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nellasbookplanet · 2 months

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Book recs: black science fiction

As february and black history month nears its end, if you're a reader let's not forget to read and appreciate books by black authors the rest of the year as well! If you're a sci-fi fan like me, perhaps this list can help find some good books to sink your teeth into.

Bleak dystopias, high tech space adventures, alien monsters, alternate dimensions, mash-ups of sci-fi and fantasy - this list features a little bit of everything for genre fiction fans!

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

Something massive and alien crashes into the ocean off the coast of Nigeria. Three people, a marine biologist, a rapper, and a soldier, find themselves at the center of this presence, attempting to shepherd an alien ambassador as chaos spreads in the city. A strange novel that mixes the supernatural with the alien, shifts between many different POVs, and gives a one of a kind look at a possible first contact.

Nubia: The Awakening (Nubia series) by Omar Epps & Clarence A. Hayes

Young adult. Three teens living in the slums of an enviromentally ravaged New York find that something powerful is awakening within them. They’re all children of refugees of Nubia, a utopian African island nation that sank as the climate worsened, and realize now that their parents have been hiding aspects of their heritage from them. But as they come into their own, someone seeks to use their abilities to his own ends, against their own people.

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

Novella. After having failed at establishing a new colony, starship Calypso fights to make it back to Earth. Acting captain Jacklyn Albright is already struggling against the threats of interstellar space and impending starvation when the ship throws her a new danger: something is hiding on the ship, picking off her crew one by one in bloody, gruesome ways. A quick, excellent read if you want some good Alien vibes.

Dawn (Xenogenesis trilogy) by Octavia E. Butler*

After a devestating war leaves humanity on the brink of extinction, survivor Lilith finds herself waking up naked and alone in a strange room. She’s been rescued by the Oankali, who have arrived just in time to save the human race. But there’s a price to survival, and it might be humanity itself. Absolutely fucked up I love it I once had to drop the book mid read to stare at the ceiling and exclaim in horror at what was going on. Includes darker examinations of agency and consent, so enter with caution.

Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson*

Utterly unique in world-building, story, and prose, Midnight Robber follows young Tan-Tan and her father, inhabitants of the Carribean-colonized planet of Toussaint. When her father commits a terrible crime, he’s exiled to a parallel version of the same planet, home to strange aliens and other human exiles. Tan-Tan, not wanting to lose her father, follows with him. Trapped on this new planet, he becomes her worst nightmare. Enter this book with caution, as it contains graphic child sexual abuse.

Rosewater (The Wormwood trilogy) by Tade Thompson

In Nigeria lies Rosewater, a city bordering on a strange, alien biodome. Its motives are unknown, but it’s having an undeniable effect on the surrounding life. Kaaro, former criminal and current psychic agent for the government, is one of the people changed by it. When other psychics like him begin getting killed, Kaaro must take it upon himself to find out the truth about the biodome and its intentions.

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh

Young adult. A century ago, an astronomer discovered a possibly Earth-like planet. Now, a team of veteran astronauts and carefully chosen teenagers are preparing to embark on a twenty-three year trip to get there. But space is dangerous, and the team has no one to rely on but each other if - or when - something goes wrong. An introspective slowburn of a story, this focuses more on character work than action.

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

After the planet Sadira is left uninhabitable, its few survivors are forced to move to a new world. On Cygnus Beta, they work to rebuild their society alongside their distant relatives of the planet, while trying to preserve what remains of their culture. Focused less on hard science or action, The Best of All Possible Worlds is more about culture, romance and the ethics and practicalities of telepathy.

Mirage (Mirage duology) by Somaiya Daud

Young adult. Eighteen-year-old Amani lives on an isolated moon under the oppressive occupation of the Valthek empire. When Amani is abducted, she finds herself someplace wholly unexpected: the royal palace. As it turns out, she's nearly identical to the half-Valthek, and widely hated, princess Maram, who is in need of a body double. If Amani ever wants to make it back home or see her people freed from oppression, she will have to play her role as princess perfectly. While sci-fi, this one more has the vibe of a fantasy.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Life on the lower decks of the generation ship HSS Matilda is hard for Aster, an outcast even among outcasts, trying to survive in a system not dissimilar to the old antebellum South. The ship’s leaders have imposed harsh restrictions on their darker skinned people, using them as an oppressed work force as they travel toward their supposed Promised Land. But as Aster finds a link between the death of the ship’s sovereign and the suicide of her own mother, she realizes there may be a way off the ship.

