As a Black Science Fiction writer when I go out to sell my books I find myself promoting and explaining to people what Black Sci-fi or what science fiction is more than I’m talking about my books. Over time I have gotten quite good at talking to new sci-fi lovers. Many black people are VERY new to reading science fiction mostly because the sci-fi genre was mostly white and male until very recently.

Now, in the last 8 or so years, there has been a wave of diversity in sci-fi. Keeping it 100% real I didn’t read sci-fi growing up. I got most of my sci-fi from movies and comic books.  However, books offer a deeper story and many sci-fi films come from books. So if we are ever going to get a black sci-fi movie then we need to build up the black sci-fi literary genre.

To help people navigate the fast growing world of Black sci-fi, I have put together a list of my top ten books for black people who are new to sci-fi, or just sci-fi fans (adults) who are new to Black sci-fi.

Note: These are in no particular order.

1. Brookwater’s Curse: Vol. I by Steven Van Patten

Brookwater’s Curse Volume 1 is a story about the life of an African American vampire, Christian Brookwater.  Before there was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer, this book was released in 2005. Steve is a cool guy who likes the same type of films and writers I do.  He isn’t afraid to put a lot of action into his stories and I think they would appeal to new Black sci-fi readers.