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A review by mary_soon_lee
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones by Ihsan Bracy, Jill Robinson, Walter Mosley, Douglas Kearney, Andrea Hairston, Kiini Ibura Salaam, David Findlay, Charles Johnson, Kalamu ya Salaam, Tyehimba Jess, Jewelle L. Gómez, Kevin Brockenbrough, Cherene Sherrard-Johnson, Ibi Zoboi, Wanda Coleman, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Pam Noles, Samuel R. Delany, Carol Cooper, Henry Dumas, Nnedi Okorafor
This 2004 anthology collects 24 speculative fiction stories by Black authors, together with three non-fiction pieces. I loved the breadth of Sheree R. Thomas's selections, encompassing many flavors of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, and extending back to include stories from as early as 1920, though most are much more recent. The three non-fiction selections are all of interest, one being a transcription of 1997 panel featuring six prominent SF/F authors of color, and the other two discussing the works of Virginia Hamiltion and Andre Norton.
I particularly liked Sheree R. Thomas's choice to bookend the fiction with two very different stories that nonetheless speak to each other. The opening story, ihsan bracy's "ibo landing," retells a folktale about transported slaves walking onto the sea to escape slavery. The final story, Kalamu ya Salaam's "Trance," is a time-travel science fiction tale that, briefly but effectively, calls back to that opening story when a character says, "I'm talking about how some of us walked into the sea and most of us stayed on the shore."
In between are a wealth of stories that tackle slavery, racism, gods, drugs, werewolves, and a great deal more. As is almost inevitable in an anthology of some two dozen stories, not every one appealed to me. There were also a few stories that I found effective, yet too bleak to describe as enjoyable, such as Pam Noles's powerful "Whipping Boy," in which a 19-year-old becomes a supernatural scapegoat.
Among my favorites were two of the older selections: "Jesus Christ in Texas," by W. E. B. Du Bois, published in 1920, all the more striking for the quiet restraint of its storytelling, and Walter Mosley's 1967 story "Whispers in the Dark," made moving by the characters' compassion for each other. I also particularly liked "Corona," by Samuel R. Delany, a vividly imagined story where two very different people (a White male ex-convict and a telepathic Black nine-year-old girl) briefly meet and each try to help the other.
My favorite of all was Nisi Shawl's "Maggies," which skilfully paints a future where modified humans (Maggies) help in terraforming, a complex, very well-told story, centered on its characters but encompassing a powerful inditement of racism, that managed all this while being a pleasure to read.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
I particularly liked Sheree R. Thomas's choice to bookend the fiction with two very different stories that nonetheless speak to each other. The opening story, ihsan bracy's "ibo landing," retells a folktale about transported slaves walking onto the sea to escape slavery. The final story, Kalamu ya Salaam's "Trance," is a time-travel science fiction tale that, briefly but effectively, calls back to that opening story when a character says, "I'm talking about how some of us walked into the sea and most of us stayed on the shore."
In between are a wealth of stories that tackle slavery, racism, gods, drugs, werewolves, and a great deal more. As is almost inevitable in an anthology of some two dozen stories, not every one appealed to me. There were also a few stories that I found effective, yet too bleak to describe as enjoyable, such as Pam Noles's powerful "Whipping Boy," in which a 19-year-old becomes a supernatural scapegoat.
Among my favorites were two of the older selections: "Jesus Christ in Texas," by W. E. B. Du Bois, published in 1920, all the more striking for the quiet restraint of its storytelling, and Walter Mosley's 1967 story "Whispers in the Dark," made moving by the characters' compassion for each other. I also particularly liked "Corona," by Samuel R. Delany, a vividly imagined story where two very different people (a White male ex-convict and a telepathic Black nine-year-old girl) briefly meet and each try to help the other.
My favorite of all was Nisi Shawl's "Maggies," which skilfully paints a future where modified humans (Maggies) help in terraforming, a complex, very well-told story, centered on its characters but encompassing a powerful inditement of racism, that managed all this while being a pleasure to read.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).