Where It Rains in Color by Denise Crittendon

The planet Swazembi is a utopia of color and beauty, the most beautiful of all its citizens being the Rare Indigo. Lileala was just named Rare Indigo, but her strict yet pampered life gets upended when her beautiful skin is struck by a mysterious sickness, leaving it covered in scars and scabs. Meanwhile, voices start to whisper in Lileala's mind, bringing to the surface a past long forgotten involving her entire society.

Eacaping Exodus (Escaping Exodus duology) by Nicky Drayden

Seske is the heir to the leader of a clan living inside a gigantic, spacefaring beast, of which they frequently need to catch a new one to reside in as their presence slowly kills the beast from the inside. While I found the ending rushed with regards to plot and character, the worldbuilding is very fresh and the overall plot of survival and class struggle an interesting one. It’s also sapphic!

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah*

In a near future America, inmates on death row or with life sentences in private prisons can choose to participate in death matches for entertainment. If they survive long enough - a rare case indeed - they regain their freedom. Among these prisoners are Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker, partners behind the scenes and close to the deadline of a possible release - if only they can survive for long enough. As the game continues to be stacked against them and protests mount outside, two women fight for love, freedom, and their own humanity. Chain-Gang All-Stars is bleak and unflinching as well as genuinely hopeful in its portrayal of a dark but all to real possible future.

Parable of the Sower (Earthseed duology) by Octavia E. Butler*

In a bleak future, Lauren Olamina lives with her family in a gated community, one of few still safe places in a time of chaos. When her community falls, Lauren is forced on the run. As she makes her way toward possible safety, she picks up a following of other refugees, and sows the seeds of a new ideology which may one day be the saviour of mankind. Very bleak and scarily realistic, Parable of the Sower will make you both fear for mankind and regain your hope for humanity.

Binti (Binti trilogy) by Nnedi Okorafor

Young adult novella. Binti is the first of the Himba people to be accepted into the prestigious Oomza University, the finest place of higher learning in all the galaxy. But as she embarks on her interstellar journey, the unthinkable happens: her ship is attacked by the terrifying Meduse, an alien race at war with Oomza University.

War Girls (War Girls duology) by Tochi Onyebuchi

In an enviromentally fraught future, the Nigerian civil war has flared back up, utilizing cybernetics and mechs to enhance its soldiers. Two sisters, by bond if not by blood, are separated and end up on differing sides of the struggle. Brutal and dark, with themes of dehumanization of soldiers through cybernetics that turn them into weapons, and the effect and trauma this has on them.

The Space Between Worlds (The Space Between Worlds duology) by Micaiah Johnson

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s a catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying. As such she has a very special job in traveling to these worlds, hoping to keep her position long enough to gain citizenship in the walled-off Wiley City, away from the wastes where she grew up. But her job is dangerous, especially when she gets on the tracks of a secret that threatens the entire multiverse. Really cool worldbuilding and characters, also featuring a sapphic lead!

The Fifth Season (The Broken Eart trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin*

In a world regularly torn apart by natural disasters, a big one finally strikes and society as we know it falls, leaving people floundering to survive in a post apocalyptic world, its secrets and past to be slowly revealed. We get to follow a mother as she races through this world to find and save her missing daughter. While mostly fantasy in genre, this series does have some sci-fi flavor, and is genuinely some of the best books I've ever read, please read them.

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings*

In an alternate version of our present, the witch hunt never ended. Women are constantly watched and expected to marry young so their husbands can keep an eye on them. When she was fourteen, Josephine's mother disappeared, leveling suspicions at both mother and daughter of possible witchcraft. Now, nearly a decade and a half later, Jo, in trying to finally accept her missing mother as dead, decides to follow up on a set of seemingly nonsensical instructions left in her will. Features a bisexual lead!

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

South African-set scifi featuring gods ancient and new, robots finding sentience, dik-diks, and a gay teen with mind control abilities. An ancient goddess seeks to return to her true power no matter how many humans she has to sacrifice to get there. A little bit all over the place but very creative and fresh.

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson*

Young adult. Young artist June Costa lives in Palmares Tres, a beautiful, matriarchal city relying heavily on tradition, one of which is the Summer King. The most recent Summer King is Enki, a bold boy and fellow artist. With him at her side, June seeks to finally find fame and recognition through her art, breaking through the generational divide of her home. But growing close to Enki is dangerous, because he, like all Summer Kings, is destined to die.

