Africa Risen is a follow-up to last year's The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2021), which won the World Fantasy Award for best anthology, and Dominion, the first anthology of speculative fiction and poetry by Africans and the African Diaspora. You may recall that I absolutely loved both anthologies, so I was really looking forward to discovering what the 2022 collection would look like. Especially given the fact that this one would be released by Tordotcom and would feature a bigger pagecount. Africa Risen also benefited from more marketing and wider distribution.
Sadly, this third installment is by far the weakest of the three. Sometimes, less is more and I feel that adding more material sort of diluted the final product and lowered its overall quality. Perhaps it wasn't a banner year for African speculative fiction, or perhaps adding another editor in Sheree Renée Thomas changed the dynamics of compiling what stories ultimately made the final cut for the 2022 edition? Who knows? Yet there's no denying that Africa Risen somewhat fails to live up to the potential generated by its two predecessors.
Here's the blurb:
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.
I always say that anthologies and collections of short fiction can be tricky things. The majority of them consist of a few gems and some other quality reads, but inevitably these works are padded with filler material that takes something away from the overall reading experience. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't the case with both Dominion and The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2021). It would be a lie to say that it was all killer material. But even if some stories stood out and resonated more with me, I felt that every piece contained in both anthologies had something to offer and was a worthwhile addition to both projects.
And that's what differentiates Africa Risen from its predecessors. Although it features some great and powerful reads, this new edition is also plagued with a number of lackluster and uninteresting pieces that don't deserve to be found alongside such quality tales. In the end, that's what sinks this anthology compared to the two that came before. Don't get me wrong. There are some stories within the pages of Africa Risen that are as good, or even better, than those that made Dominion and The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2021) such memorable reads. But the overall quality of this new collection is offset by the presence of subpar pieces that likely never would have made the cut in 2020 and 2021. Hence, those who have read the first two might be less enthused than newbies for whom this one is their first taste of African speculative fiction. Your mileage may vary. . .
Once again, the three editors, Zelda Knight, Sheree Renée Thomas, and Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald, compiled short fiction tales that cover the length and breadth of everything that falls under the speculative fiction umbrella. Such a convergence of genres and subgenres can make for captivating reading. Though most of the pieces are not culturally familiar in style, tone, or context to Western SFF readers, most of them have something that can appeal to a broader audience. As always, I'm persuaded that I couldn't understand and invariably missed some of the references and nuances found throughout the book. That's to be expected. And yet, that never prevented me from enjoying any of the fine stories. Good is good, no matter the style, tone, or cultural background.
Like its two predecessors, Africa Risen features quite a few post-apocalyptic stories in which the protagonists, their societies, their nations have to deal with profound emotional and psychological scars from the past that can never fully heal. Many of these tales are about dealing with or confronting these wounds, so people can move forward, and how difficult and life-changing that journey can be. Some are about evolution and transcendence. The more compelling and thought-provoking pieces deal with themes such as climate change, identity, colonialism, death, gods and ancestors, and much, much more.
Another aspect which made the two previous collections such fascinating reads for me was the fact that many of the tales don't shy away from exploring sensitive issues such as domestic violence, abortion, sexual assault, violence against women and children, racism, and sexism, female genital mutilation, etc. Most of these stories tackle serious subject matters without sugarcoating everything to make it easier for the reader to deal with them. Perusing some reviews online, you can see that a number of these tales have shocked those who are easily triggered, or people with soft Western sensibility.
Another thing that was at times offputting was the fact that many of the stories were not that self-contained. Several, even the best ones, don't necessarily feature any sense of closure and are of the to-be-continued type. This may work well with some readers and it might irk others. Again, your mileage will vary in that regard.
My favorites pieces include "IRL" by Steven Barnes, "Mami Wataworks" by Russell Nichols, "Door Crashers" by Frank Zeph, "A Dream of Electric Mothers" by Wole Talabi, "A Knight in Tunisia" by Alex Jennings, "The Sugar Mill" by Tobias S. Buckell, "A Girl Crawls in a Dark Corner" by Alexis Brooks de Vita, "Ghost Ship" by Tananarive Due, "A Soul of Small Places" by Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo, and "The Taloned Beast" by Chinelo Onwualu.
