First Look At The Sauútiverse: An African Interplanetary World-Building Project

Two key documents of the Sauúti shared world is finally here. Also known as the Sauútiverse, the narrative universe was founded by a collective of writers collaborating on an African world-building project run by Nigerian sci-fi writer Wole Talabi and Haitian-American sci-fi writer Fabrice Guerrier.

The project was “born out of a partnership between Syllble, a sci-fi and fantasy production house based in Los Angeles that produces fictional worlds, and Brittle Paper.”

In the months since the official announcement of the project, the collective has been building the foundational ideas of the fictional world. One of the documents now available to readers is The Creation Story, which details the mythology underpinning the origins of the Sauúti world. There is also the World Building Story Bible, which lays out the physical and conceptual elements of the world, ranging from language, to geography, to philosophy.

Congrats to the collective! See their statement below for more information and relevant links.

The Sauúti Collective is pleased to announce the release of the first draft version of the Sauútiverse story bible.

The Sauúti shared world or universe, which we fondly call the Sauútiverse, is a fictional secondary world based on a blend of African cultural worldviews and inspirations. The name is inspired by the Swahili word for “voice”. It is a five-planet system orbiting a binary star, where everything revolves around an intricate magic and technological system based on sound, oral traditions and music. It includes science-fiction elements of artificial intelligence and space flight, with both humanoid and non-humanoid creatures. You can think of it like Wakanda from Marvel’s Black Panther by way of George RR Martin’s Wild Cards, with all the rich interplanetary world-building of Frank Herbert’s Dune. But make no mistake, the Sauútiverse is distinctly African, being flexible enough to absorb and synthesize the multitude of its varied African cultural inspirations into something new.

The ten founding members of the Sauúti Collective defined the parameters of this world, wrote stories set in it and have created a detailed “story bible” describing the settings, history, politics, rules, key groups, motivations and general philosophy of the world, and stories set within it.

Now that the Sauúti Collective have invited the first limited set of collaborators to write additional stories set in the world, to expand it with new ideas and creative visions, we are pleased to also release an abridged version of the story bible and one of the foundational myths of the Sauútiverse with the general public, in anticipation of the next phase when it will fully open to the public in the coming months.

They are available at the Sauúti collective homepage on the syllable site. 

Sauúti Creation Myth – LINK

We hope this first look at the Sauútiverse excites and inspires all lovers of science fiction and fantasy, especially those from Africa and the African diaspora. We can’t wait to share the stories of this world with you and eventually, in a few months, for you to share your stories with us.