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Please share your recommendations, etc. for science fiction or fantasy novels written by African authors or set in Africa. Many of us are familiar with Nnedi Okorafor, who is a member here, and whose book Who Fears Deathi am itching to read. I also recently "discovered" and am super excited for him to hurry up and publish his book! I WANNA READ IT NOW!

I love the genres idea. :)

I wish I had something else to add, but I only know what Marieke mentions above.

Zoo City, by Lauren Beukes is pretty good (I am currently reading this)

I have Who Fears Death and just recently finished Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor and enjoyed both.
Listed below is my review for Akata Witch

Heading: To Thine Ownself Be True

In Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, 12 year-old Sunny is trying to find her fit in the world based on who she is as a person, but is challenged by how others see her. After being born in America, and living her first years there, Sunny is currently living in Nigeria with her parents and brothers, as her parents decided to return to their homeland. She is constantly bullied at school because she is an “akata,� a derogatory term for an American of African descent, and an albino. If that was not enough, Sunny is now also haunted by what she saw while staring at the flame of a candle � the end of the world. Not wanting to add to her troubles, she keeps this to herself until befriended by Orlu and Chichi, and is drawn into a magical world she never knew existed, the Leopold People. It turns out that Sunny is a “free agent,� a person born with magical powers despite no magical parents. Now she is one of the Leopold people and revels in this community of like-kind people, and amazing things begin to happen to her. All is going well until Sunny and her friends have been assigned to stop a serial killer, Black Hat, who has been murdering children.

I was intrigued by the mystery, the magical ambience, and the vivid setting in Akata Witch. The fantasy setting takes place in Nigeria providing a fresh feel to a coming-of-age story in the overcrowded fantasy genre. The charm is the author makes the reader comfortable and familiar with both the real and magical worlds outlined in the story. One technique used to make us feel familiar is at the beginning of each chapter, there is an excerpt from the “Fast Facts for Free Agents� book Sunny is using for her training, allowing the reader to learn about the Leopold People and their basic philosophy. I was fascinated to read about the African spiritual approach and tales. For fans of Okorafor’s prior work, she once again uses her trademark spiritual wilderness concept as evidenced by the luscious descriptions of the magical environments. The familiar aspect is that while learning the mythology, current events, and culture of Nigeria, Okforafor uses the timeless themes for adolescents; issues with parents and friends, group identification, wondering if the cute boy likes you, and the Nigeria we see is not one of violence and poverty, but one where parents work, kids go to school, use cell phones and the Internet.

Sunny is a strong heroine, and it was wonderful to watch her grow into herself. The secondary characters are equally as strong, and provide the impetus to move along the story. The quirks of each of the characters are subtly drawn yet realistic enough and understandable to young adults.

The pacing at the beginning was a little slow, but picked up quickly and flowed well until the end which was a little too abrupt for me. This book is a good foundation for a series, and I am hoping we will have more adventures with Sunny and her friends as they progress through their training levels.

I recommend Akata Witch to young adult readers of fantasy who are looking for new imaginative territory.

Reviewed by Beverly
APOOO Literary Book Review

Nina wrote: "Zoo City, by Lauren Beukes is pretty good (I am currently reading this)"

Hi Nina - glad to hear that one is good, its on my TBR list.

i couldn't believe they had a copy at work because it's so new! but they did! so i got it! i'm trying to figure out how to squeeze it in with everything else. and i have Who Fears Death staring at me from my nook.

Vered Ehsani is South African born and now lives in Kenya. She has a steampunk/mystery series set in Kenya around 1900. Series starts with Ghosts of Tsavo.

Tokoloshe Song is urban fantasy/crime set in Cape Town. I adore the book cover. It uses the Owl House as a very unusual setting .

Devilskein & Dearlove is set in Cape Town.

Rachel Zadok has published a number of highly acclaimed urban fantasy books including Sister-Sister which is set in Johannesburg.

Henrietta Rose-Innes has also published a number of fantasy books including Nineveh and Green Lion set in the Cape.

Louis Greenberg's books are set in Johannesburg including The Beggars' Signwriters and Dark windows.

Greenberg joins forces with Sarah Lotz as S.L. Grey. Here's an article on one of their most recent collaborations


Sarah Lotz also collaborates with her daughter as Lily Herne. The Mall Rats series is set in Cape Town starting with Deadlands.

The Sleeping Pool is the first in a series of novellas set in Zimbabwe and based on local legends.

Carlyle Labuschagne, Rachel Morgan, Yolanda Ramos and Nerine Dorman are all South African fantasy authors, but their books are not set in Africa.

I would recommend the fantasy tale Children of Saba by N.K. Read (Kenya). There is a sequel called Heirs of Kush.

Another good read is The Crystal Bird which is set in East Africa and written by the Caribbean writer Helen Drayton.

In addition there are some excellent science fiction/speculative fiction/fantasy books written by African American writers set in Africa (real and or imagined) including:-
The Imaro series by Charles R. Saunders
The Meji series and the Changa series by Milton J. Davis
Griots: Sisters of the Spear by Milton J. Davis
From Here to Timbuktu by Milton Davis

I know she was mentioned earlier, but don't forget Sarah Lotz writes fantasy/horror or whatever it is called - I am currently reading The Three which is pretty good.

Thank you for reviving this thread! These all look great.

Thanks for these great recommendations. I'm poking around some of the non-South African titles.

Carolien wrote: "Vered Ehsani is South African born and now lives in Kenya. She has a steampunk/mystery series set in Kenya around 1900. Series starts with Ghosts of Tsavo.

[book:T..."

Hi Carolien. Thank you for mentioning me. I'm Zimbabwean, but I spend a lot of time in South Africa - love it here, no power cuts. And just to let you know, the second book in my series, False Gods, is set in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Major Gentl and the Achimota Wars by Kojo Laing (from Ghana) should be on our radar too. I haven't read it yet but his other books are good.

Imagining the Future of Nigeria: Accessing Africa Through Sci-Fi
Deji Bryce Olukotun on Making the Shift to Genre

Interesting article.