Explore Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism & Africanfuturism: Select Fiction
Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction
An anthology of thirty-two original stories showcasing the breadth of fantasy and science fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora: a group of cabinet ministers query a supercomputer containing the minds of the country’s ancestors; a child robot on a dying planet uncovers signs of fragile new life; a descendent of a rain goddess inherits her grandmother’s ability to change her appearance—and perhaps the world. Africa Risen celebrates the vibrancy, diversity, and reach of African and Afro-Diasporic SFF.
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Northwest - Popular; West Campus Lib.
First in the "Binti" trilogy. Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs. Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy.
Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates
East - Graphic Novels; Northwest - Graphic Novels
A new era begins for the Black Panther! When a superhuman terrorist group that calls itself The People sparks a violent uprising, the land famed for its incredible technology and proud warrior traditions will be thrown into turmoil. If Wakanda is to survive, it must adapt--but can its monarch, one in a long line of Black Panthers, survive the necessary change? Heavy lies the head that wears the cowl!
Brown Girl in the Ring
The rich and privileged have fled the city, but now they need a harvest of bodies, and so they prey upon the helpless inner city residents barricaded behind roadblocks. With nowhere to turn, a young woman must open herself to ancient truth, eternal powers, and the tragic mystery surrounding the women in her family.
Chain Gang All Stars By Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Downtown - Popular Collection; West - Popular Reading
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from America's own. The Chain-Gang All-Stars, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America's increasingly dominant private prison industry, compete in death-matches for packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
Northwest - Popular; West - Popular Reading
In a version of the world in which major cities become sentient through human avatars. After the avatar of New York falls into a supernatural coma and vanishes, a group of five new avatars representing the five boroughs come together to fight their common Enemy. This is the first in her Great Cities series, followed by The World We Make (Nov. 2022).
Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora
The first anthology of its kind, Dark Matter contains stories published as early as 1887 through the present, including stories from such early literary pioneers as Charles W. Chesnutt and George Schuyler and luminaries like Octavia E. Butler, Samuel R. Delany, Tananarive Due, and Walter Mosley.
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
Yetu holds the memories for her people--water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners--who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly is forgotten by everyone, save one--the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu. If they are all to survive, they'll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity--and own who they really are.
Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell
For the past six months, newly chosen Green Lantern Sojourner "Jo" Mullein has been protecting the City Enduring, a massive metropolis at the edge of the universe, home to 20 billion beings. The city has maintained peace for over 500 years by stripping its citizens of their ability to feel. As a result, violent crime is virtually unheard of, and murder is nonexistent. But that's all about to change . . .
How Long 'Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin
How Long 'til Black Future Month? is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories by American novelist N. K. Jemisin. The book was published in November 2018 by Orbit Books. The name of the collection comes from an Afrofuturism essay (not included in the book) that Jemisin wrote in 2013. The settings for three of the stories were developed into full-length novels after their original publication: The Killing Moon, The Fifth Season, and The City We Became.
The Memory Librarian: and Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
A collection of short fiction by Janelle Monáe, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, futurist, and worldwide superstar written in collaboration with Yohanca Delgado, Eve L. Ewing, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, and Sheree Renée Thomas. The collection, explores how different threads of liberation -- queerness, race, gender plurality and love—become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in a totalitarian landscape.
Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson
The Caribbean-colonized planet of Toussaint is the setting for this exciting science fiction novel by the author of the award-winning "Brown Girl in the Ring." After her father commits a deadly crime, Tan-Tan must flee to a savage world which forces her to reach into the heart of myth to become the "Robber Queen."
Parable of the Sower: a Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia Butler
East - Graphic Novels; Northwest - Graphic Novels
The graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower, by Damian Duffy and John Jennings. The author portrays a searing vision of America's dystopian future...In the year 2024 (!), Lauren Olamina, a preacher's daughter living in Los Angeles, is protected from danger by the walls of her gated community. However, in a night of fire and death, what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: a startling vision of human destiny . . . and the birth of a new faith.
Shuri: the Search for Black Panther
The Black Panther's techno-genius sister launches her own adventures written by best-selling Afrofuturist author Nnedi Okorafor and drawn by Eisner nominated artist Leonardo Romero! The Black Panther has disappeared, lost on a mission in space. And in his absence, everyone's looking at the next in line for the throne. But Shuri is happiest in a lab, surrounded by gadgets of her own creation. She'd rather be testing gauntlets than throwing them. But a nation without a leader is a vulnerable one - and Shuri may have to choose between Wakanda's welfare and her own. Collecting: Shuri 1-5
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
Northwest - Popular; West Campus Lib.
Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSSMatilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot--if she's willing to sow the seeds of civil war.
The Underground Railroad: A Novel by Colson Whitehead
Desert Vista Lib; Downtown Campus Lib; West Campus Lib.
Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted. Like the protagonist of Gulliver's Travels, Cora encounters different worlds at each stage of her journey; hers is an odyssey through time as well as space. -- from publisher's description
The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin
Every great city has a soul. A human avatar that embodies their city's heart and wields its magic. New York? She's got six. But all is not well in the city that never sleeps. N.K. Jemisin’s "Great Cities Duology", which began with The City We Became and concludes with The World We Make, is a masterpiece of speculative fiction from one of the most important writers of her generation.
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
What if you've sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy? Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. When Tarisai comes of age, The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire from Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince's Council of Eleven. If she's picked, she'll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won't stand by and become someone's pawn -- but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself? With extraoridinary world-building and breathtaking prose written by an incredible new talent, Raybearer is the story of loyalty, fate, and the lengths we're willing to go to for the ones we love.