Black SF & Fantasy

A selection of recommended of science-fiction and fantasy stories written by Black authors. These are just some of the great titles by Black authors writing in these genres. See our catalogue for more. Or check out our similar list on Overdrive/Libby: https://elibrary.overdrive.com/collection/1527183

Updated February 10, 2026
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Death of the author : a novel
Okorafor, Nnedi
Paper Book
THE INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Order now and receive the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last--featuring a special alternate cover design on the hardcover case, gorgeous sprayed edges, and exclusive endpapers. This breathtaking edition is only available on a limited first...
Make Me a Monster
Bayron, Kalynn.
Paper Book
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Featuring colored endpapers and a designed case! New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is back with a Frankenstein-tinged horror romance. Meka is used to death....
(S)Kin
Zoboi, Ibi Aanu.
Paper Book
A FINALIST FOR THE 2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD SIX STARRED REVIEWS A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her groundbreaking contemporary fantasy debut--a novel in verse based...
Infinity Alchemist
Callender, Kacen.
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND INDIE BESTSELLER! Infinity Alchemist is a spellbinding fantasy novel about a quest that leads three young alchemists toward dangerous truth, legendary love, and extraordinary power. With their signature...
Dead Cat Tail Assassins
Paper Book
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats. Nor do they have tails. But they are most assuredly dead. Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins. ...
Chain Gang All Stars : A Novel.
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Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR * FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION * A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from...
Delicious monsters.
Sambury, Liselle.
Paper Book
The Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart. Daisy sees dead people--something impossible to forget in bustling,...
Sing Me to Sleep
Paper Book
Featured in the New York Times, Glamour, Buzzfeed, and more! In this dark and seductive YA fantasy debut, perfect for fans of Fourth Wing and These Violent Delights, a siren assassin falls for a forbidden man. Killer. Liar. Soldier. Spy....
Black Candle Women : A Novel.
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Paper Book
A Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Seen on the Today Show "If you like Practical Magic... you will love Black Candle Women." --Jenna Bush Hager Named a Best Book of the Month by: Shondaland, MS. Magazine, TODAY.com, Reader's Digest,...
The memory librarian : and other stories of dirty computer.
Monae, Janelle
Paper Book
New York Times bestseller! In The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, futurist, and worldwide superstar Janelle Monáe brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums,...
Blood scion.
Falaye, Deborah
Paper Book
"Equal parts soaring fantasy, heart-pounding action, and bloody social commentary, Blood Scion is a triumph of a book." --Roseanne A. Brown, New York Times bestselling author of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin  This is what they deserve. They wanted me to be a monster....
Bad witch burning
Lewis, Jessica 1994-
Paper Book
For fans of Lovecraft Country and Candyman comes a witchy story full of Black girl magic as one girl's dark ability to summon the dead offers her a chance at a new life, while revealing to her an even darker future. Katrell can talk to the dead. And she wishes it...
Beasts of prey.
Gray, Ayana
Paper Book
In this blockbuster fantasy series, perfect for fans of Firekeeper's Daughter and Iron Widow, fate binds two Black teenagers together as they journey into a magical jungle to hunt down a vicious monster. "Rich in magic and mythos, Beasts of Prey is a feast...
Remote control.
Okorafor, Nnedi
Paper Book
An alien artifact turns a young girl into Death's adopted daughter in Remote Control, a thrilling sci-fi tale of community and female empowerment from Nebula and Hugo Award-winner Nnedi Okorafor "She's the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind...
This poison heart
Bayron, Kalynn.
Paper Book
Darkness blooms in bestselling author Kalynn Bayron's new contemporary fantasy about a girl with a unique and deadly power. Briseis has a gift: with a single touch she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms. When Briseis's aunt dies and wills her a...
Witches steeped in gold.
Smart, Ciannon
Paper Book
This Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut about two enemy witches who must enter into a deadly alliance to take down a common enemy has the twisted cat-and-mouse of Killing Eve with the richly imagined fantasy world of Furyborn and Ember in the Ashes. ...
Skin of the sea
Bowen, Natasha
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The must-read Black mermaid fantasy series that #1 NYT bestselling author Nicola Yoon calls "epic and original," in which one mermaid takes on the gods themselves. Perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and anyone who can't...
