Status Updates From The Year’s Best African Spe...

24. Like Stars Daring To Shine – Somto Ihezue ☀️☀️☀️☀️☆— life after an apocalyptic volcanic eruption.

22. If the Martians Have Magic – P. Djèlí Clark 👽👽👽👽👽— alternate history, War of the Worlds in the past, Martians among us, magic and a voodoo priestess. Good stuff.

21. Deep in the Gardener’s Barrow – Tobi Ogundiran 🌳🌲🌳🌲☆— this made me think of Tolkien and dark German fairytales. Nice.

19. Barefoot and Midnight – Sheree Renée Thomas 🪾🪾🪾☆☆— Memphis, former slaves, a burning and an unholy rage. Upsetting. It was ok.
20. The Mercy of the Sandsea – Tendai Huchu 🤖🤖🤖🤖☆— Inspired by south-east Africa (best guess), SF on a different world (?), an enhanced ex-soldier, a sandsea, a chase and fight for survival. Unforgivable sin.

18. A Soul of Small Places – Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo 🧞‍♂️🧞‍♂️🧞‍♂️🧞‍♂️🧞‍♂️— a very well-told story. Senegal, the dangers of being a girl and the cost of fighting back.

17. An Arc of Electric Skin – Wole Talabi ⚡️⚡️⚡️☆☆— not for me, didn‘t connect with this electrically charged avenger.

16. The Travelling Man – Radha Opubor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, oh wow, what a sad and beautiful story! Eni is loosing her memory…

Picked it off of a shelf at random, mildly disappointed that over half of the stories so far take place in the US, or some version of it. I almost never read short stories, enjoying it so far.