10 awesome science fiction and fantasy books by Black authors

1. The Burning by Evan Winter

Let’s start with one of the new kids on the block. Evan Winter’s debut novel, The Rage of Dragons, started as a self-published book that smashed the Amazon fantasy bestseller lists before Orbit books picked it up and reprinted it in early 2019. Since then, Rage has gone on to gather massive acclaim, making the next book in The Burning series (The Fires of Vengeance) one of the most anticipated fantasy novels of 2020.

Described as “Game of Thrones meets Gladiator,” The Rage of Dragons follows Tau Tafari, a commander of the Omehi people, as he embarks on an epic, bloody personal journey to become the greatest swordsman in the land so he can take vengeance on those who betrayed him. There are actual dragons in this book — as well as demons and various other monsters — but even more than those, there is swordplay aplenty. It’s a fascinating character study of the bloody depths that vengeance can drag us into, and the hidden gems of beauty that can still be found even on the darkest path.

The world of The Burning is inspired by the culture and myths of the Xhosa people, which alone is enough to make it stand out as unique on any genre bookshelf. But the magic system is also pretty darn cool. One in 2,500 Omehi women is born with the Gift to control dragons…as well as turn certain Omehi men into extraordinarily powerful warriors. If you dig dark fantasy with deep emotional roots, then The Rage of Dragons is one of the best reads of the past few years.