Reviews

Afrosf: Science Fiction by African Writers by Sarah Lotz, Nnedi Okorafor

tregina's review against another edition

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4.0

This is really good. Really really good. All different kinds of stories from all different kinds of people and all different kinds of places throughout the continent. One thematic element I found interesting was how many of the stories mixed hard SF with spirituality, and how well they did it. (And it was amazing and wondrous to see in an anthology of this quality how many of the stories are the writers' first publications.)

captlychee's review against another edition

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3.0

I think it's important to read SF—or any genre, I suppose—where the author comes from an exotic background. At the same time, this cult of the author, where the personality of the autyhor completely overrides anyting they write, which is very common in Sf nowadays, totally pisses me off. I can acknowledge it without enjoying it.

This was recommended, or at least spoken about, on The Coode Street Podcast, which I've been bingeing lately. So I snapped it and its two sequels up to see what was being written across the Indian Ocean a decade or so ago.

I was disappointed. [a:Ivor W. Hartmann|4109678|Ivor W. Hartmann|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1301510167p2/4109678.jpg] is a Rhodesian (now Zimbabwean) author who has commissioned some stories from writers all across the continent, but is hampered in that SF stories are mostly written in English, which is fair enough because that's the language the genre originated in or maybe because he couldn't get translations. The stories come mostly from countries where they speak English, so South Africa and Nigeraia are well-represented, but not stories from, say, Cameroon or Morocco.

What was surprising and a relief was that the stories weren't thinly-disguised criticism of apartheid. I'm so sick of that. Some of the stories deal with disenfranchised people, but the disenfranchisement is more modern, in that it's done via money, access to media, housing or modern concerns that acknowledge that apartheid as a political doctrine ended twenty years before this book came out.

So, how do you summarise, or represent, an entire continent in one book? Well, [b:it has been done|1015543|The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2005|Bill Congreve|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347371240l/1015543._SY75_.jpg|4906790], but that's a special continent. And people still think you can sum up Caribbean SF in [a:Karen Lord|3124999|Karen Lord|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1625783733p2/3124999.jpg] and (in an extreme case) [a:Nalo Hopkinson|27528|Nalo Hopkinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1361387199p2/27528.jpg], both of whom come from English-speaking countries.

Most of the stories in this volume are pretty ordinary. They're either self-consciously African, like 'Moom!' by [a:Nnedi Okorafor|588356|Nnedi Okorafor|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1507148868p2/588356.jpg], some a good idea badly executed, like 'Proposition 23' by Efe Ikogo Lugard, ordinary stories set in Cape Town so you know they're African, like 'Home Affairs' by Sarah Lotz, a very good story by [a:Chinelo Onwualu|6575847|Chinelo Onwualu|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1590697622p2/6575847.jpg] called 'The Gift of Touch' and the rest were so tedious I could barely stay awake while listening tothem.

Anyway, here's the contents, so you can make up your own mind:

Introduction Ivor W. Hartmann
Moom! Nnedi Okorafor
Home Affairs Sarah Lotz
The Sale [a:Tendai Huchu|4337647|Tendai Huchu|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1602799825p2/4337647.jpg]
Five Sets of Hands [a:Cristy Zinn|6575845|Cristy Zinn|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1439301665p2/6575845.jpg]
New Mzansi [a:Ashley Jacobs|6575846|Ashley Jacobs|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1442648685p2/6575846.jpg]
Azania Nick Wood
Notes from Gethsemane [a:Tade Thompson|5782077|Tade Thompson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1593796763p2/5782077.jpg]
Planet X [a:S.A. Partridge|18293493|S.A. Partridge|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
The Gift of Touch Chinelo Onwualu
The Foreigner [a:Uko Bendi Udo|5782074|Uko Bendi Udo|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
The Rare Earth [a:Biram Mboob|6575838|Biram Mboob|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
Terms & Conditions Apply [a:Sally-Ann Murray|3041912|Sally-Ann Murray|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
Heresy [a:Mandisi Nkomo|6575839|Mandisi Nkomo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1559121789p2/6575839.jpg]
Closing Time [a:Liam Kruger|6575840|Liam Kruger|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
Masquerade Stories [a:Chiagozie Fred Nwonwu|20315187|Chiagozie Fred Nwonwu|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
The Trial [a:Joan De La Haye|2868872|Joan De La Haye|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1694150052p2/2868872.jpg]
Brandy City [a:Mia Arderne|6575842|Mia Arderne|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1681975021p2/6575842.jpg]
Ofe! Rafeeat Aliyu
Claws and Savages [a:Martin Stokes|63083|Martin Stokes|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
To Gaze at the Sun [a:Clifton Gachagua|6575844|Clifton Gachagua|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
Proposition 23 Efe Okogu LUgard

So, anyway, on tothe next one.

lukecalderauthor's review against another edition

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3.0

Some stories were really good but some were really bad.

