It’s official: the highly-anticipated finale of Tomi Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orïsha series is coming out in 2024! Children of Anguish and Anarchy is set to release on June 25—which for Orïsha fans is simultaneously wonderfully soon (given the previous wait between books) and so very far away. If you’re desperate to get your hands on Adyemi’s latest installment, don’t fret. There are some amazing recent books, also inspired by African culture and settings, that should help you scratch the itch while you wait!
Why African-inspired fantasy? The fantasy genre has traditionally been built on European settings—sometimes medieval feudalism, other times with cultures based more on classical Greek or Roman mythology, though still with a medieval technology level. But a whole world existed outside of Europe—just across the Mediterranean, a whole continent full of diverse cultures was busy making their own stories. In recent years, readers have gotten to experience the what-ifs of secondary worlds that lean into African culture and mythology, some of which take on the fraught, colonialist history of the continent, and others that celebrate pre-colonial powers, unhindered by foreign invaders. Other writers blend fantasy with modern African settings or even transport African folklore to the modern United States. With a growing slate of options to choose from—how do you decide what to read next?
Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
The obvious African-inspired fantasy choice, particularly if you’re waiting for Children of Anguish and Anarchy, is a reread of Adyemi’s earlier novels! If you’re unfamiliar with the books, the Legacy of Orisha series began with 2018’s Children of Blood and Bone, in which a ruthless king outlaws magic and has all who practice it killed. Zélie, whose mother was murdered due to the king’s laws, is determined to bring back magic—and overthrow the monarchy. But Zélie struggles with controlling her own powers, and between managing her own magic and confronting a growing attraction to an enemy, she may have trouble saving even herself.
The series continued in 2019, with Children of Virtue and Vengeance, picking up from the victory of Zélie and her unlikely ally Princess Amari in bringing magic back. But the ritual they completed brought magic back to more than just the maji: noble families with magical ancestry are suddenly awakened as well. The power struggles over the rightful heir to the throne, added to the conflicts among maji groups that keep them from uniting, look as though they will lead to civil war—and Zélie must find a way to stop it if she wants to save the kingdom. The second installment ends on a cliffhanger, so if you’re picking these up for the first time, be grateful you didn’t have to wait five years to get the conclusion!
Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun
For an entirely new voice, debut author Ehigbor Okosun’s novel Forged by Blood begins a duology set in a colonized nation, where magic has been outlawed. That doesn’t stop rich Eingardians, most of whom are nonmagical Ajes, from enlisting Oluso, people of Ifé who are magically gifted, when it suits them. But too often, the Eingardians turn on those whose help they’ve bought—which is exactly what happened to Dèmi and her mother. When Dèmi’s mother saves the life of a sick Eingardian prince, she’s turned into the law and killed for secrets she’s hidden, leaving Dèmi to flee from her childhood home.
Years later, Dèmi waits for an opportunity to strike back at the prince she blames for her mother’s death. Only, it’s not that simple, and the revenge Dèmi thought she was seeking turns into something larger, a way to restore the rights of the Oluso and change the balance of power. Dèmi is a young woman when the book’s main plot begins, and the narration leans into her youthful, well-earned cynicism; it also features a love triangle, making this likely to appeal to both YA and adult readers—especially fans of the Orïsha books and C.L. Clark’s “Magic of the Lost” series. Ifé is beautifully drawn, and the cost of magic has exactly the right amount of weight. This is definitely a good one to read before the sequel, Exiled by Iron, hits shelves in October 2024!
Dazzling by Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ
Readers interested in sticking a little closer to the real world than a secondary fantasy setting are likely to be entranced by Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ’s Dazzling, which is set in Nigeria. Opening with what feels like a fable of a stranger being denied hospitality, the story soon delves into the lives of two modern girls. When Ozoemena is told she’ll have to be held back in school, her mother enrolls her in a boarding school instead, which does give Ozoemena freedom from her religious mother and taunting older sister. It also forces her to run smack into the legacy of her father: she’s been marked as a protector of the land and its people with the ability to become a Leopard.
Despite being an honor, it’s a heavy burden, especially since it’s one not normally bestowed on a girl. Treasure has an entirely different relationship with spiritual powers. After her father’s death, she’s reduced to begging. She happens upon one of her father’s old associates—and discovers that her father made bargains with spirits. She wants nothing to do with them (Emelụmadụ’s phrases it, from Treasure’s perspective: “Afraid is doing my whole body from my head down to my toes”), but she’s out of options. Their paths are destined to cross on a course that will require both of them to make sacrifices—and determine the cost of their futures in a world that seems determined to silence them. Emelụmadụ’s prose is gorgeous, whether in the third person present of Ozoemena’s story or the first-person dialectical cadence of Treasure’s narration. There’s a lot to dig into here, and readers who enjoy magical realism that leans into mythology will quickly become immersed in the world of the two alternating protagonists.
Shadowland by P. L. Hampton
P.L. Hampton’s Shadowland is also set in the real world in a story that blends literary fiction and horror, with an unreliable narrator who doesn’t even trust himself. Aaron Langford blames himself for the death of his parents when he was a child. He’s worried about the future of his teenage son, who has sickle cell anemia, and he has dedicated his life to finding a cure. His research has taken him from their family home in Washington, D.C., to Washington state, a move no one in his family really wants—not Langford’s wife, not their teenage son, and not even their cheerful daughter, who idolizes her father.
