Black Sci-Fi Short Stories: Anthology of New & Classic Tales (Gothic Fantasy)
Forward by Temi Oh
Co-editor Tia Ross
Introduction by Dr. Sandra M. Grayson

(Flame Tree Collections, 2021)

Reviewed by Steven French

This is a collection of twenty “black sci-fi short stories”, where the term ‘short’ is loosely interpreted. Four of the entries are described as novels, totalling almost 70% of the entire volume. The first, ‘Blake: or the Huts of America’ (Part 1) by Martin R. Delany, from 1859, features the travels and travails of Henry Blake, an escaped slave searching for his wife through the America’s deep south and then up to Canada, before heading to Cuba and organising an insurrection in Part 2 (not included here). Described by Samuel R. Delany (no relation!) as a work of ‘proto-science fiction’, this early slice of alt-history reproduces the colloquial speech of the time and offers a brutal window on the conditions of both freed and enslaved black people.

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Review from BSFA Review 23 - Download your copy here.