The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

This is the third volume in this highly praised series (the first won the World Fantasy Award). Previous works have been praised for their eclectic mix of stories, offering a panorama of themes and styles. For instance, the 2021 edition included a story about a woman struggling with her identity and relationship in the face of a thought-recording device, a tale of a man fostering a rapidly evolving robot, and an adventurous narrative about a sentient robot dog engaging in space piracy. These stories not only explored advanced technologies and speculative scenarios but also delved deep into human emotions, relationships, and societal issues.

Themes of personal struggles, such as dealing with depression, anxiety, and feelings of alienation, were also prominent. These were manifested through unique and powerful metaphors, like a woman whose detachable body parts symbolized her sense of disintegration and invisibility, or a story that portrayed the torment of self-contempt through the constant barrage of negative thoughts from imaginary entities.

The anthology also ventured into mythic dimensions, echoing the voices and histories of entire cultures through concise yet profound storytelling. For example, flash fiction pieces in the collection reached the heights of epic poetry, encapsulating the journey of human life and cultural evolution.

With such a backdrop, the 2023 volume continues this tradition of blending speculative elements with profound human experiences and cultural narratives. It's likely to feature stories that push the boundaries of imagination while staying grounded in the complexities of the human condition. Readers can anticipate a collection that entertains, provokes thought, and offers new perspectives on the future and the present. The anthology is not just a showcase of speculative fiction; it's a celebration of African storytelling, creativity, and the endless possibilities within the realm of speculative fiction.

If you are looking to expand the depth and nuance of your speculative fiction readings, this collection is for you. I appreciated the fact that I was introduced to authors and read offerings from people I am familiar with and admire.

A gathering of the greats! I loved this collection, some of which I had read before. There's something for everyone and I'm glad to see the number of African spec fic grow year-by-year!

Dense and full of variety, this is a great anthology to have. I don't think I could recommend it to anything less than hard-core fans of speculative fiction, though. It's a lot. But in the best way.

I have thusfar read every volume of The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction and, like its predecessors, 2023’s collection is excellent.

I had already previously read and really enjoyed two stories in this collection – Wole Talabi’s, which is also published in his fantastic collection Convergence Problems, and P. Djèlí Clark’s Hugo-nominated “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” – but the rest were new to me. Starting the collection knowing that there were two five-star stories in it definitely meant I knew this collection would be strong.

As with any anthology, some stories really stood out to me and were my favourites and others I didn’t care for as much, but overall this is a really excellent collection (as are the other volumes in this series). As always, I’ve found a few new-to-me authors that I really look forward to reading more from. I appreciate the diversity of the stories featured in numerous respects – they include a range of genres (fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and several really genre-defying stories), diverse settings, diverse protagonists, and a breadth of themes – and absolutely recommend this anthology to speculative fiction readers.

Content warnings: violence, gun violence, police brutality, war, death, death of a child, death of a parent, blood, murder, animal cruelty, animal death, self harm, suicide, colonialism, racism, sexism, misogyny, gender based violence, abandonment

Its always hard to rate anthologies since each story and author is unique. Overall I think this was a strong showing, I liked most of the stories with two standouts being "Suppertime" by Tananarive Due and "How to raise a kraken in your bathtub" by P. Djeli Clark. Those two were particularly good. There were a few I did not like at all, but that is to be expected. I found a few new authors I will keep my eye out for as well.

what a wonderful anthology! a true delight to be able to explore the future of african speculative writing in such depth. highs and lows for me in this collection, but it's so profoundly a matter of taste in short story that i think as an anthology it does what it sets out to do — grab stories from all corners of the speculative genre and paint a picture of everything it can be/is. very valuable read overall, i've found new favorites and authors to keep my eyes on! very happy such an anthology exists, it truly is a stunning showcase of very different talents with very different skillsets. will be looking out for next year's!

favorites include 'suppertime' (Tananarive Due), 'a name is a plea and a prophecy' (Gabrielle Emem Harry), 'how to raise a kraken in your bathtub' (p. djèlí clark), 'the rafting of jorge santa cruz' (adelehin ijasan), 'by throat and void' (tobias s. buckell) and 'rainbow bank' (uchechukwu nwaka).

I thought this was a strong multi-author anthology, with both familiar and unfamiliar writers presenting a pretty wide range of fantastic and speculative fiction. It is not really African, per se, but felt more representative of the African diaspora, though many stories retained a real African flavor. I liked those stories, with a rich sense of difference and the unfamiliar (to me). Favorites included the Clark alternate world fantasy, the futuristic Huchu story which opens the book, and the lovely Ngemtu. I recommend this for its variety, its intelligence, and the powerful language and themes of many of the tales.

Great cover and stories. It is so nice to get these speculative stories from African authors. "The Haunting of Kambili" was particularly creepy and sad, dealing with generational trauma.