They often fell into the same mistake in short story writing where they want to say too much is a short space of time. The result is that the stories felt convoluted and ended suddenly without much progression in the story. The stories that focused on just one or two aspects of Sci Fi turned out to be far more effective.

There were a few good ones that I do recommend reading.

Masquerade Stories - Chiagozie Fred Nwonwu
This is an excellent example of how you can use African culture to feed into the Sci Fi narrative, without bogging the story down with too much exposition. It has such a cool concept.

The Trial - Joan De La Haye
This was by far the most effective story in the anthology, it created a clear picture of the future and provided a stern warning of what the future could become, yet it was one of the shortest in the book. The story focuses on one aspect of the future and explores it well, while still holding your attention with the raw emotive repercussions.

Other honourable mentions:
Home Affairs - Sarah Lotz
Five Sets of Hands - Cristy Zinn
Angel Song - Dave de Burgh

In conclusion: I was a bit disappointed, but I am always keen to see more writing come out of Africa and will continue to keep looking for more.

jonmhansen's review against another edition

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4.0

It's a collection with a pretty wide range, so the good news is, if you don't like a story, there's probably another one you might. I did particularly like "Home Affairs," by Sarah Lotz. YMMV.

alexander42's review

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3.5

 Solid collection of short stories; my favorites are Five Sets of Hands, Closing Time, Ofe!, and Proposition 23. There are some other good ones besides those, and a couple stories that were meh. Overall, a solid collection and worth reading. 

mayastone's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Moom! by Nnedi Okorafor: 4/5 prelude to Lagoon.
Home Affairs by Sarah Lotz: 3.5/5
The Sale by Tendai Huchu: 5/5
Five Sets of Hands by Cristy Zinn: 2/5
New Mzansi by Ashley Jacobs: 3/5
Azania by Nick Wood: 3.5/5
Notes from Gethsemane by Tade Thompson: 3.5/5
Planet X by S.A. Partridge: 4/5
The Gift of Touch by Chinelo Onwualu: 4/5
The Foreignerby Uko Bendi Udo: 4.5/5
Angel Song by Dave de Burgh: 2.5/5
The Rare Earth by Biram Mboob: 4.5/5
Terms & Conditions Apply by Sally-Ann Murray: 2.5/5
Heresy by Mandisi Nkomo: 1/5
Closing Time by Liam Kruger: 4/5
Masquerade Stories by Chiagozie Fred Nwonwu: 4.5/5
The Trial by Joan De La Haye: 4/5
Brandy City by Mia Arderne: 4/5
Ofe! by Rafeeat Aliyu: 4.5/5
Claws and Savages by Martin Stokes: 5/5
To Gaze at the Sun by Clifton Gachagua: 4.5/5
Proposition 23 (Novelette) by Efe Okogu: 5/5

Overall Score: 3.77/5 - rounded up to 4 

comradebiblio's review against another edition

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3.0

There were startlingly original ideas in some of these selections and I would recommend this anthology for those passionate about or intrigued by the nexus of Afro/sci-fi.

nwhyte's review against another edition

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4.0

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2761996.html

Lots of good stories here, some by writers who I had heard of, many that I hadn't. One or two fell slightly flat, sticking too close to standard sf tropes without bringing much extra to them. But most of them were very good - there is an early pairing of "Home Affairs" by Sarah Lotz and "The Sale" by Tendai Huchu which both look at bureaucracy; "Azania", by Nick Woods, looks at colonisation both in the sfnal and geopolitical senses; "Brandy City", by Mia Arderne, looks at virtual reality and addiction; and the closing novella, "Proposition 23" by Efe Okogu, has a world where citizenship and the right to live are being eroded by technology. I find it immensely reassuring of the future of sf that it speaks as a genre to many writers from the oldest of the continents, and I hope that European and American fandom can start to draw more from this well of talent.

jskstarr's review against another edition

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4.0

Pretty great African SF stories

Like most anthologies there are gems and duds in this book, but the good stories greatly outweigh the not great ones. Even the not great ones are good enough not to skip.

filaughn's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a really fun anthology! As with any collection, there were some standouts and some flops, but the ratio was pretty good here. Overall there was also a nice mix of different realms of SF work. Time travel, aliens, future technology (often going wrong in some way), future wars, post-apocalyptic scenes - a little of everything. Nnedi Okorafor was excellent, as usual. I added one of Tade Thompson's books to my TBR immediately after reading his excellent short story here. I also really enjoyed Rafeeat Aliyu's Ofe! but wanted more - it would have worked well as part of a longer work.

One of the stories that really didn't work for me was Tendai Huchu's The Sale - I had major issues with this one.
The premise includes a repressive government drugging people to keep them compliant. When the main character is dosed, he goes from pushing against the titular sale to docile and content. So far, so good - but the forced drugging includes estrogen (as the only named substance, with others that are unnamed) that results in the MC having breasts and being calm, compliant, and not fighting the government or the sale.
It was...not a great move on Huchu's part.