I’d call this afro soc-fi, because it doesn’t take the inherently rosy view of afrofuturism, but focuses on the role of the community in these peoples’ lives and in how the science fiction plays out, and how they’re stronger for it. There are a lot of characters, but it’s an epic like the tale it’s based on, and I don’t mind it at all.
Yes, there is the biblical retelling here (and some neat shoutouts to the original story throughout the text), but this is inherently also a book about the prison system and gentrification and the realities of how and who a space colony system would cater to, with a good sprinkling of radiation and automated policing. His breakdown of the research he did in the back and how he extrapolated it out also gave me some new future reading to be excited about, when I can find it. There is one section of this book that may feel a bit info-dumpy, but the way it’s structured, it ends up being a keystone to understanding the rest of the novel. This is, to my understanding, Onyebuchi’s first novel aimed at the adult sci-fi market, and I’m honestly deeply impressed with what he’s done with this story. It also isn’t interested in hand holding you through it, which I respect. Let’s get this out of the way first - no, it’s not linearly told, yes, it’s inherently political, fucking deal with it. He has worked in criminal justice, the tech industry, and immigration law, and prays every day for a new album from System of a Down. He is the winner of the Ilube Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel by an African and has appeared in Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading list.īorn in Massachusetts and raised in Connecticut, Tochi is a consummate New Englander, preferring the way the tree leaves turn the color of fire on I-84 to mosquitoes and being able to boil eggs on pavement.
His non-fiction has appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Nowhere Magazine, Tor.com and the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy.
His short fiction has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, Omenana, Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, and elsewhere. He has graduated from Yale University, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia Law School, and L’institut d’études politiques with a Masters degree in Global Business Law. Tochi Onyebuchi is the author of Beasts Made of Night, its sequel Crown of Thunder, War Girls, and Riot Baby, published by Tor.com in January 2020.
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