Dark Matter: Reading the Bones - Hardcover

Thomas, Sheree R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446528609 ISBN 13: 9780446528603

Publisher: Aspect, 2004

Synopsis

A second diverse anthology of science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction by an array of African-American authors includes both original works and previously published short fiction by Charles Johnson, Tananarive Due, Walter Mosley, W. E. B. Du Bois, Samuel R. Delaney, Nalo Hopkinson, Wanda Coleman, and other notable writers. 15,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Sheree R. Thomas is editor of Anansi, a new literary journal of fiction devoted to the black diaspora; a regular contributor to Black Issues Book Review; and a former contributing editor to QBR: The Black Book Review. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Black Elegance, One, The Harlem Community News, and many online publications. A native of Memphis, Thomas lives in New York City.

From Publishers Weekly

After the spectacular Dark Matter (2000), Thomas offers something of a mixed bag in her second anthology of speculative fiction from the African diaspora. Of the stories set during the days of slavery, ihsan bracy's "ibo landing" proves that stylization of subject matter can be more powerful than historical fidelity. The shimmering, brutal outlines created by such simple sentences as "each in their own way understood the distance. they would never again be home" stay with the reader for a long time. By contrast, the weight of research muffles the emotional impact of a story like Cherene Sherrard's "The Quality of Sand." Similarly, Charles R. Sanders's "Yahimba's Choice" seems written by an anthropologist studying a distant culture, the story unable to move past surface ritual and wooden dialogue. The strongest entry is Kuni Ibura Salaam's "Desire," an experimental retelling of a folktale that's wonderfully fresh, with exquisite detail: "Quashe's back formed one gleaming stretch of reptile skin. Her torso, neck, and arms were honey-amber, human-soft skin moist with river dew." This story will probably appear in at least one year's best collection. Other stories of note include Pam Noles's "Whipping Boy" and Tananarive Due's "Aftermoon." Solid reprints from Samuel R. Delaney and W.E.B. Du Bois, among others, round out the volume, along with several essays of varying quality.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Aspect
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0446528609
• ISBN 13: 9780446528603
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416