Should you read Africa Risen? Of course! Once more, such a collection proves that speculative fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora can be entertaining, stimulating, and inspiring. It's a collection of stories that will force you to look at the world in a different way, and it shows once again that international talent can take speculative fiction to new heights! Having said that, I strongly recommend that you read both Dominion and The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2021) first.
The final verdict: 7/10
For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.
Sadly, this third installment is by far the weakest of the three. Sometimes, less is more and I feel that adding more material sort of diluted the final product and lowered its overall quality. Perhaps it wasn't a banner year for African speculative fiction, or perhaps adding another editor in Sheree Renée Thomas changed the dynamics of compiling what stories ultimately made the final cut for the 2022 edition? Who knows? Yet there's no denying that Africa Risen somewhat fails to live up to the potential generated by its two predecessors.
Here's the blurb:
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.
I always say that anthologies and collections of short fiction can be tricky things. The majority of them consist of a few gems and some other quality reads, but inevitably these works are padded with filler material that takes something away from the overall reading experience. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't the case with both Dominion and The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2021). It would be a lie to say that it was all killer material. But even if some stories stood out and resonated more with me, I felt that every piece contained in both anthologies had something to offer and was a worthwhile addition to both projects.
And that's what differentiates Africa Risen from its predecessors. Although it features some great and powerful reads, this new edition is also plagued with a number of lackluster and uninteresting pieces that don't deserve to be found alongside such quality tales. In the end, that's what sinks this anthology compared to the two that came before. Don't get me wrong. There are some stories within the pages of Africa Risen that are as good, or even better, than those that made Dominion and The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2021) such memorable reads. But the overall quality of this new collection is offset by the presence of subpar pieces that likely never would have made the cut in 2020 and 2021. Hence, those who have read the first two might be less enthused than newbies for whom this one is their first taste of African speculative fiction. Your mileage may vary. . .
Once again, the three editors, Zelda Knight, Sheree Renée Thomas, and Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald, compiled short fiction tales that cover the length and breadth of everything that falls under the speculative fiction umbrella. Such a convergence of genres and subgenres can make for captivating reading. Though most of the pieces are not culturally familiar in style, tone, or context to Western SFF readers, most of them have something that can appeal to a broader audience. As always, I'm persuaded that I couldn't understand and invariably missed some of the references and nuances found throughout the book. That's to be expected. And yet, that never prevented me from enjoying any of the fine stories. Good is good, no matter the style, tone, or cultural background.
Like its two predecessors, Africa Risen features quite a few post-apocalyptic stories in which the protagonists, their societies, their nations have to deal with profound emotional and psychological scars from the past that can never fully heal. Many of these tales are about dealing with or confronting these wounds, so people can move forward, and how difficult and life-changing that journey can be. Some are about evolution and transcendence. The more compelling and thought-provoking pieces deal with themes such as climate change, identity, colonialism, death, gods and ancestors, and much, much more.
Another aspect which made the two previous collections such fascinating reads for me was the fact that many of the tales don't shy away from exploring sensitive issues such as domestic violence, abortion, sexual assault, violence against women and children, racism, and sexism, female genital mutilation, etc. Most of these stories tackle serious subject matters without sugarcoating everything to make it easier for the reader to deal with them. Perusing some reviews online, you can see that a number of these tales have shocked those who are easily triggered, or people with soft Western sensibility.
Another thing that was at times offputting was the fact that many of the stories were not that self-contained. Several, even the best ones, don't necessarily feature any sense of closure and are of the to-be-continued type. This may work well with some readers and it might irk others. Again, your mileage will vary in that regard.
My favorites pieces include "IRL" by Steven Barnes, "Mami Wataworks" by Russell Nichols, "Door Crashers" by Frank Zeph, "A Dream of Electric Mothers" by Wole Talabi, "A Knight in Tunisia" by Alex Jennings, "The Sugar Mill" by Tobias S. Buckell, "A Girl Crawls in a Dark Corner" by Alexis Brooks de Vita, "Ghost Ship" by Tananarive Due, "A Soul of Small Places" by Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo, and "The Taloned Beast" by Chinelo Onwualu.
Should you read Africa Risen? Of course! Once more, such a collection proves that speculative fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora can be entertaining, stimulating, and inspiring. It's a collection of stories that will force you to look at the world in a different way, and it shows once again that international talent can take speculative fiction to new heights! Having said that, I strongly recommend that you read both Dominion and The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2021) first.
The final verdict: 7/10
For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.
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