Dark Matter : A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora

The year's best science fiction

Although science fiction generally looks to the future, the genre also has a strong tradition of looking to the past to remember a golden age and examine its roots. Two new anthologies demonstrate this introspective tendency quite well. The first is Gardner Dozois's annual The Year's Best

Science Fiction, 17th Annual Collection (edited by Gardner Dozois, Tor Books, $29.95, ISBN 0312262752). The second, Sheree R. Thomas's Dark Matter (edited by Sheree R. Thomas, Warner Books, $24.95, ISBN 0446525839), looks at the less famous work of African-American science fiction authors.

Science fiction as it is known today was born in the magazines that flourished before World War II. The term itself was coined by Hugo Gernsback for Amazing Science Fiction magazine. Although novels have taken over the science fiction market, the short story continues to represent the cutting edge of the genre. This fact is highlighted by The Year's Best Science Fiction anthology.

Dozois prefaces his selection of 26 stories with a summary of the science fiction field through 1999, looking not only at written science fiction, but also films, business, comics, and fandom.

Dozois's selection represents a wide range of material, demonstrating that science fiction is more than spaceships and laser beams. The stories include alternate histories (Robert Silverberg's "A Hero of the Empire") and planetary exploration tales (Ben Bova's "Mount Olympus") as well as stories which are not as easily categorized (Mike Resnick's "Hothouse Flowers"). Since Dozois has included a variety of stories that reflect various trends in science fiction, this anthology is a perfect introduction to the field, allowing the reader to sample many authors and styles. This year's collection once again demonstrates Dozois's ability to select stories which will appeal to all tastes and sensibilities, from straight adventure tales to more introspective pieces.

While Dozois's anthology is a collection of previously published stories, Thomas's Dark Matter is an interesting mix of reprints, original stories, and essays. Seventeen of the stories are original, with 11 reprints dating back to 1887. Thomas also includes five essays (plus her introduction) which discuss the role of African Americans in science fiction and why it is important for blacks to read science fiction.

Thomas's selection of stories, both old and new, and her inclusion of non-fiction pieces make this volume a well-rounded anthology, which can be read for sheer entertainment or for educational value. Dark Matter demonstrates that African-American sci-fi authors have interests and visions as broad as any other group of authors. The essays present African-American science fiction as a stepping stone to scientific literacy, a claim long made for science fiction in general. However, the authors also indicate that science fiction offers hope for the future to those who otherwise would not see themselves having a future.

Most of the authors in Dark Matter are not household names, even to the most devout fan of science fiction. Thomas has managed to bring together a wide variety of authors deserving of a larger audience. These two anthologies prove that science fiction's golden age is not in the past.

Steven Silver writes from Northbrook, Illinois.

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