(ThyBlackMan.com) When I’m not flipping through comics or being the greatest thief ever in Elder Scrolls, I enjoy some sci-fi and fantasy—of the Black persuasion. It’s no secret that there’s been speculative fiction not only by us but for us around for years.
Octavia Butler and Charles Saunders are often called the godparents of Black SFF but this genre goes back further to Fire!! magazine in 1926. If we’re diving into proto-Black SFF, in the 19th century you had Martin Delaney doing sci-fi in his Blake novel about a successful slave rebellion and what comes of it.
An interchangeable term for Black sci-fi is Afrofuturism which doesn’t require that the future be a bright utopia for Black folks. Sometimes it can get bleak—as sci-fi is wont to get.
However, we’ll look at some of the more well-known subgenres on the sci-fi side. Most of the subgenre names used are ones coined by Milton J. Davis, Balogun Ojetade, and others.
Steam-Driven, Goggle-Wearing Adventures in Steamfunk
If you frequent or have ever been to a convention, you’ve probably come across cosplayers going with a steampunk theme. To say steampunk is “pretty popular” in these circles would be understating it.
Steamfunk and steampunk tend to take place in what would be the mid to late-19th century when steam was the method to power locomotion and the like. This genre can take place in the industrialized East or the wild and weird West.
Protagonists are often thrown into situations against industrialists and companies with deeper, more nefarious objectives. These objectives tend to be so nefarious that they have machinations that are powered by steam. Other common themes involve the Wild West, the Weird Wild West, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Note that this genre—and the others listed—aren’t bound to these themes.
Mainstream Examples: Wild Wild West, Trigun, Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Fable III
Black SFF Examples: Moses: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman by Balogun Ojetade, From Here to Timbuktu by Milton J. Davis, The Clocks of London by Lyn Brittan, The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark, Masquerade by Milton J. Davis, Mona Livelong: Paranormal Detective by Valjeanne Jeffers
Best Introduction: Steamfunk! (anthology)
Dieselfunk: A Black SFF Staple
This is the offspring of steampunk, a genre that is extremely popular. Popping up in the early-2000s, it points to stories and adventures that could’ve taken place between the turn of the 20th century up and through the Atomic Age.
Dielselfunk pulls in Black culture of the period while also throwing Black protagonists into adventures. Antagonists are often in position of machines that are gas-driven and airships pretty much give way to airplanes, zeppelins, and so on as far as air travel is concerned. “Retrofuturism” is often used when describing dieselfunk and dieselpunk.
Some of the other themes involve pulp adventure, detective noir, World War I and II, and the Harlem Renaissance.
Mainstream Examples: Fallout, The Rocketeer, Bioshock, Wolfenstein
Black SFF Examples: The Scythe by Balogun Ojetade (Afro Gamers Book Club review)
Best Introduction: Dieselfunk! (anthology)
Cyberfunk: Merging the Streets with Technology in A Bleak Future
This is a genre that always interested me but isn’t explored deeply. The landmark for cyberfunk an anthlogy by the above-mentioned authors: The City. On the proto-cyberfunk/cyberpunk end you have Nova by Samuel R. Delaney.
Settings in cyberfunk tend to be a dystopian version of the future with technology being a part of roughly everything. Modern day Tokyo is usually a framework for how the future should look only kicked up several notches.
Development in cities have gotten to the point that population has exploded, there is pretty much no middle class and companies are basically the government. Robots, cyborgs, and bioengineered beings can be seen in cyberfunk/cyberpunk.
In these stories, unique jobs have been created for those with particular skills. These jobs are often dangerous and the skills involve a combination of hacking, mechanical know-how, spycraft, combat, and at times the fading practice of magic. Fighting against a corrupt police force, tyrannical government, or sinister corporation are common themes as well.
Mainstream Examples: Akira, Battle Angel Alita, Deus Ex, Shadowrun, Blade Runner, Judge Dredd, Ghost in the Shell, Cyber Blue, Bumblegum Crisis, Dominion Tank Police, Continuum, Final Fantasy VII/VIII/XIII, Chrono Trigger
Black SFF Examples: Nova by Samuel R. Delany, StreetLethal (Aubrey Knight series)
Best Introduction: The City (anthology)
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.