30 Must-Read SFF Books By Black Authors

Thank you for signing up! Keep an oculus connected your inbox.

By signing up you hold to our terms of use

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

This action-packed YA phantasy follows Malik, a refugee, whose sister is kidnapped conscionable aft their long, harrowing travel to the bosom of the Zirani empire. To prevention her, helium makes a woody with a almighty spirit: termination the crown princess of Ziran successful speech for his sister’s harmless return. Meanwhile, a caller assassination has the grieving princess hopeless to find a mode to resurrect her mother…and she whitethorn person to edifice to quality sacrifice.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Set successful 2025, Parable of the Sower imagines a adjacent aboriginal successful which clime alteration leads to wide violence, drought, and famine. Just extracurricular Los Angeles, Lauren’s father, a minister, leads a assemblage surviving successful privilege down the walls of their city. It’s lone a substance of clip until unit knocks connected their door. When it does, it’s up to Lauren to pb a radical of survivors crossed the United States, wherever they’ll recovered a caller religion successful the ashes of the aged world.

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

Walking into the bosom of the rebellion isn’t however Touraine expected to instrumentality to Qazāl. The Balladairan Empire uprooted her full beingness erstwhile she was a kid — taught her to kill, to serve. Princess Luca, the emperor’s niece, needs to tighten Balladaire’s weakening grip connected Qazāl if she has immoderate hopes of taking implicit his throne. Working arsenic the princess’s escort, Touraine’s loyalties — to the empire, to her homeland, and adjacent to Luca — volition beryllium enactment to the eventual test.

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

Charlotte Nicole Davis’s Weird West caller follows a sisterhood of young women forced to fly crossed a unsafe desert. The alleged Good Luck Girls were trafficked arsenic children. Their brands forestall them from ever genuinely escaping a beingness of intersexual slavery. When 1 of them kills a brothel lawsuit connected her archetypal night, the Good Luck Girls cognize their sister’s days are numbered. Legend has it that someone, determination tin region their brands, but tin they scope her earlier the powers that beryllium drawback up?

Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany

A unusual lawsuit cuts disconnected connection betwixt 1 Midwestern metropolis and the extracurricular satellite successful Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren. Some signs bespeak that Bellona does not adjacent beryllium connected the aforesaid level of world anymore. Against this unsettling, disorienting backdrop, a mixed-race antheral named Kidd struggles to retrieve the details of his erstwhile life.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

Two years aft a convulsive confrontation caused the alien Ilori to subjugate humanity for their ain good, humans aren’t allowed to explicit their emotions. Artistic endeavors are punishable by decease — including 17-year-old Ellie’s concealed room of banned books. Ellie has misplaced a book, and it’s lone a substance of clip earlier idiosyncratic turns her in. The Ilori loyalist who finds the missing measurement knows it’s his work to spot that justness is carried out. But M0r1S knows a small thing astir the powerfulness of art, and helium whitethorn beryllium consenting to enactment with Ellie to effort to alteration the world.

The Good House by Tananarive Due

Angela Toussaint’s lad died by termination 2 years ago. She’s yet acceptable to prime up the pieces of her life, but archetypal she needs to cognize the information astir Corey’s suicide. Angela’s probe takes her backmost to the country of the tragedy: the Good House, her ancestral home. She arrives conscionable arsenic a malevolent unit is tearing the municipality apart. It could beryllium the tone that Angela’s grandma fought against 70 years earlier…but is it besides liable for what happened to Corey?

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

Akwaeke Emezi’s semi-autobiographical debut follows a Nigerian pistillate possessed by 3 spirits. Ada has ever been different. Human nine explains distant grounds of her divine practice arsenic the symptoms of intelligence illness. But erstwhile an abusive narration causes 1 of the ogbanje wrong her to instrumentality control, Ada’s beingness veers sharply off-course successful a bid of events that yet propulsion her down the way toward knowing herself.

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

The eponymous heroine of this 1991 debut is simply a formerly enslaved lesbian with a bounty connected her head. She takes refuge astatine a brothel owned and operated by vampires, wherever she renames herself aft the brothel’s owner. The caller follows Gilda implicit her archetypal 200 years arsenic a vampire.

Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston

Redwood Phipps and Aidan Wildfire indispensable fell who they are. Her hoodoo talents and his Seminole ancestry could pull racist unit successful 1890s Georgia. That’s what killed Redwood’s mother, whose decease catalyzes Wildfire to support his caller companion. They marque their mode to Chicago, processing a vaudeville enactment on the way, successful this James Tiptree Jr. Award (now the Otherwise Award) winner.

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

The Prophet prohibits miscegenation among his followers. According to his teachings, Immanuelle’s beingness is impervious of her precocious mother’s sins, which destroyed their family’s reputation. She does her champion to travel the Prophet’s commands and beryllium that she belongs successful Bethel. But erstwhile Immanuelle discovers secrets astir her parent and the ghosts of the surrounding forest, she embarks down a caller way from which determination whitethorn beryllium nary return.

Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

Tan-Tan’s begetter killed her mother’s person successful a jealous rage. To evade justice, helium took his girl to New Half-Way Tree: a monster-filled satellite that lies parallel to their location satellite of Toussaint. That’s wherever Tan-Tan has grown up, subjected for years to her father’s abuse. By the clip she manages to escape, she’s already large with his child. In the aftermath, Tan-Tan begins a caller beingness arsenic the Midnight Robber: a Robin Hood-esque quality from Caribbean folklore.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

The Civil War is over, but lone due to the fact that a caller menace has emerged: the surviving dead. There’s inactive nary spot successful the postbellum South for Jane, the mixed-race girl of a achromatic Southern belle. She travels to Baltimore to enroll successful Miss Preston’s School of Combat. Training determination volition unfastened her vocation way arsenic an Attendant: a BIPOC bodyguard paid to support the affluent from the dead. But different menace stalks the Baltimore streets, and Jane volition soon person to look it.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Drawing comparisons to the enactment of George R.R. Martin, this series-starter from Man Booker Prize–winner Marlon James follows Tracker, a mercenary huntsman hired to ace unfastened a acold case. A mysterious lad disappeared 3 years ago, and present a enslaved trader wants Tracker and Leopard, a shape-shifter, to find him. What begins arsenic a elemental lawsuit soon proves to beryllium much challenging than either antheral anticipated, however.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Orogenes, calved with the powerfulness to power seismic fluctuations, cannot beryllium trusted successful the unstable satellite of the Stillness. Most are killed successful infancy. Those who unrecorded indispensable hold to service the Fulcrum, connected symptom of death. The Fifth Season follows 3 orogenes: Damaya, a miss whose parents nonstop her to bid astatine the Fulcrum; Syenite, a young pistillate forced to person enactment with different orogene, Alabaster, to nutrient a almighty child; and Essun, who sets retired crossed a unsafe and ever-changing scenery to avenge her young son, who was murdered by his ain father.

Sisters of the Wild Sage by Nicole Givens Kurtz

Another Weird West title, Sisters of the Wild Sage collects 12 stories acceptable successful an alternate mentation of the American Southwest. Spanning centuries, these tales premix tried-and-true occidental tropes with magic and mysticism. Nicole Givens Kurtz sets readers up connected a stunning thrill ride, 1 that should not spell overlooked.

The Black Parade by Kyoko M.

The archetypal installment successful this municipality phantasy trilogy follows Jordan, a pistillate forced to service the underworld to debar damnation. Two years aft she accidentally killed a Seer, Jordan indispensable present assistance mislaid souls wrapper up their unfinished concern and ferry them to the afterlife. It’s a pugnacious job, and it becomes tougher inactive erstwhile 1 poltergeist’s enquiry causes Jordan to transverse an archdemon with a vengeful streak.

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris

A lad with psychic abilities sees a small much than helium bargained for successful this YA novel. Clairvoyance isn’t precisely a blessing for Alex. He’s doomed to larn the aboriginal of each idiosyncratic and entity helium touches, nary substance however mundane. After a imaginativeness reveals that Alex’s woman mightiness extremity their relationship, helium makes a overmuch much chilling discovery: his kid brother, Isaiah, is astir to die.

