THE YEAR'S BEST AFRICAN SPECULATIVE FICTION (2021): VOLUME 1
RATED 79% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE 3.67 OF 5
29 STORIES : 4 GREAT / 16 GOOD / 6 AVERAGE / 2 POOR / 1 DNF
Best of the Year anthologies rarely make history. This isn’t to say that they aren’t important. As the ‘Second Draft of Science Fiction History,” these books make a lasting impact on how the genre remembers itself. They provide excellent ways for the casual reader to discover newly important writers and follow trends in the field. Plus, they are often great fun to read!
Original anthologies are a different story. The best of these are driven by the perspective and personality of the editor and can aggressively attempt to drive SF in some direction. I think of anthology series like “Dangerous Visions” by Harlan Ellison, “Orbit” by Damon Knight, “England Swings SF” by Judith Merril, “Star Science Fiction” by Frederik Pohl, and many more….
The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction; Volume 1 by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki seems to be a Best of the Year that is trying to have the impact of an important original anthology. And it did.
Reaching towards authors and publications that are rarely reprinted, Ekpeki makes a strong statement about the reach of speculative fiction and the genre’s current desire for increasing diverse voices. This put him on a radar of many people -including myself - as an editor to watch. He even was recognized in the Hugo Award Finalists: Editor Short Form. This is so rarely bestowed on a BOTY editor, that it lead to controversy. The Internet must Internet, after all.
But how are the stories. That is what matters the most.
For the most part, pretty enjoyable. As a non-African who has never been to Africa, I kept running into a few issues of my own ignorance that impacted my reading experience.
This is a ‘speculative fiction’ anthology, not science fiction. There is an abundance of fantasy in the book and that is going to lower my reviews of those stories. I rarely enjoy fantasy.
The style of fantasy that dominates the book seems to pull from various African religion and mythology. Unfortunately, I don’t have the background in the culture to know what is newly created by the author and what is just established African mythology. More on this later….
The stories are obviously written by Africans for an African readership, but again I had trouble finding my footing with the location, family dynamics, and cultural assumptions.
These challenges are my own and, of course, someone from Africa would run into the same challenges when reading anglophone SF. (Although Hollywood hegemony has likely laid a foundation around the world for some of the basics of American life.). The writers are under no obligations to make this easier for me, but Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki knew he was editing for a mostly western readership and could have done more to make it accessible. Iraq + 100, The SEA is ours: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia, Cosmos Latinos: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Latin America and Spain, and “Dreams from Beyond: Anthology of Czech Speculative Fiction” all did this better.
But let’s focus on what this anthology did well. It found 4 new stories of the All-Time Great List:
Scar Tissue • (2020) • short story by Tobias S. Buckell. Heartwarming story of an amputee who agrees to foster/raise a robot for money and ends up being permanently changed as a result.
A Mastery of German • (2020) • short story by Marian Denise Moore. A woman takes over a secretive project called Engram with the instructions to kill it or bring it to conclusion. She quickly is drawn into experimentation around genetics, memory, race, and who is allowed to profit from those things.
Egoli • (2020) • short fiction by T. L. Huchu. A wonderful character study of an elderly African woman who reminiscences about her life on the morning she wakes up early to watch her grandson’s voyage to asteroids for mining. A very literary story with a sense of wonder emanating from the span of a human life and what does or does not change.
Red_Bati • (2020) • short story by Dilman Dila. Red_Bati is an over-designed robot dog that was original designed to be the only companion to an elderly woman, but after her death ended up on a mining spaceship. Now, he wants to take over that vessel and starts a plan to do so.
THE YEAR’S BEST AFRICAN SPECULATIVE FICTION IS RATED 79%
29 STORIES : 4 GREAT / 16 GOOD / 6 AVERAGE / 2 POOR / 1 DNF
How do I arrive at a rating?
Where You Go • (2020) • short story by Somto O. Ihezue
Average. The Collecting - a rapid global destruction based on climate change - weighs heavily on the mind of the main character. Until she falls through magic water.
Things Boys Do • short fiction by 'Pemi Aguda [as by Pemi Aguda]
Good. Taut horror story about a child born who embodies vengeance against three men.
Giant Steps • (2020) • short story by Russell Nichols
Good. A woman stays dedicated to living her ‘true self’ by defying everyone and taking a solo space mission to investigate what looks like Giant’s Footprints.
The Future in Saltwater • (2020) • short story by Tamara Jerée
Good. A young woman fuzes with a tentacled god from the polluted oceans. She is given a new life and a quest, but it all falls apart when she accidentally rejects it.
The ThoughtBox • (2020) • short fiction by Tlotlo Tsamaase
Good. A woman, who may be in a financially abusive relationship, receives a ThoughtBox. This device allows she and her boyfriend to share their inner thoughts. In the process of using it, she discovers truths about her boyfriend … and also the very nature of her life.
