Intro to Speculative Fiction by People of Color

For similar flowcharts with different focuses, check out these:

• Intro to Female-Authored Speculative Fiction
• Intro to Speculative Fiction Audio Dramas
• Intro to Self-Published Speculative Fiction

Some housekeeping:

1. This flowchart is by no means comprehensive, nor do we claim that these are “objectively” the best books by people of color.
2. We tried to provide enough variety that seasoned and novice readers alike can discover new stories to love.
3. We wished to feature a variety of storytelling mediums, such as graphic novels, short fiction, and audio dramas.
4. Only first books in a series and standalones are included, and each author is only listed once.
5. This Flowchart is a continuing work-in-progress. We are aware of several issues with the chart as it stands (for which we apologise), and apologise for any offence caused as a result. We intend to amend these issues as soon as we can find the time.
6. Should you be an author with a book featured on this flowchart and you wish it to be removed, please contact us and we will discreetly remove your book as soon as we can.

The final flowchart has 116 entries, and we could’ve included many more if we had room. Feel strongly about a story we left out? Let us know in a comment!

Here’s the chart:

High resolution image here.

If any of these books strike your fancy, here they are in list form with links to Goodreads and Amazon. Enjoy!

Classics

• Beloved by Toni Morrison | Goodreads | Amazon

Mythic Fantasy

• The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee | Goodreads | Amazon
• Fire Boy by Sami Shah | Goodreads | Amazon

Urban Fantasy

• The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard | Goodreads | Amazon
• Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara | Goodreads | Amazon
• Bad Blood by L.A. Banks | Goodreads | Amazon
• Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older | Goodreads | Amazon
• Jade City by Fonda Lee | Goodreads | Amazon
• Zero Sum Game by SL Huang | Goodreads | Amazon

Paranormal Romance

• Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw | Goodreads | Kobo | Barnes & Noble
• Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh | Goodreads | Amazon
• Better off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon | Goodreads | Amazon

Erotic Science Fiction

• The Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj | Goodreads | Amazon

Space Opera

• Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi | Goodreads | Amazon
• An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon | Goodreads | Amazon
• Ragamuffin by Tobias S. Buckell | Goodreads | Amazon

Science Fiction

• Mirage by Somaiya Daud | Goodreads | Amazon
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro | Goodreads | Amazon
• Want by Cindy Pon | Goodreads | Amazon
• Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany | Goodreads | Amazon

Science Fantasy

• Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee | Goodreads | Amazon
• Star Wars: Finn’s Story by Jesse J. Holland | Goodreads | Amazon
• Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter | Goodreads | Amazon

Dystopian

• Ink by Sabrina Vourvoulias | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline | Goodreads | Amazon
• An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King | Goodreads | Barnes & Noble
• Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich | Goodreads | Amazon
• Legend by Marie Lu | Goodreads | Amazon
• Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor | Goodreads | Amazon

Apocalyptic

• The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin | Goodreads | Amazon
• Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson | Goodreads | Amazon
• Orleans by Sherri L. Smith | Goodreads | Amazon
• Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac | Goodreads | Amazon
• Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson | Goodreads | Amazon

Steampunk

• The Sea is Ours edited by Jaymee Goh & Joyce Chng | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer | Goodreads | Barnes & Noble
• Everfair by Nisi Shawl | Goodreads | Amazon
• Buffalo Soldier by Maurice Broaddus | Goodreads | Amazon

Zombie Fiction

• Zone One by Colson Whitehead | Goodreads | Amazon
• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland | Goodreads | Amazon

Alternate History

• Lion’s Blood by Steven Barnes | Goodreads | Amazon
• Wild Seed by Octavia Butler | Goodreads | Amazon

Historical Fantasy

• The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo | Goodreads | Amazon
• Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston | Goodreads | Amazon
• Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie | Goodreads | Amazon
• Witchmark by C.L. Polk | Goodreads | Amazon
• Mother of the Sea by Zetta Elliot | Goodreads | Amazon

Fantasy of Manners

• Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho | Goodreads | Amazon

Time Travel

• Time Salvager by Wesley Chu | Goodreads | Amazon
• An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim | Goodreads | Amazon
• Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen | Goodreads | Amazon

Comedic Science Fiction

• High Aztech by Ernest Hogan | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan by Zig Zag Claybourne | Goodreads | Amazon

Young Adult

• The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymulina | Goodreads | Amazon
• An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir | Goodreads | Amazon
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh | Goodreads | Amazon

Middle Grade

• Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi | Goodreads | Amazon
• Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano | Goodreads | Amazon

Fairy Tale Fantasy

• Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi | Goodreads | Amazon
• Huntress by Malinda Lo | Goodreads | Amazon
• Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao | Goodreads | Amazon

Dark Fantasy

• Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez | Goodreads | Amazon
• My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due | Goodreads | Amazon

Mythology

• The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni | Goodreads | Amazon

Sword & Sorcery

• Imaro by Charles R. Saunders | Goodreads | Amazon
• Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed | Goodreads | Amazon

Romantic Fantasy

• Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Island of Eternal Love by Daína Chaviano | Goodreads | Amazon

Literary

• The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar | Goodreads | Amazon
• Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James | Goodreads | Amazon
• Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker | Goodreads | Amazon

Magical Realism

• Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed | Goodreads | Amazon
• The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende | Goodreads | Amazon
• When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai | Goodreads | Amazon
• Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore | Goodreads | Amazon
• So Far From God by Ana Castillo | Goodreads | Amazon
• Fifteen by André Alexis | Goodreads | Amazon

LitRPG

• Changing Faces by Sarah Lin | Goodreads | Amazon

Epic Fantasy

• Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera | Goodreads | Amazon
• Songs of Insurrection by JC Kang | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Wolf of Oren-yaro by K.S. Villoso | Goodreads | Amazon

Graphic Novels

• Storm: Make it Rain by Greg Pak, Victor Ibanez, Scott Hepburn, & Matteo Buffagni | Goodreads | Amazon
• Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda | Goodreads | Amazon
• BLACK by Kwanza Osajyefo, Jamal Igle, Robin Riggs, Tim Smith III, & Sarah Stern | Goodreads | Amazon
• Legend of the Mantamaji by Eric Dean Seaton, David Ellis Dickerson, & Brandon Palas | Goodreads | Amazon

Webcomic

• The Meek by Der-shing Helmer | Goodreads | Website

Audio Drama

• The Glass Appeal by Elijah Gabriel | Website
• Here Be Dragons by Jordan Cobb | Website
• Redwing by JV Hampton-VanSant | Website
• Flyest Fables by Morgan Givens | Website
• Kalila Stormfire’s Economical Magick Services by Lisette Alvarez | Website

Standalone Novel

• Under the Penulum Sun by Jeannette Ng | Goodreads | Amazon
• Severance by Ling Ma | Goodreads | Amazon
• She Weeps Each Time You’re Born by Quan Barry | Goodreads | Amazon
• Smoketown by Tenea D. Johnson | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna | Goodreads | Amazon

Novella

• The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Sorcerer of Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson | Goodreads | Amazon

Novelette

• Hell is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang | Goodreads | Listen for Free | Amazon

Short Story

• Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar | Read for Free Now
• A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong | Read for Free Now
• The Water That Falls On You From Nowhere by John Chu | Read for Free Now

Anthology

• Futureland by Walter Mosley | Goodreads | Amazon
• Dark Matter by Sheree R. Thomas | Goodreads | Amazon