Black science fiction books, Afrofuturistic stories, or short stories by Black authors were once unfortunately uncommon, but as of late there have been a lot more fantastic novels to introduce some diversity into this historically homogeneous genre/classification. There’s certainly been more books with wide-spread marketing efforts, which is critical, too.
This list contains 50+ of the best in Black Science Fiction (divided up into Adult and YA titles, with a handful of Children’s / Middle Grade titles added at the end). So many of these titles have been published in just the last couple years, so I am so pumped for what’s to come in the future! I’ll be updating this list as new, great titles are released!
Adult Black Science Fiction Young Adult Black Science Fiction Middle Grade & Children’s Black Science Fiction Is there a fantastic book missing from this list? If so, please drop a comment below!
P.S. Note that for a few of the more prolific authors, I’ve limited their entries to the first of their series or a handful of their books, even though they may have many fantastic books that fall into this category, just to be able to represent more authors here.
Adult Black Science Fiction
The City We Became N. K. Jemisin
What It's About:
Publication Date: March 24, 2020
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) N. K. Jemisin
What It's About:
Publication Date: August 4, 2015
out of 5 on Goodreads
How Long 'til Black Future Month? N. K. Jemisin
What It's About:
Publication Date: November 27, 2018
out of 5 on Goodreads
Who Fears Death (Who Fears Death #1) Nnedi Okorafor
What It's About:
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
out of 5 on Goodreads
Rosewater (The Wormwood Trilogy #1) Tade Thompson
What It's About:
Publication Date: September 18, 2018
out of 5 on Goodreads
Wild Seed (Patternmaster, #1) Octavia E. Butler
What It's About:
Publication Date: March 17, 2020
out of 5 on Goodreads
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) Octavia E. Butler
What It's About:
Publication Date: April 30, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
Bloodchild and Other Stories Octavia E. Butler
What It's About:
Publication Date: October 4, 2005
out of 5 on Goodreads
Dawn (Xenogenesis #1) Octavia Butler
What It's About:
Publication Date: April 1, 1997
out of 5 on Goodreads
Kindred Octavia E. Butler
What It's About:
Publication Date: May 3, 2018
out of 5 on Goodreads
Riot Baby Tochi Onyebuchi
What It's About:
Publication Date: January 21, 2020
out of 5 on Goodreads
Freshwater Akwaeke Emezi
What It's About:
Publication Date: February 13, 2018
out of 5 on Goodreads
Friday Black Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
What It's About:
Publication Date: October 23, 2018
out of 5 on Goodreads
An Unkindness of Ghosts Rivers Solomon
What It's About:
Publication Date: October 3, 2017
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Deep Rivers Solomon
What It's About:
Publication Date: November 5, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
My Soul to Keep (African Immortals #1) Tananarive Due
What It's About:
Publication Date: April 8, 1998
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Good House Tananarive Due
What It's About:
Publication Date: February 18, 2024
out of 5 on Goodreads
Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1) Rebecca Roanhorse
What It's About:
Publication Date: October 13, 2020
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Prey of Gods Nicky Drayden
What It's About:
Publication Date: June 13, 2017
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 P. Djèlí Clark
What It's About:
Publication Date: February 19, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat
What It's About:
Publication Date: April 2, 1996
out of 5 on Goodreads
Wizard of the Crow Ngugi wa'Thiong'o
What It's About:
Publication Date: August 8, 2006
out of 5 on Goodreads
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky Lesley Nneka Arimah
What It's About:
Publication Date: April 4, 2017
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Intuitionist Colson Whitehead
What It's About:
Publication Date: January 1, 2017
out of 5 on Goodreads
Zone One Colson Whitehead
What It's About:
Publication Date: October 18, 2011
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Underground Railroad Colson Whitehead
What It's About:
Publication Date: August 2, 2016
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Water Dancer Ta-Nehisi Coates
What It's About:
See the
Full Summary and Review of The Water Dancer
Publication Date: September 24, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Famished Road Ben Okri
What It's About:
Publication Date: May 1, 1993
out of 5 on Goodreads
Invisible Man Ralph Ellison
What It's About:
Publication Date: January 1, 1995
out of 5 on Goodreads
Black No More George S. Schuyler
What It's About:
Publication Date: June 29, 1999
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Gilda Stories Jewelle Gomez
