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Afrofuturism and Afrofantasy are areas of speculative fiction that celebrate black identity, culture, history, and traditions. While these subgenres of Science Fiction/Fantasy are not new, they are seeing a huge resurgence in popular literature. Here is a staff-recommended list if you are interested in exploring more. Click a title to place a hold for pickup at one of our grab-and-go or drive-up locations.
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Black leopard, red wolf
by
Marlon James
Hired to find a mysterious boy who disappeared three years before, Tracker joins a search party that is quickly targeted by deadly creatures, in the first novel of a trilogy from the author of A Brief History of Seven Killings
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Riot baby
by
Tochi Onyebuchi
The author of the award-winning young-adult novel Beasts Made of Night tackles youth, race and the carceral state with magical flair, in his adult-science-fiction debut.
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The intuitionist
by
Colson Whitehead
As two factions at the Department of Elevator Inspectors--the Empiricists and the Intuitionists--wage war on each other, Intuitionist Lila Mae, the first black elevator inspector, faces bedlam when an elevator freefalls on her watch and the mysterious notebooks from the founder of Intuitionism suddenly appear.
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The Belles
by
Dhonielle Clayton
Born one of the revered Belles in the opulent world of Orleans, where people are naturally born gray and seek the talented Belles to transform themselves with beauty, Camellia dreams of being declared the queen's favorite before her arrival at court exposes dark and dangerous realities within the palace walls.
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How long 'til black future month?
by
N. K Jemisin
Offers a collection of the author's short fiction, including "The City Born Great," where a young street kid fights to give birth to an old metropolis's soul
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The changeling : a novel
by
Victor D. LaValle
Resolving to commit to marriage and parenthood unlike the father who abandoned him, Apollo Kagwa, who suffers from bizarre dreams, is shocked when his wife commits an act of astounding violence before disappearing, compelling Apollo's odyssey through a world he barely understands. By the award-winning author of Slapboxing With Jesus.
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The water dancer : a novel
by
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.
So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North. Even as he’s enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, Hiram’s resolve to rescue the family he left behind endures.
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Queen of the conquered
by
Kacen Callender
An engrossing tale of colonialism, conquest and revenge, Queen of the Conquered starts a fantasy series perfect for readers of S. A. Chakraborty, Ken Liu, and Tasha Suri. On the islands of Hans Lollik, Sigourney Rose was the only survivor when her family was massacred by the colonizers. When the childless king of the islands declares he will choose his successor from amongst eligible noble families, Sigourney is ready to exact her revenge. But someone is killing off the ruling families to clear a path to the throne. And as the bodies pile up and all eyes regard her with suspicion, Sigourney must find allies among her prey and the murderer among her peers... lest she become the next victim.
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Pet
by
Akwaeke Emezi
A girl and her best friend confront difficult choices in the face of a home city in denial when they meet a being who exposes the community’s willful disbelief about the existence of monsters. A first young adult novel by the award-winning authors of Freshwater.
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Binti
by
Nnedi Okorafor
When Binti is offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy, she must rely on the gifts of her people and the wisdom found within the school
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A song of wraiths and ruin
by
Roseanne A. Brown
A first entry in a planned duology inspired by West African folklore finds a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee on a collision course to destroy each other despite their growing attraction.
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Dread nation
by
Justina Ireland
When families go missing in Baltimore County, Jane McKeene, who is studying to become an Attendant, finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy that has her fighting for her life against powerful enemies
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The prey of gods
by
Nicky Drayden
A tale set in a futuristic South Africa where technology and a booming economy make life more comfortable, an unconventional Zulu girl becomes her community's defender against such challenges as a popular hallucinogen, an artificial intelligence uprising and a murderous demigoddess.
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Midnight robber
by
Nalo Hopkinson
Dressed as the legendary heroine "Midnight Robber" for the traditional Carnival celebration on the Caribbean colonized planet of Toussaint, TanTan is forced to take on the role of the Robber Queen for real when she and her father flee to the brutal world of New Half Way Tree.
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An unkindness of ghosts
by
Rivers Solomon
In the lowerdeck of the HSS Matlida, a space vessel run like the antebellum South, Aster, a dark-skinned sharecropper, faces harsh restrictions and punishments from brutal overseers, but the seeds of civil war hold the key to her freedom
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The galaxy game
by
Karen Lord
A student at a school for psychic super-humans travels the universe with an intergalactic team and encounters strange alien cultures that help him discover himself. By the award-winning author of Redemption in Indigo.
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Everfair
by
Nisi Shawl
A Neo-Victorian alternate-history novel that explores the question of what might have come of Belgium's disastrous colonization of the Congo if the native populations had learned about steam technology a bit earlier.
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Dark matter : a century of speculative fiction from the African diaspora
by
Sheree R. Thomas
A remarkable, richly diverse anthology of African-American fantasy, science fiction, and speculative fiction features some forty short stories by Octavia E. Butler, Samuel R. Delany, Tanararive Due, Walter Mosley, Ishmael Reed, Steven Barnes, and other notable authors.
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Lovecraft Country : a novel
by
Matt Ruff
Blends multiple genres in a visceral exploration of the Jim Crow era and its legacy, tracing the story of young Army vet Atticus Turner, who in 1954 Chicago travels with his publisher uncle and childhood friend to search for his missing father only to encounter human and supernatural terrors at the estate of a descendant of slave owners.
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Children of blood and bone
by
Tomi Adeyemi
Seventeen-year-old Zélie, her older brother Tzain, and rogue princess Amari fight to restore magic to the land and activate a new generation of magi, but they are ruthlessly pursued by the crown prince, who believes the return of magic will mean the endof the monarchy
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