Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond

I'm a second-generation SF/F reader/writer/fan with voraciously completist tastes; when I find writers I like, I chase down everything they have written.Which pretty much sold this anthology to me. Well, that, and the price, and the fact I am still reeling with delight at the notion of books that don't weigh anything to carry around (I bought the Kindle edition). At a few cents a page, this is an entertainment bargain. Every story is different, in some cases obliquely introducing real-world cultures of which I have been only dimly aware. There's way more to science-fiction than square-jawed white guys with ray guns, and this brilliantly curated anthology travels the globe with a dizzying variety of prose styles, tones, genres and sub-genres, as well as the most important thing: characters and worlds. I am going back to the table of contents and chasing down all of these folks to Read More.So if you worry you might have read it all … no fear! Buy this anthology and take the best Trip there is.By the way, a family member bought the paperback edition, and it's gorgeously produced. The cover art shows well in the electronic version but it's absolutely splendid in matte-finish paperback.

Mothership is a book that goes far beyond its sub-title, something I grew to enjoy more and more as I read on. It is a collection of stories in various genres, with a focus on people typically underrepresented in the field of literature. While the breaking of all-white stereotypes in fantasy and science fictions is a laudable goal, too often the efforts feel almost glued-upon, as if the author(s) were using race, culture and/or religion as an excuse for a lack of ideas or depth. Not so with Mothership, however: Bill Campbell and Edward Austin Hall have provided us with a brilliant set of tales that uses concepts of the more rarely seen ethnic and cultural frameworks, to provide new, intriguing and often very deep and clever works of fiction.I could make an exhausting list of the stories that I liked (and it would be much quicker, if less polite, to list the rare few I did not), but I will mention just a couple that really caught my fancy. Chinelo Onwualu's "The Homecoming", a wonderfully transposed tale of social status, role and servitude, S. P. Somtow's "The Pavillion of Frozen Women", about being a foreigner (and a minority) in Japan, and Joseph Bruchac's "Dances with Ghosts", a nifty, sarcastic ghost story about Native Americans, each would have alone been worth the price of this book.Mothership is an example case on how discussing themes such as afrofuturism, or alternate histories of India, Native Americans or Arabic cultures, really can create new, compelling stories that at the same time entertain and make the reader think about their central themes and surrounding contexts. With its authors coming from various parts of the globe, and willing to use their own cultural backgrounds and dialects as tools for evoking intriguing fictional words, the book makes a lasting impression in also a North European, Caucasian reader such as myself. It is a powerful testament to the power of science fiction and fantasy to speak of serious issues through fictional settings - and to the fact that sometimes, the true gems are indeed found off the most beaten paths.

Rare is the anthology that can hit you with every story. This one is no different. Given the theme, it could easily have been something that hit on only half the stories. I was pleasantly surprised to find no more misses than usual.

this collection is amazing. As someone who loves Afrofuturism I can't do without this book. The stories are so well written, some are downright scary. A must read!

This is a great collection of well-told stories. It's worth the price just for "Skin Dragons Talk" by Ernest Hogan. You'll never look at a tattoo the same.

This is very much a book for adults (or at least that first story was).I'm reading this book from the 1st short story, hopefully all the way to the end.I am 5 stories in. Out of these 5 stories, 2 of them had a Black person as the lead character, and none of them actually take place in Africa.The book is advertised as "Afrofuturism and Beyond", so far, it has been just the "Beyond".Don't get me wrong, the SciFi shorts are enjoyable, but so far, they are not Afrofuturism, which was the main reason why I bought the book.I would only recommend this book if you want some SciFi shorts written in different styles, if you just have it with that expectation, then you would be less disappointed.

I'd mostly reiterate what other reviewers have said already (but: for best story in the collection, my vote is Junot Diaz's "Monstro," making this a must-have for Diaz fans). This collection really showcases innovative work across the different strains of sci-fi, and would incidentally make a great text for a course on contemporary sci-fi.

Great collection. Some of the stories are super short, but so far I'm enjoying them.

good book