What It's About:
Publication Date: March 29, 2016
out of 5 on Goodreads
Babel-17 Samuel R. Delany
What It's About:
Publication Date: January 8, 2002
out of 5 on Goodreads
Brown Girl in the Ring Nalo Hopkinson
What It's About:
Publication Date: July 1, 1998
out of 5 on Goodreads
New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color Rebecca Roanhorse
What It's About:
Publication Date: March 12, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora Sheree Renée Thomas
What It's About:
Publication Date: July 18, 2000
out of 5 on Goodreads
Futureland: Nine Stories of an Imminent World Walter Mosley
What It's About:
Publication Date: November 1, 2002
out of 5 on Goodreads
Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements Walidah Imarisha
What It's About:
Publication Date: April 7, 2015
out of 5 on Goodreads
Young Adult Black Science Fiction
Dread Nation (Dread Nation #1) Justina Ireland
What It's About:
Publication Date: April 3, 2018
out of 5 on Goodreads
Kingdom of Souls (Kingdom of Souls #1) Rena Barron
What It's About:
Publication Date: August 8, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Gilded Ones (Deathless #1) Namina Forna
What It's About:
Publication Date: February 9, 2021
out of 5 on Goodreads
Raybearer (Raybearer #1) Jordan Ifueko
What It's About:
Publication Date: August 18, 2020
out of 5 on Goodreads
Akata Witch Nnedi Okorafor
What It's About:
Publication Date: April 14, 2011
out of 5 on Goodreads
Binti (Binti #1) Nnedi Okorafor
What It's About:
Publication Date: September 22, 2015
out of 5 on Goodreads
Song of Blood & Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles #1) L. Penelope
What It's About:
Publication Date: July 16, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
Long Division Kiese Laymon
What It's About:
Publication Date: June 11, 2013
out of 5 on Goodreads
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #1) Roseanne A. Brown
What It's About:
Publication Date: June 2, 2020
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Good Luck Girls (The Good Luck Girls #1) Charlotte Nicole Davis
What It's About:
Publication Date: October 1, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
Noughts & Crosses Malorie Blackman
What It's About:
Publication Date: February 18, 2024
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Black God's Drums P. Djèlí Clark
What It's About:
Publication Date: August 21, 2018
out of 5 on Goodreads
Pet Akwaeke Emezi
What It's About:
Publication Date: September 10, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
Slay Brittney Morris
What It's About:
Publication Date: September 24, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
A Song Below Water Bethany C. Morrow
What It's About:
Publication Date: June 2, 2020
out of 5 on Goodreads
War Girls (War Girls #1) Tochi Onyebuchi
What It's About:
Publication Date: October 15, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
The Cost of Knowing Brittney Morris
What It's About:
Publication Date: April 6, 2021
out of 5 on Goodreads
Wings of Ebony J. Elle
What It's About:
Publication Date: January 26, 2021
out of 5 on Goodreads
Witches Steeped in Gold Ciannon Smart
What It's About:
Publication Date: April 20, 2021
out of 5 on Goodreads
Blood Scion
What It's About:
Publication Date: Not Available
out of 5 on Goodreads
Middle Grade & Children’s Black Science Fiction
Shadows of Sherwood (Robyn Hoodlum #1) Kekla Magoon
What It's About:
Publication Date: August 4, 2015
out of 5 on Goodreads
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong #1) Kwame Mbalia
What It's About:
Publication Date: October 15, 2019
out of 5 on Goodreads
Root Magic Eden Royce
What It's About:
Publication Date: January 5, 2021
out of 5 on Goodreads
Zahrah the Windseeker Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
What It's About: In the northern Ooni Kingdom, fear of the unknown runs deep, and children born dada are rumored to have special powers. Thirteen-year-old Zahrah Tsami feels like a normal girl -- she grows her own flora computer, has mirrors sewn onto her clothes, and stays clear of the Forbidden Greeny Jungle. But unlike other kids in the village of Kirki, Zahrah was born with the telling dadalocks...
Publication Date: February 18, 2024
out of 5 on Goodreads
47 Walter Mosley
What It's About:
Publication Date: November 1, 2006
out of 5 on Goodreads
(By the way, this image is from the Subterranean Press’s limited edition version of How Long Until Black Future Month by N.K. Jemison)
Thanks for this amazing list. I believe Jewelle Gomez’ s the Gilda Stories should definitely be on this list
oh awesome thank you for that suggestion!
great list, thank you! i would add nnedi okorafor‘s “lagoon” and “the prey of gods” by nicky drayden
Such a GREAT list! Thanks for sharing books for all age groups!
thank you! :)
I wanted to also suggest Remembrance by Rita Woods. Intense and beautifully written. Powerful story.
Legendborn and Bloodmarked by Tracey Deonn