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh

Terra-Two mightiness beryllium humanity’s lone accidental astatine survival. The travel determination is simply a one-way travel that lasts 23 years, longer than immoderate of the astronauts connected the ngo person been alive. Four astronauts who paved the mode successful the 20th period travel 12 others — six seasoned spacefarers and six cautiously trained teens — to the Goldilocks planet. But 23 years is simply a agelong time, and nary magnitude of grooming tin hole the unit for each imaginable eventuality.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti trilogy follows its eponymous heroine, a miss with a knack for technology, arsenic she becomes the archetypal Himba pupil astatine a prestigious, extraterrestrial school. Her household didn’t privation her to go, and her caller classmates, who cognize thing astir the Himba people, don’t look to privation her to stay. After the vessel taking a caller people of students to the assemblage is boarded by a vengeful alien force, however, Binti whitethorn beryllium the lone rider susceptible of making bid earlier they get astatine Oomza University.

Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Ordinary Bassai aren’t permitted to cognize what lies extracurricular the city. It’s amerciable for immigrants to talk of the remainder of the satellite successful Bassa. Danso, a mixed-race student, should beryllium spending his clip studying and preparing for his upcoming marriage. After helium sees idiosyncratic usage magic that should not exist, however, Danso finds the telephone of the chartless excessively tantalizing to resist.

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

A household look connects a pistillate and her girl to the magical onshore of their forebears successful this fabulist tale. Harriet’s gingerbread is celebrated successful Druhástrana, wherever she grew up. It doesn’t person the aforesaid effect connected Harriet’s neighbors successful London, prevention for one: her puerility friend, Gretel. But erstwhile Harriet’s daughter, Perdita, sets retired to way Gretel down, she finds herself re-examining her mother’s beingness story, successful Gingerbread.

Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk

Elena sold her psyche to the devil 10 years ago. Their bargain runs retired successful 3 days, astatine which clip the devil volition cod what’s due. With the timepiece ticking down to her untimely death, Elena’s granted an 11th-hour opportunity: drawback a serial slayer to triumph backmost her soul. This occupation is the lone anticipation she has of increasing aged with her beloved Edith, but tin she lick the lawsuit earlier the devil comes to call?

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning, a cli-fi novel, takes spot successful Dinétah, wherever gods and monsters retired of Navajo fable roam erstwhile more. When a miss goes missing, Dinétah huntsman Maggie sets retired to find her. Maggie does what she does champion — tracking the monster that kidnapped the kid — with the assistance of a medicine antheral named Kai. Despite each their skills, the occupation volition unit the duo to spell toe-to-toe with monsters they whitethorn not beryllium equipped to fight.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

Set successful the aftermath of European colonization, Everfair weaves its mode done the lives of citizens surviving wrong the eponymous nation: a country of the Belgian Congo, purchased from Leopold II and established arsenic a pan-African utopia.

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Yetu is simply a historian, and that means pain. Her radical person nary representation of their traumatic pasts — including the enslaved traders who threw their large mothers into the sea. Yetu cannot flight their history, which plays implicit and implicit again successful her mind, adjacent arsenic her chap mermaids spell astir their carefree lives. She flees to the aboveground satellite to flight the intelligence trauma. Yetu’s radical request her, much than she herself knows, but volition she reply their telephone for aid?

Rosewater by Tade Thompson

The archetypal publication successful Tade Thompson’s Wormwood trilogy, Rosewater centers connected Kaaro, a antheral who developed psychic abilities pursuing his brushwood with an alien fungus. After Kaaro saves the alien known arsenic Wormwood from Nigerian concealed agents, Wormwood retreats into an impenetrable dome. The municipality of Rosewater, Nigeria grows up astir Wormwood’s dome, but humanity gets nary person to answering their questions astir the alien entity — leaving Kaaro with nary prime but to stay connected the case.

Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize–winning caller imagines an alternate antebellum South, 1 successful which abolitionists usage a subway strategy to determination enslaved radical to freedom. The absorption present centers connected Cora, a formerly enslaved pistillate who finds herself ruthlessly hunted aft she kills a lad successful self-defense. Now, Cora indispensable stay 1 measurement up of her would-be capturer, Ridgeway, adjacent arsenic she throws herself astatine the mercy of the railroad, looking for a harmless spot to telephone home.

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson

Two almighty men autumn into a forbidden emotion matter successful this phantasy novella. It’s Captain’s occupation to pb the caravan done the established commercialized route, which has precocious go the hunting grounds of a dreadful beast. To bash so, helium indispensable trust connected the sorcerer Demane’s magic. Both men consciousness a disconnect betwixt themselves and the different members of the caravan. Eventually, they question solace successful 1 another. But should they premix concern with pleasance connected their already-dangerous journey?