The Parts That Make Us Monsters • (2020) • short fiction by Sheree Renée Thomas
Poor. Poetic word salad that made no impact on me at all. Barely remembered.
Scar Tissue • (2020) • short story by Tobias S. Buckell
Great. Heartwarming story of an amputee who agrees to foster/raise a robot for money and ends up being permanently changed as a result.
Ancestries • (2020) • short story by Sheree Renée Thomas
Good. A violent fantasy of the hatred and abuse that exists between sisters, set amongst a backdrop of the lost ruins of our world.
Breath of the Sahara • (2020) • short story by Inegbenoise O. Osagie
Good. The friendship of two young girls is tested when one is discovered to be a Zephyr - someone shrinking and being blown away by the wind.
The Many Lives of an Abiku • (2020) • short fiction by Tobi Ogundiran
Average. A spirit needs to choose between her spirits and family and flesh and blood family while also fighting off a spirit that wants to take that away from her.
A Love Song for Herkinal As Composed by Ashkernas Amid the Ruins of New Haven • (2020) • short fiction by Chinelo Onwualu
Good. A dense, alternate Africa where magic is everywhere. A shady man books a room at a Magic-filled hotel for the purpose of doing something horrible to a young girl. I’d like a lot more stories in this hotel.
A Curse at Midnight • (2020) • short story by Moustapha Mbacké Diop
Average. A new Senegalese mother has her son stolen by a demon and has to get it back using her mother’s magic.
A Mastery of German • (2020) • short story by Marian Denise Moore
Great. A woman takes over a secretive project called Engram with the instructions to kill it or bring it to conclusion. She quickly is drawn into experimentation around genetics, memory, race, and who is allowed to profit from those things.
Are We Ourselves? • (2020) • short fiction by Michelle Mellon
Average. Be careful what you wish for. Reparations brings back slavery.
When the Last of the Birds and the Bees Have Gone On • short fiction by C. L. Clark (variant of When the Last of the Birds and Bees Have Gone on 2020)
Good. Two different parts, told as one long paragraph. The first is life instructions to someone nonhuman on a very different world from ours. It is captivating to slow piece together what we can of this world. The second part is story of a transporter of color and vibrancy though an apocalyptic barren world.
The Goatkeeper's Harvest • (2020) • short story by Tobi Ogundiran
Good. A terrifying story about a mother who crosses the GoatKeeper when she doesn’t let her children eat her yams.
Baba Klep • (2020) • short fiction by Eugen Bacon
Poor. A plane crashes and the survivors are captured by canabalistic little people. No idea why this was here. Felt like bad colonialist fiction.
Desiccant • (2020) • short story by Craig Laurance Gidney
Good. An evil power is feeding on the bodily liquid of the residents of a tenement. Very good setup with no payoff.
Disassembly • (2020) • short story by Makena Onjerika
Good. A girl has the ability to disassemble her entire body and reassemble it. This affects her as she comes of age and works through life. Poignant parable.
The River of Night • (2020) • short story by Tlotlo Tsamaase
DNF. A woman is haunted by a demon that seems to inflame her insecurities.
Egoli • (2020) • short fiction by T. L. Huchu
Great. A wonderful character study of an elderly African woman who reminiscences about her life on the morning she wakes up early to watch her grandson’s voyage to asteroids for mining. A very literary story with a sense of wonder emanating from the span of a human life and what does or does not change.
The Friendship Bench • (2020) • short fiction by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu
Good. If you could lose your pain, would you? If someone could offer you that, what motives might they have. Short and sharp.
Fort Kwame • (2020) • short fiction by Derek Lubangakene
Good. A tale of climate change and violent rebellion as our main character plans to destroy the pillars that hold Fort Kwame above the oceans that cover the world.
We Come as Gods • (2020) • short fiction by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
Average. A poetic story of “We” would hold many different roles at different moments: Servant, Merchant, Saviour, Ghost
And This Is How to Stay Alive • (2020) • novella by Shingai Njeri Kagunda
Good. A gay son commits suicide but his spirit stays around.
The Front Line • (2020) • short fiction by W. C. Dunlap
Average. A fat black female superhero gets in an altercation with trigger happy police.
Penultimate • (2020) • short story by Zig Zag Claybourne [as by Z. Z. Claybourne]
Good. A beautiful myth of a woman’s relationship with a pen and way they both shape reality.
Love Hangover • (2020) • short story by Sheree Renée Thomas?
Good. A woman in enthralled by a sexy vampire (siren?) who hunts and performs in discos.
Red_Bati • (2020) • short story by Dilman Dila
Great. Red_Bati is an over-designed robot dog that was original designed to be the only companion to an elderly woman, but after her death ended up on a mining spaceship. Now, he wants to take over that vessel and starts a plan to do so.
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