The Blood Trials (The Blood Gifted duology) by N.E. Davenport

After Ikenna's grandfather is assasinated, she is convinced that only a member of the Praetorian guard, elite soldiers, could’ve killed him. Seeking to uncover his killer, Ikenna enrolls in a dangerous trial to join the Praetorians which only a quarter of applicants survive. For Ikenna, the stakes are even higher, as she's hiding forbidden blood magic which could cost her her life. Mix of fantasy and sci-fi. While I didn’t super vibe with this one, I suspect fans of action packed romantasy will enjoy it.

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

1960s classic. Rydra Wong is a space captain, linguist and poet who is set on learning to understand Babel-17, a language which is humanity's only clue at the enemy in an interstaller war. But Babel-17 is more than just a language, and studying it may change Rydra forever.

Pet (Pet duology) by Akwaeke Emezi

Young adult novella. Jam lives in a utopian future that has been freed of monsters and the systems which created and upheld them. But then she meets Pet, a dangerous creature claiming to be hunting a monster still among them, prepared to stop at nothing to find them. While I personally found the word-building in Pet lacking, it deftly handles dark subjects of what makes a human a monster.

Bonus AKA I haven’t read these yet but they seem really cool

Lion's Blood by Steven Barnes

Alternate history in which Africans colonized South America while vikings colonized the North. The vikings sell abducted Celts and Franks as slaves to the South, one of which is eleven-years-old Irish boy Aidan O'Dere, who was just bought by a Southern plantation owner.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

Young adult dystopia. Ellie lives in a future where humanity is under the control of the alien Ilori. All art is forbidden, but Ellie keeps a secret library; when one of her books disappears, she fears discovery and execution. M0Rr1S, born in a lab and raised to be emotionless, finds her library, and though he should deliver her for execution, he finds himself obsessed with human music. Together the two embark on a roadtrip which may save humanity.

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Lelah lives in future Botswana, but despite money and fame she finds herself in an unhappy marriage, her body controlled via microchip by her husband. After burying the body of an accidental hit and run, Lelah's life gets worse when the ghost of her victim returns to enact bloody vengeance.

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

Young adult. Fen de la Guerre, living in a quarantined Gulf Coast left devestated by storms and sickness, is forced on the run with a newborn after her tribe is attacked. Hoping to get the child to safety, Fen seeks to get to the other side of the wall, she teams up with a scientist from the outside the quarantine zone.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

A neo-victorian alternate history, in which a part of Congo was kept safe from colonisation, becoming Everfair, a safe haven for both the people of Congo and former slaves returning from America. Here they must struggle to keep this home safe for them all.

The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

Space opera. Enitan just wants to live a quiet life in the aftermath of a failed war of conquest, but when her lover is killed and her sister kidnapped, she's forced to leave her plans behind to save her sister.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: The City We Became (Great Cities duology) by N.K. Jemisin, The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull, The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

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melanielocke · 1 year

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Book recommendations - science fiction

I couldn't put the pictures next to each other as half the books would fall off the picture, but I decided to continue with a selection of science fiction books. Some are set in space, but not all of the, because sci-fi as a genre is more than just space books so if you're not into space books perhaps one of the other books might be a good choice.

I'll start with Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

This is not a space book. It's a mermaid book. And while you'd think that's fantasy, this one is actually a sci-fi horror. The way the mermaids are portrayed here is very scientific and also rather horrifying, which is why it's a scifi horror.

While the ending leaves an opening for a sequel, there is currently no sequel. As I understand, this is due to the publisher but if a lot of people were to buy the first one a sequel could still be possible.

Seven years ago, the Atargatis set out to the mariana trench to film a mockumentary about mermaids. The ship disappeared, and was discovered weeks later drifting somewhere with no one on it. Now, a new ship filled with scientists is traveling to the same area to find out what happened.

This book follows a wide cast of characters, but the main character is Tori. Tori is a marine biologist whose older sister was on the Atargatis and presumably died and she wants nothing more than to find out what really happened to her sister.

Some of the other major characters include Olivia, an autistic lesbian who is a tv presenter, the same job Tori's sister had on the previous voyage, deaf twins Holly and Heather who both have their own scientific expertise, dr. Jillian Toth, a marine biologist and siren expert at a time when people generally don't believe in mermaids.

There isn't a lot of romance in the book, but the main pairing is sapphic.

One of the greatest strenghts of this book is the use of science, everything in here is really believable, and the way scientists are portrayed. As very curious people who do not have a lot of self preservation (which is why they're looking for mermaids that might very well kill them all)

Next up is Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell, which I had to include if I'm making a sci-fi list although I've talked about it before as I used the premise from this book for the Stars Collide. The book on the picture is the UK edition, which I bought because at the time it was the only available paperback, but I'm kind of regretting that I don't have a US cover edition because I like that cover a lot better.