When the family is given a Yoruba Divination Board as a housewarming gift, they’d prefer to swiftly forget about its existence, as none of them want to mess with powers they don’t understand. The disappearance of both children from inside their locked home makes Langford question himself—did he kill them, like he killed his parents?—before he realizes that there’s more to the board than divination magic. It opens a portal into the Shadowland, and leads Langford into a journey that makes him confront both his beliefs and his past before he can reclaim his children. Though this one gets off to a slow start, the edge of terror is present from early on, giving a creeping sense of dread to the novel even before the demons arrive.
Neferura by Malayna Evans
Egyptologist Malayna Evans brings the gods and politics of ancient Egypt to life during the reign of woman Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Neferura tells the story of Hatshepsut’s only daughter, who is responsible for the prosperity of Kemet as the high priestess and god’s wife of Amun. She takes her role very seriously, even though she sometimes longs for a different kind of power—and freedom—she sees in the women around her who don’t bear such a burden.
When her half-brother Thutmose returns to her mother’s court without a summons, Hatshepsut and Neferura both know that he’s planning something—perhaps even challenging Hatshepsut for the throne. Neferura discovers details about Thutmose’s plot and knows she can’t stand by while her mother handles things; Neferura has to take the fate of their nation into her own hands. Full of court politics, gods, and power, Neferura is more historical fiction than fantasy, but the language and richness of Egyptian mythology make this a solid crossover for fantasy readers.
Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davis Okungbowa
This second book in the Nameless Republic trilogy just hit bookstore shelves in November 2023, following 2021’s Son of the Storm. Okungbowa introduces readers to a fantasy setting where scholar Danso has long been told there are only two places in the world: the mainland and the desert. The islands that were once the third place have long gone extinct. The city of Bassa closes its borders—but not soon enough to keep out a supposedly extinct islander, who enters Bassa to find an ancestral artifact. Danso’s path has been laid out for him, an ideal scholar engaged to an up-and-coming politician, and their future would look bright, if it were anything Danso wanted. Instead, he longs for what’s beyond the walls of the city, and when he decides to help the islander, a magic-wielding warrior, escape after her attempt to retrieve the artifact goes wrong, he begins to uncover the truth behind all the lies he has learned.
When Warrior of the Wind picks up, Danso and the warrior, Lilong, have joined a vagabond colony, fleeing from a bounty put on them by the new emperor, Danso’s former intended. But that’s the least of their problems when a new, dangerous power rises from the islands—something ancient, something uncontrollable, and something not even magic may be able to stop. While Warrior of the Wind is likely to have you just as eagerly awaiting the third installment of the Nameless Republic trilogy as Children of Virtue and Vengeance left fans waiting for the last Orïsha book, these dense fantasies are worth the investment for readers who love complex worldbuilding and beautifully drawn magic.
Raybearer and Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko
Published in 2020 and 2021, Jordan Ifueko’s fantastic Raybearer duology tells the story of Tarisai, a young girl raised to become one of the prince’s closest companions—a group who represent all their nations and share their feelings with each other through a mystical bond. Tarisai must compete for her position, and though she’s been trained for this, she keeps herself apart, because though the knowledge has been sealed away in her brain, she realizes that her mother, whom she knows as the Lady, has nefarious plans for the future of the empire.
But Tarisai can’t deny the bond forever, and what she discovers about her own powers and lineage show that the empire is built on a lie—one that she spends much of Redemptor fixing in order to keep the peace, and to prevent children from being forced to serve demons. While these are a little older, the benefit is that you can pick up both and binge the whole duology in a weekend—and you’ll be glad you did.
That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams
What if the enemy threatening the nation isn’t demons, but the fae? The antagonists of Brittany N. Williams’s “Forge and Fracture Saga,” which launched this year with That Self-Same Metal. The YA fantasy is set in Shakespearean England, where Joan Sands serves as the swordmaster for Shakespeare’s acting company. She’s gifted with blades because she has a secret magic, the ability to shape metal to her whim, a gift from the Orisha. Her godfather, Baba Ben, is prevented from performing a ritual with England’s king that would solidify the pact between mortals and Fae, which suddenly allows the Fae to become vastly more dangerous in the mortal realm.
When Joan accidentally wounds a powerful Fae, she becomes deeply embroiled in the politics of the human and Fae worlds. Williams, who is also a Shakespearean actor, leans heavily into the history of Shakespeare’s London, his plays, and both European and African folklore to create a book that feels both historical and cosmopolitan—as London was in the early 1600s.
Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase
If science fiction is more your speed, Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase is set in a futuristic Botswana, where body-hopping allows people’s consciousness to float between bodies. If a person commits a crime while inhabiting a body, that body has a lower value to others. People are microchipped to monitor their behavior, and women especially are watched, with a goal always to be close to perfection.
Nelah and her husband have just managed to rent an artificial womb in a government lab to grow their daughter—something Nelah hopes will fix their marriage. But after a car accident, Nelah commits a terrible crime, and the victim’s ghost takes its revenge on the people Nelah loves. The story becomes a race against time, changing the stakes from a sci-fi novel to a psychological thriller, complete with conspiracies and body politics. If this sounds like your jam, put it on your wishlist—it’s hitting the bookstores in February 2024.
Alana Joli Abbott is a reviewer and game writer, whose multiple-choice novels, including Choice of the Pirate and Blackstone Academy for Magical Beginners, are published by Choice of Games. She is the author of three novels, several short stories, and many role-playing game supplements. She also edits fantasy anthologies for Outland Entertainment, including Bridge to Elsewhere and Never Too Old to Save the World. You can find her online at VirgilandBeatrice.com.