Vicenary: A Collection of Black and African Culture Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories

by George Allen Blacken

What is your story? In the Variances of the Cosmos, there are infinite possibilities. One decision can change everything. The actions of a single person truly make a difference. Heroes come in all forms, races, and cultures. Africans and African Americans are not exceptions to this. This collection of twenty brand new science fiction and fantasy stories presents relatable characters, thought provoking themes, dramatic plots, and heart penetrating words that are both relevant and entertaining for any culture. These stories are crafted for fans of urban, fantasy, supernatural, dystopian, superhero, space opera, and robot fiction. Find your story. Note that a bonus story is also included in this collection.

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 19, 2020

About the author

The youngest of two sons, Pastor George Blacken is a graduate of Florida A&M University―Florida State University College of Engineering. After graduating, he returned to his home state of Virginia to pursue a graduate degree in engineering from Old Dominion University in Norfolk. As part of Living Waters Way of the Cross Church in Newport News, he served as the Brotherhood Secretary, Junior Usher Board Treasurer, Together We Can Math Tutor, Baritone for the Male Chorus, and a Vacation Bible School assistant. He was one of the key coordinators for the annual Living Waters Way of the Cross Church Men's Day Conference. In 2003, he moved to Washington, D.C. to work for CSC in an engineering capacity. He was called to the ministry in 2005, and married Lady Melissa Head in 2006. In 2007, he published his first book, Happiness as an Independent Variable, and as a member at Bible Way Temple, worked with a variety of auxiliaries at Bible Way including Pastor's and Elder's Board, Youth Department, Sunday School Teacher, Bible Way Men's Retreat Committee, Bible Way World Wide Sunday School Region II Steering Committee, and the Wednesday Church Bible Study. He was ordained as an elder in 2009 at the July 2009 Bible Way World Wide convocation in New York. In 2012, he and his wife moved to Waldorf, Maryland, where they established Holy Temple Cross Ministries Inc. In 2017 he started a publishing company, Apostolic Pentecostal Alliance Books LLC. He and his wife were blessed with four wonderful children―George Jr., Timothy, Grace, and Matthew. He has written multiple science fiction, fantasy, and inspirational books.

Reviews

[Amy Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I genuinely loved this book. I flew through it, then found myself reading a line and circling back to really soak in the words. I want more!

[Karen Siddall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vicenary offers many engaging and fresh stories; however, they need to be fleshed out and edited for the best reading experience.

Vicenary could be one of the most compelling books I’ve read this year. Each story felt fresh, and I was instantly engaged with every one. I found myself thinking about them long after I’d had to put the book down to attend to other things (or sleep), ready and waiting for when I could get back to it.

The stories are presented as a “tour” with the storyteller, Griot, as our guide. After each story is told, a moment of wrap-up is given, which points out how elements presented in the story relate to the reader, which I particularly enjoyed. Griot’s presence as the storyteller, although explicitly discussed in the prologue, is never mentioned again, so as the stories go on, you tend to forget that the wrap-up is coming from him and the stories tend to be disjointed rather than tied together.

In addition, the stories tend to feel like a summary of events with a lot of telling the reader what happened rather than the reader experiencing the action as it unfolds. A storyteller is telling the tale, so perhaps they would work better read aloud. Additionally, there are grammar, word usage, and story structure issues that hurt the delivery. For example, often, I had to re-read paragraphs to figure out which character was speaking; two people would be talking on the same line of text which made things confusing.

Having said that, I still feel the stories are engaging, and science fiction and fantasy readers looking for something new and fresh might want to give this book a chance. I hope the author will expand the stories at some time in the future to provide us with a more in-depth experience because many, if not all, are novel-length-worthy tales. Some would make great introductory novels for series, notably, The Forbidden Forest, the story of an emerging champion in the final war for New Africa, and First Day of Summer, an apocalyptic tale of a family taking a trip in an RV.

I recommend Vicenary for science fiction and fantasy readers looking for something new and fresh and who are willing to go with the flow and not let structure and grammar get in the way of a great set of stories. Some of the topics are tough ones, so this may be more appropriate for young adult and adult readers rather than younger ones.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing

I thought this would be a different and interesting collection of stories. Sadly, I was mistaken. A 12 year old could have written better tales. I have no doubt that 12 year olds are writing better ones today. I would advise this writer to stick to his day job.