Winter's Orbit is a sci-fi romance that follows prince Kiem, a minor prince of the Iskat empire. When Kiem's cousin Prince Taam dies suddenly and unexpectedly, Kiem is rushed into an arranged marriage with Taam's widower Jainan to keep the treaty between Iskat and Jainan's home planet Thea.

It soon turns out Taam's death might not have been an accident and Jainan is a suspect, and Kiem and Jainan will have to navigate an investigation, possible conspiracy and their growing feelings for each other.

Winter's Orbit is equal parts sci-fi and romance, and I think one of the books where miscommunication is done well. It makes sense here for Taam and Kiem to misunderstand each other based on their past relationships, assumptions and expectations, and I would definitely recommend this if you like queer romance, sci-fi romance and arranged marriage stories.

Oceans' Echo is Everina Maxwell's second book, which I also discussed in my first book recommendations post. However, back then I hadn't gotten around to reading it yet and just wanted to show off my very pretty new book. Now I have read it and can tell you a little more about it.

Ocean's Echo is set in the same universe as Winter's Orbit, but featuring different characters set in a completely different part of the galaxy. You do not need to read Winter's Orbit to read this book. The only thing that appears in both books is the existence of the Resolution and their treaties and the remnants, but it'll make sense if you haven't read Winter's Orbit.

The story is set on a planet where they've done experiments with neuromodification, resulting in readers and architects existing. Architects are more common and can "write" people's minds, imposing their will on them, depending on how strong they are. Readers can read people's minds, and they are rarer, and generally not trusted, but their abilities do allow them to navigate chaotic space while mentally linked to an architect.

The main character is Tennal, a reader and walking disaster. He's conscripted into the military under very dubious circumstances, and is ordered to soul bound with young lieutanant Surit Yeni. This soul bond would essentially allow Surit to follow control Tennal's mind.

Surit is the son of a famous dead traitor general, and he is determined to prove he's not a traitor. He seems like the kind of guy who just follows orders, until he's told to soul bond with an unwilling Tennal. The moment he's told to do something unethical he throws that all obedient soldier guy thing out of the window and decides they have to fake a soul bound until he can help Tennal escape the military.

Compared to Winter's Orbit, this book leans more toward sci-fi than romance. It's more sci-fi with a major romance subplot than sci-fi romance, and I found myself less rooting for the romance, but more for the plot and the characters individually. I still liked them as a couple, but that's not the main focus here. It's very military focused, but in a way that portrays the military as an institution with dubious morals that they are mainly trying to escape from.

Next up is the Space between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

This is a sci-fi not set in space but focused on interdimensional travel instead. In this world, interdimensional travel has been made possible, but there's a problem. You can only travel to worlds where you're already dead.

Cara, the main character, is exceptionally good at dying. So much that out of the currently discovered worlds, she is dead in 372 worlds and only alive in 9. This makes her an ideal candidate to travel to parallel worlds to do research them, which allows her to move from her poor community into the wealthier city, and if she keeps up the job long enough can even win her citizenship there.

I'm not sure how to tell more about the plot without giving everything away, but there are a few things I'll mention.

The second character on the cover is Dell, a Japanese woman who works with Cara and sends her on assignments and such. Dell has grown up in the city, and is unable to travel to other worlds herself because she's still alive in too many of them. She is also Cara's love interest.

This story, and the reason Cara is so good at dying, is largely about poverty and racism. Cara is a Black woman who grew up in an unsafe and poor part of the world, whereas Dell grew up wealthy, and spends a lot of time exploring that, and how the poor area Cara grew up in works in her world but also different worlds she travels too.

There are also a couple of twists that really surprised me and I didn't see coming. While I admit I'm not the best at predicting plot twists, I think this book has one that will surprise a lot of people.

On the Edge of Gone is an internationally published book by a Dutch author (which aren't many), and is set in the Netherlands. Amsterdam, specifically.

A comet is set to hit earth, and Denise and her family have been assigned a shelter to hide in for the blast. Unfortunately, Denise's sister Iris is not home in time and her drug addict mother is slowing her down too, she's never getting to the shelter in time. Through a teacher from Denise's school, she discovers a space ship that has not yet taken off that they can hide in for the blast.

The problem is, passengers need good practical skills to be able to contribute to be allowed on the ship, and Denise is an autistic teenager who doesn't know what she has to offer, nor her mother or sister. Still, she tries her best to secure them passage on the ship.

