Sheree R. Thomas

Out of 32 stories, I starred 14 as excellent (well written, engrossing topic), 12 as acceptable, and the rest I felt could be skipped (poor writing, incomplete planning, pointless, or horror). I generally do not read horror. Two rated excellent stories are horrific but I felt they addressed a truth about abused women. Some of the poorly written ones may be due to writing in English as a Second Language, and some have promise if they get re-worked e.g. deleting some of the introductory explanation of the storyline--the author needs to figure out how to get us into the tale.
In general, I felt this SciFi collection tended towards stories of empowerment of the underdog, as opposed to some mainstream US SciFi which might have much more focus on technology--and that was a great aspect. There were stories which included psychic abilities or witchcraft, stories with technologies controlled by mind, and tales with an environmental aspect.
I'm recommending this to my friends, with my ratings so the ones who have limited time can dive into the best first.
"The Papermakers" is an alternate future of cooperation and low tech, which reminded me of "Woman on the Edge of Time" by Marge Piercy.
"Hanfo Driver" was a funny story which incorporated Nigerian common speech, customary make-do/reuse with hi tech, and homosexual allusions.
**Best: "The Blue House" by Dilman Dila, "Mami Wataworks" by Russell Nichols, "The Sould Would Have No Rainbow" by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, "Simbi" by Sandra Jackson-Opoku, "Cloud Mine" by Timi Odueso, "Ruler of the Rear Guard" by Maurice Broaddus, "Ghost Ship" by Tananarive Due, "Liquid Twilight" by Ytasha Womack, "A Girl Crawls in a Dark Corner" by Alexis Brooks de Vita, "The Papermakers" by Akua Lezli Hope, "A Soul of Small Places" by Mame Bougouma Diene & Woppa Diallo, "Air to Shape Lungs" by Singai Njeri Kagunda, "Exiles of Witchery" by Ivana Akotoowaa Ofori.… (mehr)

A hefty and diverse collection that celebrates and explore African and Afro-Diasporic stories and ideas. Like any short story collection, there were some works I enjoyed more than others: I could spend a whole novel in the world of "A Dream of Electric Mothers" by Wole Talabi, while I struggled to even finish "A Knight in Tunisia" by Alex Jennings. But I absolutely think this is one where any SFF reader could pick it up and find something that vibes with them, plus, it's just a really fantastic project that highlights such a broad range of African-centric writers and voices!… (mehr)

A collection of 32 short stories of speculative fiction - mostly science fiction, but also veering off into fantasy and a few horror - by authors from Africa or the African diaspora. Many are from Nigeria, the US or UK, but Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Botswana and more are also represented here.

The stories are equally far-ranging in theme and style, and are a great introduction to authors you may not have read before even as an SFF fan. As with any anthology of this type, I found some stories I liked and others that didn't provoke much of a reaction one way or the other with me. Probably my favorite of the bunch was the very creepy "The Lady of the Yellow-Painted Library" by Tobi Ogundiran that told what happened when some poor fellow had an overdue book he couldn't find.… (mehr)