Best African Speculative Fiction Books of 2021-22: Nommo Awards Edition

September 29, 2022

The African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) has announced the winning titles across categories for the 2022 Nommo Awards. We’ve put together this list to celebrate the winning books and runners-up.

The winners are Nnedi Okorafor, Pemi Aguda, Tendai Huchu, and Roye Okupe & Godwin Akpan. The winners were revealed at the just concluded World Science Fiction Convention, also known as Chicon 8, held in Chicago, United States.

Tendai Huchu was received the award in the novel category (1000 USD) for his novel The Library of the Dead. Nnedi Okorafor took home the Novella prize (500 USD) for Remote Control. The prize for graphic novel (1000 USD) went to Roye Okupe (creator/writer) and Godwin Akpan (illustrator) for Iyanu: Child of Wonder Vol 2. Pemi Aguda was awarded the short story prize (500 USD) for “Masquerade Season.” We have included the winners and some of the finalists in the book list down below, for African speculative fiction fans who may want to check out these titles.

Congratulations to the winners and finalists! Go here to read more about them.

The Library of the Dead

336 pages

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Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker – and they sure do love to talk. Now she speaks to Edinburgh’s dead, carrying messages to those they left behind. It seems harmless enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone’s bewitching children. Ropa will dice with death as she calls on Zimbabwean magic and Scottish pragmatism to hunt down clues. (Tor/2021)

Remote Control

156 pages

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The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa — a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past. Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion? (Tor/2021)

Iyanu: Child of Wonder Volume 2

144 pages

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The orphan Iyanu is thrust into the wildlands beyond the safety of the walls of her home! She must quickly learn to work with an exile and the people of the Riverlands Settlement if she hopes to save her mentor. Meanwhile, Chancellor Nuro finalizes a diabolical plan that threatens to destroy the entirety of Yorubaland in his greedy hunt to capture Iyanu, also known now as the Chosen One! (Dark Horse/2022)

Masquerade Season

19 pages

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Pauly is a good son. When he brings home three beautiful Masquerades, he's expecting that his mother will be proud of him. But when his mother begins asking favors of his Masquerades, he realizes that being a good son sometimes means disobeying. (Tor/2021)

They Made Us Blood and Fury

394 pages

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Anyi is the gem of the Countless Clans. Their Queens make lifeblood, a magical substance used for everything from medicine to weapons. Once, Anyi had so much lifeblood that they gave it away. Now their Queen is dying, none of her daughters, the Diviewe, can produce lifeblood, and the gods that guide the clan have gone silent. (Self/2021)

The Gilded Ones

416 pages

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Deka, a 16-year-old, lives in Otera, a patriarchal kingdom where a woman's worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. When Deka bleeds gold, the color of impurity, she faces a consequence worse than death. She is saved by a stranger who tells Deka that she is a near-immortal with exceptional gifts, and offers her a choice: fight for the Emperor or be destroyed. (UK: Usborne; US: Delacorte/2021)

Son of the Storm

496 pages

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In the thriving city of Bassa, Danso is a clever but disillusioned scholar who longs for a life beyond the rigid family and political obligations expected of the city's elite. A way out presents itself when Lilong, a skin-changing warrior, shows up wounded in his barn. Danso and Lilong set out on a journey that reveals histories violently suppressed and magic only found in lore. (Orbit/2021)

Far from the Light of Heaven

385 pages

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The colony ship Ragtime docks in the Lagos system, having travelled light years from home to bring one thousand sleeping souls to safety among the stars. Some of the sleepers, however, will never wake - and a profound and sinister mystery unfolds aboard the gigantic vessel. Its skeleton crew is forced to make decisions that will have repercussions for all of humanity's settlements (Orbit/2021)

The Madhouse

280 pages

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The house at the end of Freetown Street in Nigeria’s Sabon Gari was once a sanatorium for colonists deranged from the heat and insanity of the place. Now it is home to a family whose unorthodox lives unfold into legend: Sweet Mother, her husband Shariff, and their children André and Max. This is the extraordinary tale of five people bound by blood, each searching for a way through. (Penguin/2021)

The Future God of Love

90 pages

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The Future God of Love is a romance fantasy, set in an African world where stories are essential for the survival of humanity. Jamaaro, a struggling storyteller, is the future god of love and must create a story every full moon for the prosperity of his town. When he falls in love with a strange woman, having known loneliness all his life, he ignores the clues that she might not be what she seems. (Luna/2021)

Not Seeing Is A Flower

110 pages

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Ziora's job, as a Dharma from the Odinani pantheon, is creating chaos in the lives of people made to fall in love by Cupids. But everything begins to go wrong when the couples she is assigned start to die, and a werewolf tries to kill her in her bedroom. Fierce and decadent, Not Seeing Is A Flower is a stylish, supernatural adventure from the premier female Nigerian author of bizarro fiction, Erhu Kome. (Eraserhead/2021)

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COMMENTS -

Best African Speculative Fiction Books of 2021-22: Nommo Awards Edition

The Library of the Dead

The Library of the Dead

Remote Control

Remote Control

Iyanu: Child of Wonder Volume 2

Iyanu: Child of Wonder Volume 2

Masquerade Season

Masquerade Season

They Made Us Blood and Fury

They Made Us Blood and Fury

The Gilded Ones

The Gilded Ones

Son of the Storm

Son of the Storm

Far from the Light of Heaven

Far from the Light of Heaven

The Madhouse

The Madhouse

The Future God of Love

The Future God of Love

Not Seeing Is A Flower

Not Seeing Is A Flower

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