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Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora by Sheree Renée Thomas
From visionary voices across a century, this landmark anthology maps futures, myths, and possibilities rooted in the African diaspora. Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora is essential reading—bold, revelatory, and electric.
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In Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora, did you enjoy ...
... the cross-continental chorus of Black speculative voices and eras?
So Long Been Dreaming by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan
If what grabbed you in Dark Matter was the sweep from early classics like Du Bois’s apocalyptic “The Comet” to razor‑sharp contemporary pieces like Bell’s satirical “The Space Traders,” this postcolonial SFF anthology will hit the same nerve. You’ll get that same kaleidoscope of voices—African, Caribbean, Indigenous, and diasporic—riffing on history, migration, and the future with the variety and urgency you loved.
... socially rooted, character-first SF that privileges communities over tech?
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
You appreciated how Dark Matter foregrounds people and culture over gadgetry—how stories weigh the human stakes behind the big ideas. In Lagoon, when aliens arrive in Lagos, marine biologist Adaora, soldier Agu, and rapper Anthony anchor the chaos. Like the anthology’s people‑first approach, Okorafor makes city life, community tensions, and mythic undertones the real drivers—right down to the unforgettable envoy, Ayodele.
... the wide-ranging, bite-sized bursts of imagination from many authors?
Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight
If you loved dipping from one electric vision to the next in Dark Matter—jumping from a turn-of-the-century apocalypse to sharp political allegory—this anthology (co-edited by Thomas) offers that same addictive rhythm. Each story is a concentrated hit, spanning folklore-horror to futurist wonder, so you can chase the exact mosaic-of-voices experience that made Dark Matter sing.
... folklore- and myth-threaded tales that remix tradition with futurity?
Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor
One of Dark Matter’s delights is how it weaves ancestral lore into tomorrow’s possibilities. Kabu Kabu does that in story after story—from the title novella’s uncanny taxi that ferries travelers between worlds to “Spider the Artist,” where a woman befriends a lethal robot guardian on an oil pipeline. If the anthology’s folktale-infused pieces stuck with you, these myth‑rich, modern fables will, too.
... sharp speculative critiques of empire, race, and power?
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
If the political sting of pieces like Bell’s “The Space Traders” and the historical sweep around oppression in Dark Matter resonated, Serpell’s multigenerational Zambian saga delivers a similar charge. From colonial schemes at the Kariba Dam to futurist bio-tech uprisings—and even a wry mosquito chorus—this novel tracks how empire warps lives, then imagines how people fight back.
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