I was blown away by the brilliance of blockbuster Marvel movie Black Panther! In particular I loved the sub-Saharan African setting.
It made me think what adult fantasy and science fiction novels are out there with similar settings. So… after a bit of digging around the internet, Goodreads, Reddit r/fantasy and Amazon, here are 11 books that I’m going to be checking out and one that I’ve already read that I definitely recommend. Majority are fantasy, but all are either set in Africa or have African inspired settings.
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Recently a reviewer described my novel Melokai (In the Heart of the Mountains #1) as grimdark. I’ve been calling it epic fantasy, but as it does fit with the grimdark sentiment, I’m embracing it wholeheartedly! So, just what is grimdark?
Book Review: The Mirror Empire (The Worldbreaker Saga #1) by Kameron Hurley (published by Angry Robot)
The Mirror Empire confused the crap out of me! But the worldbuilding was refreshingly unique and weird. So, although some of the time I wasn’t sure entirely what was going on in this epic grimdark fantasy, I really enjoyed it.
Book Review: The Waking Fire (The Draconis Memoria #1) by Anthony Ryan (published by Orbit)
This is one dense fantasy novel! There’s a lot going on, and a lot to take in but I really enjoyed it. The Waking Fire is set in a world where there are still ‘empires’ in the traditional sense but also ‘empires’ in terms of a corporate entity that has grown big and powerful. Both the empire and the corporate empire are after the same thing – drake blood, or ‘product’.
Book Review: Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames (published by Orbit)
This is a fun fantasy full of action, rock and roll references, humour and LOTS of strange, bloodthirsty creatures. Kings of the Wyld tells the story of an old mercenary band who reform nineteen years after they disbanded to save the daughter of one of the band members. She set off to start a band of her own, only to be caught in a siege by a great, angry horde of aforementioned creatures.
Book Review: James: Witch-Hunter by K.S. Marsden (published by K.S. Marsden)
This paranormal / urban fantasy book is a prequel to the author’s Witch-Hunter series and focuses on one of the characters from the trilogy called James. It can be read as a standalone, but, in my opinion having never read the series, is also a great warm up to the main event. Much of the action in my epic fantasy Melokai is set in a matriarchal country called Peqkya. The society is ruled by women and women’s interests are valued above the men.
One thousand years before the story takes place, the country was a war-torn, ravaged and frightening place to live – for both the men and the women. A woman, Sybilya, wrenched power from the tyrannical, savage men who then ruled, and the women have maintained control since.
Book Review: The Blinding Knife (The Lightbringer Series Book 2) by Brent Weeks (published by Orbit)
After absolutely loving the first book in the series, The Black Prism (read my review here) I couldn’t wait to read The Blinding Knife. I loved this one too, but not quite as much as the first. It picks up immediately after the end of book one on the ships that escaped Garriston. The Prism, Gavin Guile, must find somewhere for a lot of war refugees to live. But first, he must battle a sea monster…
Book Review: The Sheriff by Simon Fairbanks (published by Simon Fairbanks)
This short, quick read was delightful and I really enjoyed it! It is an action and adventure fantasy that pulls you into it’s imaginative world and the detective tale that unfolds. It follows the story of Sheriff Denebola, a lion who walks on two legs and who is sworn to protect everyone in the world of Nephos by the Maverick, a descendent of the Clown.
Book Review and Author Interview: Faithless by Graham Austin-King (published by Fallen Leaf Press)
At the end of October, I attended a science fiction and fantasy convention called BristolCon and there I had the pleasure of hearing Graham Austin-King reading from Faithless. I had already started the novel, and Graham kindly agreed to answer some questions for me. So, below is my review and then an interview with the author. From Melokai story concept through to ‘on sale’ took me one year, four months. It was an intensive time, and in this post I will break down the different stages of planning, writing, production and marketing that led up to publication day on 10th October, 2017.
My original idea for Melokai came when I was trekking in Nepal’s Annapurna Sanctuary and I started to daydream about a country surrounded by mountains and ruled by women. The trek took eleven days up and down, hiking for seven hours on some days, so I spent a lot of time in my head and a story formed.
One of the critical parts to my thinking was about this country (which I named Peqkya) and about the wider world it was situated in. It was important to me that Peqkya was a country which could actually be real, which could survive and function, and wasn’t one dimensional. Imagining my own races was exciting and creatively satisfying, as was devising my own world, complete with different ecologies and environments. But both required quite a bit of research to make sure my fantasy world and its inhabitants were grounded in some semblance of reality! Here I detail some of the research I did for my epic fantasy novel Melokai.
Wondering how to say Peqkya? Well, here’s a short pronunciation guide for some of the tongue-twister names of characters, peoples and places in my epic fantasy novel Melokai, book one of In the Heart of the Mountains trilogy.
In Melokai, book one of the In the Heart of the Mountains trilogy, life in Peqkya is based on the philosophies of the Stone Prophetess Sybilya. These ten maxims are ingrained in everything a Peqkian does and they each feel the presence of Sybilya within them. Melokai Ramya repeats Sybilya’s Sayings often to herself.
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