Africa Risen: A showcase of African speculative fiction

From 11A

“Ghost Ship” by Tananarive Due are two additional stories that also seem to be in conversation with each other. Both are about a fascist collapse of the United States and its effect on the people of colour forced to flee the country for their own safety.

In Broaddus’s story, Sylvonne Butcher has taken refuge in Ghana, where she’s being accommodated by representatives of the Pan-African Coordination Committee. She hopes to integrate into Ghanian society and become a member of the broader Pan-African movement. However, she quickly learns that she has a lot of unlearning and reconditioning to do if she wishes to assimilate into the continent and break the trauma bonds that still tie her to America.

Tananarive Due’s “Ghost Ship” goes in the opposite direction. Florida’s mothers were from America once, having fled from the country as it grew increasingly antagonistic toward people of colour. Instead of being welcomed with open arms into a continental bosom, however, they end up in South Africa, where they are forced into indentured labour and debt bondage. After their passing, Florida inherited their debt and was raised by the woman they owed in the past. Now, that woman is sending her back to America with a box of something that she wants delivered to the United States. Florida is excited for the trip to her homeland, for the opportunity to be away from the South Africa that hurt her and her parents so much, even if she feels unwelcomed just on the ship. The smuggling operation goes well at first…until the thing in the box gets away and slowly causes havoc on the ship.

Finally, the last story I want to touch on is “A Dream of Electric Mothers” by Wole Talabi. This is one of my favourite stories in the anthology. Brigadier-General Dolapo Balogun is the Defense Minister of the Odua

Republic. After she and her fellow ministers fail to come to an agreement over their border dispute with the Kingdom of Dahomey, they agree to seek the dream counsel of their Electric Mother: a superconsciousness created as an ancestral collective which can serve as a government consultant when needed. But the border dispute is not her only reason for wanting to consult the Electric Mother. She believes it holds the answers to her mother’s death as well as a connection to her ancestor who created the Electric Mother. Thankfully, the digital entity is happy to tell her and her ministerial cohort exactly what she needs to hear.

Conclusion

I wish that I had more space and time to write about this collection. Each of its 32 stories in it touched me differently. Some amused me and others creeped me out, but most delighted and educated me. Africa Risen is a raging fire, it’s crackling, a joyful chorus to excellence in African and Afro-diasporic writing. It introduced me to new writers just starting in their careers, and to established writers whose work I am now even more eager to explore.

Most importantly, it drew my attention to countries and cultures I was completely unaware of. “Housewarming for a Lion Goddess” was an introduction to Central Africa’s pre-colonial history and cosmology. “The Soul Would Have No Rainbow” taught me about Zimbabwe’s colonial history and anti-colonial struggles. “Hanfo Driver” taught me that Guyanese and Nigerian minibus culture are not so different. And the list goes on. The book as a whole is both entertaining and educational, piquing my curiosity enough to want to read more nonfiction about the places, times, and ideas represented within its pages.

I’m excited to see how this book will be received after its official release, and I look forward to seeing what projects the editors and included authors will be tackling in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed this reading.

Thanks to Tor.com for sending me an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of Africa Risen in exchange for an honest review. Africa Risen will be wildly available from November 15, 2022. Also special thanks to Alex Brown and Chloe of Thistle & Verse for helping me figure out how to get my first arc, and Desirae Friesen of Tor.com for helping me through the process of getting this arc. This review would not exist without you.

Want to read more African Speculative Fiction? Here is a list of some of the anthologies and collections mentioned with in the introduction of Africa Risen:

Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora edited by Sheree Renée Thomas

Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root edited by Nalo Hopkinson

Dark Faith edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon

Dark Thirst edited by Omar Tyree, Donna Hill and Monica Jackson

Voices from the other side edited by Brandon Massey Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology edited by Milton J. Davis and Charles R. Saunders

Slay: Stories of Vampire Noire edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz

A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora edited by Zelda Knight and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki

New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl