10 awesome science fiction and fantasy books by Black authors

8. The Kingston Cycle by C.L. Polk

Not all fantasies must have dragons, warriors and mythical creatures. C.L. Polk’s Kingston Cycle is a “gaslamp fantasy” series. In other words, it sits somewhere in the cozy, unique space between steampunk, urban fantasy, and more familiar epic trappings. There’s also a healthy side of romance as well.

Take the first novel in the series, Witchmark. A young noble named Miles Singer discovers he has a magical ability to heal others, which in his world means he’ll end up in either a witches’ asylum or enslaved to his family’s political goals. To avoid that, he gives up his identity, enlists in the army, fights in a brutal war, and retires to a quiet life of healing wounded veterans. A foolproof plan, right?

Then a man named Tristan Hunter shows up at Miles’ clinic with a poisoned witch. While trying to heal her, Miles outs his magical secret to Tristan, and the two end up agreeing to investigate the poisoning themselves. Along the way, they uncover the dark secrets of their society, even as they fall for one another.

Witchmark won the World Fantasy Award for best novel in 2019. Its sequel Stormsong came out earlier this year, and the third and final book of the trilogy, Soulstar, hits next February. That means there’s hardly any waiting between books at all!