New African American Books: Science Fiction
March 21, 2010
Del Rey
Available 05/05/09 in Hardcover
In Great Sky Woman, Steven Barnes’s Great Sky Woman unveiled the world of a prehistoric people in the shadow of modern-day Mount Kilimanjaro. Now, in Shadow Valley, the astounding sequel, we follow the Ibandi people’s odyssey through a land where everything has changed-a land from whose ashes will grow the roots of civilization and the enduring truths of love, family, forgiveness, and faith.After the catastrophic eruption of Father Mountain, the Ibandi are divided, desperate, and afraid. Most have followed the only person in whom they still believe: young Sky Woman, who was on the great mountain when it exploded and who, along with Frog Hopping, returned to tell the tale.
Nurtured by an elder whose searing visions have left her blind, Sky Woman nonetheless doubts her own visionary powers as she follows a path she can hardly discern-across savannah and parched plains-to find a valley of plenty for a people on the brink of collapse.But in fact, Sky Woman and Frog were not the only survivors of the mountain’s explosion. Another man has emerged from the destruction, vengeance pulsing in his veins, to lead a separate group of Ibandi into a vicious and reckless act of war.
Soon these two strands of survivors will meet, through chance, desperation, and sheer willpower. In a world in which every moment is lived on the edge between life and death, where animal and human predators can strike in an instant, where the gods themselves seem lost, and dreams entwine with reality, a people’s destiny rushes toward them. The Ibandi must make a last, violent stand against complete destruction. In this hypnotic, thrilling, and beautiful novel, Steven Barnes explores relationships between friends and lovers, leaders and followers, strangers and allies. At once visceral and soaringly insightful, Shadow Valley is about who we are as human beings today as seen through the wondrous prism of our distant past.
March 11, 2010
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy)
by N.K. Jemisin
Orbit
Available 10/01/10 in Mass Market Paperback
Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is the debut novel from a major new voice in fantasy fiction.
February 8, 2010
BookSurge Publishing
Available 12/10/09 in Paperback
The Darkling by Keoni Anderson follows Henry, a San Bernadino, California, high school student who desperately wants to escape the slums and get admitted to a good college. But when he stumbles upon a mysterious key and note in a local park, all bets are off for a normal college life, when the found items lead Henry to Sofa Re and the dark secret hidden in the shelves of Re’s innocuous bookstore.
A hidden world of alien conspiracies, creatures, hunted fugitives, and relentless persecutors unfold before Henry, who is pulled into an alien civil war whose seeds were planted on Earth millennium earlier, now coming to life in the form of a conflagration in which Henry is destined to play a key role, changing him, his world, and a galaxy forever. Written in nail-biting prose and filled with compelling characters, author Anderson has created a space epic worthy of the best in the science fiction genre. This is a must read for any sci-fi fan, or anyone who loves a great story well told.
October 28, 2009
Title: LosCon 36
Location: Los Angeles Airport Marriott
Website: http://www.loscon.org/36
Description:
LosCon 36, But Wait…There’s More! is the exploration of the diversity of Science Fiction. We are having a whole host of panels, workshops, and activities for you. The convention is organized into Theme Days and Programming Tracks in order for you to be able to easily find the special events and programs you will most enjoy.
Themes are: Friday – Horror, Saturday – Dress Like a Pirate Day, and Sunday – Honoring Writers and Artists
The Tracks are: Anime, Art, BEM’s & Aliens, Fantasy & Magic, Gaming, Heroes & Superheroes, Horror, Military & Historical, Myth & Legend, Proto-Science Fiction, Science & Technology, Speculative Fiction, and Writing.
We are very pleased to have authors Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes as our Writer Guests of Honor.
Start Date: November 27, 2009
End Date: November 29, 2009
July 27, 2009
The McKenzie Files
By Barry K. Nelson
Leucrota Press.
Publication Date: August 1, 2008
$14.99
ISBN: 978-0-9800339-2-2
The Human empire, The United Protectorate, is at war with the reptilian alien race known as the Brelac. The Brelac’s onslaught brings forth the creation of genetically engineered Humanoid weapons called Reploids. These Reploids are the perfect weapon. They are identical copies of real Humans that have been captured, killed, cloned, embedded with powerful psionic based abilities, and programmed to kill for the Brelac. They are untraceable as the blend into Human society. And they are believable. So believable that the Reploids themselves don’t even know that they are clones.
Colin McKenzie is a second generation Reploid planted in the Protectorate military. When he turns on his commanding officer in an attempt to protect two shipwrecked Brelac soldiers, he is captured and reprogrammed along with two other arrested Reploids to serve the government that they were originally created to destroy. In the meantime a dark alliance between the Brelac and the separatist organization, Vendetta looms over the Protectorate. The balance is upset when the traitorous Doctor Howard Fenlow, the scientist who is the very creator of the Reploids, manages to create a weapon powerful enough to bring the Protectorate to its knees.
