Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi is refreshingly relevant, painfully recognizable yet unequivocally original. The swift story pacing and gritty character development wrap its stark themes up in magic, mayhem, and the collective memory. This is a supernatural dystopian hellscape deeply rooted in a contemporary America. Blackness, in its many forms and the never-ending necessity to Read more
Kacen Callender didn’t write a historical fantasy novel. They didn’t write a slavery-centered novel for the sake of it. They wrote, in my humble opinion, a compelling, unprecedented tragic hero’s journey. If you’re going into this expecting a more generic fantasy that happens to take place in a slavery-centric world, then you’ll be discrediting your Read more
The Deep is a novella that I can easily hold in one hand, yet feels like a megaton. It’s laden with the weight of the past, the burden of memories, and the heaviness of emotional isolation. And that’s just part of the weightiness of its journey. I haven’t even mentioned the satisfying devastation of reading Read more
Disclaimer: The reviewer is not East Asian and thus lacks the relevant knowledge and lived experience to critique certain parts of this work. The blurb for this book will make you think you’re about to walk in to a bloody, royal warfare but it never quite unfolds. And ultimately, the story is mostly better for Read more
Trigger warnings: Violence, Violence Against Women, Rape As a fan of war-related history content, The Shadow King was quite the ride into the Second Italo-Ethiopian War that I was barely knowledgeable about. Maaza Mengiste has taken a tumultuous period in Ethiopia’s history and has created a lucid, and vivid tapestry, her lyrical words and three-dimensional Read more
The Rage of Dragons is the first installment in a new dark fantasy series by Evan Winter. Brace, because this is an action-packed journey marked by friendship, loss, love, betrayal, and a driving need for revenge that sets a young warrior on a path that will change not only his life, but the fate of Read more
Alice is the kind of character that Black SFF readers have been begging for. One that lives in our realities, but whose narrative isn’t solely focused on our pain. The Black experience is a myriad, beautiful thing and we have joy in our existences despite whatever publishing might tell you. Alice in Wonderland and Buffy Read more
[Potential Spoilers Below] Gods of Jade and Shadow is a breath of fresh air for fantasy—even its whiffs of the familiar smell fresh. It’s not another Tolkien epigone with diminishing returns. It understands that we come from a vast, variegated world with plentiful cultures and mythology. Why flog a dead horse when you can nurture Read more
From now on when I think of young, courageous, selfless heroines in YA, I’ll think of Arrah. When I think of fantasy YA for young black teens, I’ll think of Kingdom of Souls. The first thing that crossed my mind (after “When is Rena Barron’s next book coming out?”) was that I’m glad this book Read more
(Disclaimer: This book is full of Indigenous worldbuilding. The reviewer in question is not Indigenous and is thus nowhere near the best source for thoughts/critique in those areas of the novel. Our suggestions would be to take what you will from this, but to look to Indigenous reviewers as your primary source.) I finished TRAIL Read more