Within these wicked walls.
Blackwood, Lauren.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERREESE'S BOOK CLUB FALL 2021 YA PICK "Lauren Blackwood's can't-miss debut is a magical, Ethiopian-inspired remix of Jane Eyre." - Harper's Bazaar What the heart desires, the...
The city we became.
Jemisin, N. K.
Paper Book
An instant NYT Bestseller! Four-time Hugo Award-winning author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, the first book in The Great Cities Duology, a crackling tale of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New...
The gilded ones.
Forna, Namina.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TEEN VOGUE   "A dark feminist tale spun with blood and gold. Must read!" -Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author...
Legendborn.
Deonn, Tracy.
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn's YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and "braids...
A song of wraiths and ruin.
Brown, Roseanne A.
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! The first in a gripping fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction--from debut...
Black sun
Roanhorse, Rebecca
Paper Book
NOMINATED FOR THE 2021 HUGO AWARDS AND THE 2020 NEBULA AWARDS FOR BEST NOVEL From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian...
Black leopard, red wolf
James, Marlon 1970-
Paper Book
One of TIME's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time Winner of the L.A. Times Ray Bradbury Prize Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award The New York Times Bestseller Named a Best Book of 2019 by The Wall Street...
Black Panther : the young prince
Smith, Ronald L. (Ronald Lenard) 1959-
Paper Book
Book 1 in The Young Prince series by award-winning author Ronald L. Smith! Black Panther. Ruler of Wakanda. Avenger.This is his destiny. But right now, he's simply T'Challa--the young prince. Life is comfortable for twelve-year...
Parable of the sower
Butler, Octavia E.
Paper Book
This acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from an award-winning author "pairs well with 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale" and includes a foreword by N. K. Jemisin (John Green, New York Times). When global climate change and economic crises lead to...
Pet.
Emezi, Akwaeke
Paper Book
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * STONEWALL BOOK AWARD WINNER * ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by The New York Times * Time * Buzzfeed * NPR * New York Public Library * Publishers Weekly * School...
The water dancer.
Coates, Ta-Nehisi
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * From the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me, a boldly conjured debut novel about a magical gift, a devastating loss, and an underground war for freedom. "This potent book about America's...
How long 'til black future month?
Jemisin, N. K.
Paper Book
Three-time Hugo Award winner and NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin challenges and delights readers with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption that sharply examine modern society in her first collection of short fiction, which includes never-before-seen...
Children of blood and bone.
Adeyemi, Tomi.
Paper Book
Discover the groundbreaking series that became a global sensation―over 2 million books sold! An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller * A TIME Top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time * A New York Times Notable Children's Book * A Kirkus Prize Finalist * Five Starred Reviews
The belles.
Clayton, Dhonielle.
Paper Book
Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orleans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be...
Sing, unburied, sing
Ward, Jesmyn
Paper Book
*WINNER of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD for FICTION *A TIME MAGAZINE BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR and A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 OF 2017 *Finalist for the Kirkus Prize *Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal *Finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize...
The fifth season.
Jemisin, N. K.
Paper Book
At the end of the world, a woman must hide her secret power and find her kidnapped daughter in this "intricate and extraordinary" Hugo Award winning novel of power, oppression, and revolution. (The New York Times) This is the way the world ends. . .for the last time. ...
Dorothy must die
Paige, Danielle (Novelist)
Paper Book
The New York Times bestselling first book in a dark new series that reimagines the Oz saga, from debut author Danielle Paige. I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero. But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado--taking you with it--you have...
Fledgling : novel
Butler, Octavia E.
Paper Book
"A master storyteller, Butler casts an unflinching eye on racism, sexism, poverty, and ignorance and lets the reader see the terror and beauty of human nature." -- The Washington Post This is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly unhuman needs and...

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