Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction (Paperback)
Winner of the 2023 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology
Winner of the 2023 Locus Award for Best Anthology
A 2023 NAACP Image Award Nominee
A 2023 British Fantasy Award Nominee
A NPR Best of the Year pick
A Book Riot Best SFF of the Year pick
"[A] magnificent and wide-ranging anthology . . . A must-read for all genre fans."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
From award-winning editorial team Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight comes 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.
Created in the legacy of the seminal, award-winning anthology series Dark Matter, Africa Risen celebrates the vibrancy, diversity, and reach of African and Afro-Diasporic SFF and reaffirms that Africa is not rising—it’s already here.
Zelda Knight is a USA Today bestselling author, British Fantasy Award-winning editor, and diverse bookseller. She writes speculative romance for all orientations. She’s also the publisher and editor-in-chief of Aurelia Leo, an independent Nebula Award-nominated press based in Louisville, Kentucky. Zelda co-edited Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora, which has received critical acclaim, and Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction. Keep in touch on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Goodreads, or visit her website.
"If you like short stories, are looking for an entry point to short speculative fiction, or need something to break a reading slump, you can’t go wrong with Africa Risen."—NPR
"Thomas, Ekpeki, and Knight assemble a stellar lineup of 32 writers from across the African diaspora for this magnificent and wide-ranging anthology . . . A must-read for all genre-fans."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"These stories enchant, surprise, and provoke and are a significant addition to the canon of modern speculative fiction."—Booklist, starred review
"These stories are entrancing and provide a welcome introduction to speculative writers from the African continent and the African diaspora."—Library Journal