Dominion Edited by Zelda Knight

Twelve speculative fiction short stories and one poem from Africa and the African diaspora.

As with all anthologies, there were some stories that appealed to me more than others, but over all there were more hits than misses.

I loved the mix of horror, fantasy and science fiction stories in the anthology. I particularly enjoyed the use of folk lore and traditions from different regions in Africa that were mentioned in the majority of the stories.

Three stories particularly appealed to me, and I look forward to reading more by these authors.

The Unclean by Nuzo Onoh, the queen of African horror. In this gripping ghost story, an abused woman goes to great lengths to escape her torment.

I read this story with bated breath. It was a winner on so many levels. Strong characters, solid plot, interesting narrative structure, realistic depiction of customs at a particular time, the mixture of traditions and beliefs, voice, horror, pacing. I will be looking out for more of Onoh’s work.

To Say Nothing of Lost Figurines by Rafeeat Aliyu was a really fun story with magic, portals and amphibian creatures. I would love to spend more time in this world with these characters.

Clanfall: Death of Kings by Odida Nyabundi read like a brilliant science fiction version of the Lion King. I hope the author has planned to continue this story of animal tribes in a novel, because I would love to find out what happened next.

I award Dominion…