiction, N. E. Davenport’s fast-paced, action-packed debut kicks off a duology of loyalty and rebellion, in which a young Black woman must survive deadly trials in a racist and misogynistic society to become an elite warrior.
It’s all about blood.
The blood spilled between the Republic of Mareen and the armies of the Blood Emperor long ago. The blood gifts of Mareen’s deadliest enemies. The blood that runs through the elite War Houses of Mareen, the rulers of the Tribunal dedicated to keeping the republic alive.
The blood of the former Legatus, Verne Amari, murdered.
Nicky Drayden
The Prey of Gods
E-Book Option
Winner of the Compton Crook Award
From a new voice in the tradition of Lauren Beukes, Ian McDonald, and Nnedi Okorafor comes The Prey of Gods, a fantastic, boundary-challenging tale, set in a South African locale both familiar and yet utterly new, which braids elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and dark humor.
In South Africa, the future looks promising. Personal robots are making life easier for the working class. The government is harnessing renewable energy to provide infrastructure for the poor. And in the bustling coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the economy is booming thanks to the genetic engineering industry which has found a welcome home there. Yes—the days to come are looking very good for South Africans. That is, if they can survive the present challenges:
J. Elle
Wings of Ebony
Instant New York Times bestseller!
“A remarkable, breathtaking, earthshaking, poetic thrillride.” — Daniel José Older, New York Times bestselling author of Shadowshaper
In this riveting, keenly emotional debut fantasy, a Black teen from Houston has her world upended when she learns about her godly ancestry and must save both the human and god worlds. Perfect for fans of Angie Thomas, Tomi Adeyemi, and The Hunger Games!
“Make a way out of no way” is just the way of life for Rue. But when her mother is shot dead on her doorstep, life for her and her younger sister changes forever. Rue’s taken from her neighborhood by the father she never knew, forced to leave her little sister behind, and whisked away to Ghizon—a hidden island of magic wielders.
Akwaeke Emezi
Pet
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST | STONEWALL BOOK AWARD WINNER | ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME
There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question--How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?
Nicole Glover
The Conductors + The Undertakers (Book 2)
“An unforgettable debut . . . Wholly original and thoroughly riveting.” — Deanna Raybourn, New York Times best-selling author of A Murderous Relation
From a bold new voice in speculative fiction comes a vibrant historical fantasy of magic and murder set in the aftermath of the Civil War
Hetty Rhodes and her husband, Benjy, were Conductors on the Underground Railroad, ferrying dozens of slaves to freedom with daring, cunning, and magic that draws its power from the constellations. With the war over, those skills find new purpose as they solve mysteries and murders that white authorities would otherwise ignore.
Alex Jennings
The Ballad of Perilous Graves
E-Book Option
One of the Best Fantasy Books of 2022: New York Times; Oprah Daily; Vulture; Gizmodo; Boston Public Library
"Magical, lyrical, gritty, otherworldly...hype like Bayou Classic in the 90s."--P. Djèlí Clark
A fun and fantastical love letter to New Orleans unfolds when a battle for the city's soul brews between two young mages, a vengeful wraith, and one powerful song in this wildly imaginative debut.
Alaya Johnson
Summer Prince
A heart-stopping story of love, death, technology, and art set amid the tropics of a futuristic Brazil.
The lush city of Palmares Tres shimmers with tech and tradition, with screaming gossip casters and practiced politicians. In the midst of this vibrant metropolis, June Costa creates art that's sure to make her legendary. But her dreams of fame become something more when she meets Enki, the bold new Summer King.
Unraveling
Karen Lord
The natural heiress to Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin.”—Financial Times
Dr. Miranda Ecuovo works as a forensic therapist, helping traumatized witnesses recover their memories so that they can testify about the crimes they observed. Her most famous case resulted in the conviction of the serial killer Walther Gray, a pathologist’s assistant known as the Butcher of the City.
One day Miranda is seized by Chance, one of the spirits known as the Undying, and transported to a fantastical dreamlike world.
Kwame Mbalia
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky-A Tristan Strong Novel, Book 1 & 2
Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Kwame Mbalia's epic fantasy, a middle grade American Gods set in a richly-imagined world populated with African American folk heroes and West African gods.
Temi Oh
Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
When an Earth-like planet is discovered, a team of six teens, along with three veteran astronauts, embark on a twenty-year trip to set up a planet for human colonization—but find that space is more deadly than they ever could have imagined.
Have you ever hoped you could leave everything behind?
Have you ever dreamt of a better world?
Can a dream sustain a lifetime?
A century ago, an astronomer discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting a nearby star. She predicted that one day humans would travel there to build a utopia. Today, ten astronauts are leaving everything behind to find it. Four are veterans of the twentieth century’s space-race.
Liselle Sambury
The Blood Gift Duology Book 1 & 2
Both books in the rich, dark urban fantasy Blood Like duology following teen witch Voya, who is given a horrifying task to save her family’s magic, are now together in a collectible paperback boxed set!
After years of waiting for her Calling—a trial every witch must pass to come into their powers—the one thing Voya Thomas didn’t expect was to fail. When Voya’s ancestor gives her an unprecedented second chance to complete her Calling, she agrees—and then is horrified when her task is to kill her first love. And this time, failure means every Thomas witch will be stripped of their magic.
Colson Whitehead
The Intuitionist
This debut novel by the two time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys wowed critics and readers everywhere and marked the debut of an important American writer.
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read • One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
It is a time of calamity in a major metropolitan city's Department of Elevator Inspectors, and Lila Mae Watson, the first black female elevator inspector in the history of the department, is at the center of it. There are two warring factions within the department: the Empiricists, who work by the book and dutifully check for striations on the winch cable and such; and the Intuitionists, who are simply able to enter the elevator cab in question, meditate, and intuit any defects.
Brittany N. Williams
That Self-Same Metal
This stunning YA fantasy debut "seamlessly weaves together history, fantasy, culture, magic, and love" (New York Times bestselling author Daniel José Older) and is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black, and Justina Ireland.
The Forge & Fracture Saga brings readers the thrilling story of a Black girl (and sword expert) fighting a Fae uprising in Shakespearean London.
Sixteen-year-old Joan Sands is a gifted craftswoman who creates and upkeeps the stage blades for William Shakespeare's acting company, The King's Men. Joan's skill with her blades comes from a magical ability to control metal--an ability gifted by her Head Orisha, Ogun. Because her whole family is Orisha-blessed, the Sands family have always kept tabs on the Fae presence in London.
Kai Ashante Wilson
A Taste of Honey
A Taste of Honey is the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon, and Locus finalist novella that N. K. Jemisin calls "a love story as painful as it is beautiful and complex". Find out why Wired named it one of the 20 Best Books of the Decade!
Long after the Towers left the world but before the dragons came to Daluça, the emperor brought his delegation of gods and diplomats to Olorum. As the royalty negotiates over trade routes and public services, the divinity seeks arcane assistance among the local gods.
Several popular Black authors like Octavia Butler, Charles Saunders, and Tananarive Due have made wonderful contributions in the Sci-Fi genre. All of these authors not only represent Black voices in science fiction, but have also expanded the genre with fresh perspectives and profound insights into society, history, and the future. Their work will continue to inspire and challenge readers and writers alike. Click on each book and even add them to your TBR!
Comments
Post a Comment
Share my thoughts