Heh–it’s funny that Binti is front-and-center in that thumbnail about “afrofuturism” as the author of Binti (Nnedi Okorafor) makes a distinction between Afrofuturism and African futurism. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africanfuturism
Afrofuturism is SFF about the African diaspora (people of African descent who are no longer living in Africa–usually living in Western countries like America instead), while Africanfuturism is something that envisions a sci-fi future for Africans living in Africa.
(Contrast this to how a lot of Western media sees Africa as permanently impoverished, and even in sci-fi doesn’t bother to even try to imagine a future where anyone in Africa prospers and does great things.)
(One of the reasons Black Panther hit so hard is because its depiction of Wakanda is one of the few examples to try to envision what a highly advanced African nation might look like.)
I really liked the Fifth Season books. Maybe not quite so groundbreaking as some people have said, but the mix of Gene Wolfe, Earthbending, and Sarah Connor was interesting.
Even though she died before finishing the Parable of the Sower series, it’s a must read. It follows a girl trying to live in a very near apocalyptic future in the US. It was absolutely unnerving to read during the pandemic. It spawned a real religion called Earthseed. I also really loved the Lillith’s Brood series. It’s about an alien invasion that occurs after we destroy the planet. The aliens are rehabbing the environment and will save humanity, but only if we splice their DNA into us. It puts the reader in the perspective of an indigenous race being colonized by an unstoppable force. The aliens are both awe inspiring and repulsive, and Butler’s descriptions are right out of a horror book.
I also rec the Xenogenesis (aka Lillith’s Brood) series. I like it better than the Parable series–but I can see how the Parable books would hit people harder as they’re more plausible.
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