This is a thread about amazing science fiction and fantasy novels by Black authors you should read! It’s also a thread about taking a good hard look at how white your bookshelves are. 
This morning I was looking for the copy of Rosewater that I recently purchased and placed on a bookshelf, and as I stared at the vast (VAST) rows of fiction in my house, it occurred to me that if I pulled out every novel by a Black author it would not be very many. I was right.
The photo above isn't actually exhaustive (in part because many of my books are still in boxes) and it doesn't show books I have on audio (recently, Dread Nation) or Kindle (recently, War Girls), BUT STILL. This is striking. Basically, my bookshelves are super white.
So I encourage you to do the same; how much fiction from Black authors have you read? And now, if like me, you mostly read scifi/fantasy, I'm going to help you out with some recommendations. :) And if you go buy a bunch, get them from an indie bookstore that is struggling!
First: @nkjemisin. The Fifth Season is the first book in the Broken Earth trilogy. Jemisin was the first Black author to win a Hugo, for this book. Then she freaking won it two more times because YES. It's the best adult fantasy novel I've read in years. nkjemisin.com/books/the-fift…
Jemisin's latest novel is The City We Became, which is about an ancient evil in New York City, and I'm about 1/3 of the way through it but 👍 and How Long 'til Black Future Month? is a book of short stories. nkjemisin.com/books/the-city…
I read The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler many, many years ago. When I wanted to grab it for a re-read, I discovered that there's a graphic novel adaptation now as well. Read it however you can. Its depiction of a post-crisis America seems... very real right now.
Literally started Rosewater by @tadethompson today. At @MediaLawProf's rec it's the next Speculative Ethics Book Club selection (official announcement tomorrow!). It's set in Nigeria in the aftermath of an alien invasion and won the Arthur C. Clarke! theguardian.com/books/2018/oct…
The Underground Railroad by @colsonwhitehead is alternate history and won the Pulitzer Prize and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. What if the underground railroad was an actual railroad? nytimes.com/2016/08/14/boo…
Next is the part where I recommend a bunch of young adult books, because for those of you who don't know, I help run the young adult literature programming track at @DragonCon. We also have an online book club that featured several of these; if you want the link DM me. :)
So speaking of alternate history... Dread Nation by @justinaireland. What if after the civil war there were zombies and Black girls were trained to fight them? The sequel Deathless Divide came out recently! justinaireland.com/dread-nation
(Also if you read Dread Nation I highly recommend the audiobook. @TheRealBahniT is my favorite audiobook narrator OF ALL TIME. She also narrated The Hate U Give.)
Slay by @BrittneyMMorris is about a teenage girl who creates an online game intended as a safe space for Black gamers. So it also has one of my favorite things: a girl coder as a protagonist! It's also been compared to The Hate U Give. I LOVED IT. authorbrittneymorris.com/slay
A Blade So Black by @ElleOnWords is Alice in Wonderland meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer but I think the protagonist out-Buffies Buffy. Also she cosplays. LL was also a guest for us at Dragon Con last year. :) llmckinney.com/books/
I just picked up Black Girl Unlimited by @helloechobrown a few weeks ago, and am VERY excited to read it. It's "the remarkable story of a teenage wizard" from the East Side. echobrown.com/projects
I read Akata Witch by @Nnedi some time ago and it's a favorite; it's about a teenage witch in Nigeria. (It is NOT just a "Nigerian Harry Potter"; it's way, way more complex.) nnedi.com/books/akata.ht…
And you were probably living under a rock if you didn't hear about Children of Blood and Bone by @tomi_adeyemi. If you loved The Fifth Season I think you would also love this. The sequel is in my stack in the photo above; looking forward to reading it! tomiadeyemi.com/books/
I picked up an ARC of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole In the Sky by @KSekouM at Dragon Con last year. It's part of Rick Riordan's imprint and features African mythology. Middle grade! kwamembalia.com/books/
Another young adult scifi that I picked up recently but haven't had a chance to read yet is War Girls by @TochiTrueStory. In 2171 climate change and nuclear disasters have destroyed the earth and the novel follows sisters in war-torn Nigeria. tochionyebuchi.com/books
That is the end of my reading recommendation list for now! Please reply with your own recommendations and I'll add. :) I think that an important part of #BlackLivesMatter is recognition of both contribution to and erasure from different important parts of culture.
And finally, remember that many of the authors on this list were paid less than white authors in terms of advances. It's been great to see #PublishingPaidMe and I hope that it actually leads to positive change. Also: buy their books. nytimes.com/2020/06/08/boo…
As promised, I will add recommendations from others to this thread if you @ me! :)
I've gotten several recs for Black Leopard Red Wolf by @MarlonJames5! I love these descriptions from reviews: "like if Toni Morrison had written Ovid's Metamorphoses" and "the literary equivalent of a Marvel Comics universe." marlonjameswriter.com/books/black-le…
Short fiction rec! Also check out the POC Destroy issues of some of the premiere short fiction venues for scifi, fantasy, and horror: destroysf.com