This book is written by an autistic author, and the autism is very well portrayed here. The story is mostly focused on Denise's relationship with her family and people she meets on the spaceship, and about her autism and the idea of having to contribute. It's not very plot heavy and not very fast paced, and the spaceship doesn't actually take off, it's hidden on Schiphol (Amsterdam airport), and remains there after the impact, after which Amsterdam is flooded. I imagine if disaster strikes, that is likely because Amsterdam is below sea level.

I would recommend this mainly for the autism representation, if you're looking for something fast paced with a lot of plot this one isn't for you.

Next up is the Darkness Outside Us, which is a survival story set in space

Ambrose is a trained astronaut. When his sister's distress beacon goes off on Titan where she was the first human to settle, a rescue missue is launched, and Ambrose is chosen to go find her.

But the rescue doesn't go as planned. Ambrose wakes up on the space ship with no memory of the launch, and it turns out there's a second part of the ship with a second astronaut he wasn't aware of, a spacefarer from a different country who locks himself in his own part of the ship and wants nothing to do with Ambrose. And the ship's a worn down mess, with lots of repair jobs Ambrose has to do.

To survive and succeed in the rescue, Ambrose and Kodiak, the other spacefarer, will have to work together.

This book is YA, but a lot of goodreads reviews will tell you it reads more as adult. I'm not sure if that's true, since YA is mainly determined by the age of the main characters, who are teenagers in this book, but if you're more interested in adult sci-fi I think you might still like this book.

There is a lot of emphasis on the themes of survival, isolation, and humanity and bonds between humans, it does get more philosophical than some other books on this list. Ambrose and Kodiak are completely alone on their spaceship, they only have each other, and much of the focus is on that. Their relationship also becomes romantic at some point.

The book is divided into 5 or 6 different parts or so, with the first one being the longest, and I won't say what divides them as that'd be a huge spoiler. However, as you go from part 1 into part 2 you're going to be very confused. It makes little sense, until it does, and I thought this was a very intriguing idea.

Last book on this list is Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Iron Widow is the first book in a duology with book 2, Heavenly Tyrant, coming out this August. The book is a reimagining of Empress Wu, the only female emperor in Chinese history, and many of the characters are based on Chinese historical figures. However, the setting is a futuristic sci-fi world inspired by ancient Chinese culture.

Huaxia has been under attack by aliens called Hunduns for many generations. The only way to fight them is with a chrysalis, a sort of robot that is piloted by a couple of pilots. Their shapes are based on Chinese mythological animals, such as the nine tailed fox and the vermillion bird.

The chrysalises are piloted by male pilots, paired up with a female concubine-pilot. No one really cares that the girls very often die.

Wu Zetian offers herself up as a concubine pilot after her sister was killed by a powerful male pilot outside of battle, to get revenge. And she gets it in an unexpected way. When she goes into battle with the pilot, she kills him through their psychic link and is labeled an Iron Widow, a female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up a chrysalis.

She's paired with Li Shimin, the strongest male pilot in Huaxia, and the most controversial as he was on death row for killing his father and brothers and his execution has been postponed indefinitely because he's so powerful.

But Zetian won't let him kill her or tame her, she's had a taste of power and she won't stop until she's destroyed the system that treats girls as disposable.

Zetian is kind of unhinged in the best way. After she killed the first male pilot, she yells something like "I'm your nightmare" on camera, and I love her for it. She's definitely a morally gray character, but very easy to root for because she's pissed off because of the patriarchy and wants to take it down.

The two other major characters in this book are Shimin and Yihzi. I already talked a little about Shimin before. Yihzi is Zetian's secret boyfriend at the start of the book, and at some point while Zetian's paired up with Shimin he shows up again. His super power is that he's rich, his father is the richest man in Huaxia. At some point he literally says "You can't shoot me, I'm rich". He seems like a very sweet guy but he can actually be quite brutal when he wants to be.

All three main characters are bisexual and end up being in a polyamorous relationship which I really liked. The author described this book as 400 pages of Zetian and Shimin suffering while Yihzi has the most bisexual time of his life.

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @bottomdelioncourt @ikissedsmithparker

#book recommendations #queer books #poc books #science fiction #into the drowning deep #mira grant #winter's orbit #ocean's echo #everina maxwell #the space between worlds #micaiah johnson #on the edge of gone #corinne duyvis #the darkness outside us #eliot schrefer #iron widow #xiran jay zhao

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