A review by octavia_cade
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones by Ihsan Bracy, Jill Robinson, Walter Mosley, Douglas Kearney, Andrea Hairston, Kiini Ibura Salaam, David Findlay, Charles Johnson, Kalamu ya Salaam, Tyehimba Jess, Jewelle L. Gómez, Kevin Brockenbrough, Cherene Sherrard-Johnson, Ibi Zoboi, Wanda Coleman, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Pam Noles, Samuel R. Delany, Carol Cooper, Henry Dumas, Nnedi Okorafor

4.0

Wide-ranging and compelling anthology of speculative fiction by black writers. There's such a variety of stories in here, and though a small handful of them didn't do anything for me the quality is in general excellent. There's rather more focus on fantasy than science fiction, but together the stories cover everything from typical speculative creatures (such as werewolves and vampires) to more overtly political narratives (focused on, for instance, reparations and slavery). The anthology ends with three non-fiction essays, discussing various inspirations for some of the writers collected in here, and these were interesting too.

I think the standout stories for me were "Maggies" by Nisi Shawl (about genetically engineered creatures of the selkie-sort, and their effects on the human families who love them), "Yahimba's Choice" by Charles R. Saunders (looks at female circumcision, with a particularly painful and affecting ending), the super-creepy clone harvesting and rebellion of Kevin Brockenbrough's "'Cause Harlem Needs Heroes", and the beautifully written eroticism of Kiini Ibura Salaam's "Desire". Really, though, although these were my favourites I could have listed more - there's a lot of fantastic stories in here, genuinely something for everyone I think, and well worth reading.