Queen of the Conquered is a 2019 fantasy novel by Kacen Callender. Callender's adult debut, published by Orbit in 2019, the book was the 2020 winner of the World Fantasy Award. [1] In October 2020, a Time panel rated the book one of the top 100 fantasy novels of all-time. [2]
The story is set in a Caribbean-inspired world in which the black protagonist fights back against colonists. [3] Callender described the plot as "the main character, Sigourney Rose, seeks revenge against the Fjern, who have enslaved her people and massacred her family. She manipulates her way onto a royal island with a power to read and control minds and hopes to win the favor of the king, who will be choosing the next successor to the throne—but once she arrives, royal nobles around Sigourney are murdered one-by-one, and she needs to discover who the murderer is before she is killed as well." [4]
It received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews [5] and School Library Journal. Alex Brown of Tor.com said that the book "makes for an occasionally challenging read", with Sigourney's character being generally passive, but that "everything else was nothing short of remarkable", saying that "often, stories about racial violence and slavery break people into white and POC, colonizer and colonized. With Sigourney and Løren, Callender explores the in between." [6]
Kerine Wint of FIYAH Literary Magazine said that the book had a "wonderfully-done deconstructed approach to the journey of a tragic hero" and that it was "a new insert in the slavery-centric fantasy that does not ask us to sympathize with evil behaviour and evil people". [7] Jason Heller of NPR said the book was "a refreshing break from the stereotypical, pseudo-European setting of most epic fantasy" and remarked positively on "Sigourney's first-person, present-tense perspective," saying that it was "morally conflicted and viscerally impactful, her voice is a thing of lean poetry that's made all the more dimensional by her ability to peer into the thoughts of others — and to influence their actions." [8]
On a Sunbeam is a science fiction webcomic, by American cartoonist Tillie Walden. It was later released as a graphic novel. Set in a spacefaring science fiction world, the plot follows the development of the protagonist Mia, who joins the crew of the maintenance ship Aktis and attempts to reconnect with a lost love. It was nominated for the 2017 Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic and the graphic novel won the 2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
Fonda Lee is a Canadian-American author of speculative fiction. She is best known for writing The Green Bone Saga, the first of which, Jade City, won the 2018 World Fantasy Award and was named one of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time by Time magazine. The Green Bone Saga was also included on NPR's list, "50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade".
Kacen Callender is a Saint Thomian author of children's fiction and fantasy, best known for their Stonewall Book Award and Lambda Literary Award—winning middle grade debut Hurricane Child. Their fantasy novel, Queen of the Conquered, is the 2020 winner of the World Fantasy Award and King and the Dragonflies won the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Children's / Young Adult Literature.
Darcie Little Badger is an American novelist, short story writer, and Earth scientist.
Ruthanna Emrys is an American science fiction and fantasy writer best known for The Innsmouth Legacy series: The Litany of Earth, Winter Tide, and Deep Roots.
Justina Ireland is an American science-fiction and fantasy author of young adult fiction and former editor-in-chief of the FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction. She received the 2018 World Fantasy Award for Non-Professional Work. Her novel Dread Nation won the 2019 Locus Award, and was nominated for the Andre Norton, Bram Stoker, and Lodestar Awards.
Hurricane Child is a children's novel by Kacen Callender. The book was published in March 2018 by Scholastic Press. The book is set in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and tells the story of Caroline Murphy, who discovers her love for another girl.
FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, or simply FIYAH, is an American-based quarterly electronic magazine of Black speculative fiction. The magazine was announced in September 2016, inspired by the 1920s experimental periodical FIRE! created by Wallace Thurman. It was developed by a group of writers led by Troy L. Wiggins, L.D. Lewis, and Justina Ireland. The first edition of the magazine was published in 2017. FIYAH has been nominated for the Best Semi-Prozine Hugo Award five times, most recently in 2023, and it won the Hugo Award for Best Semi-Prozine in 2021.
The Deep is a 2019 fantasy book by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. It depicts an underwater society built by the water-breathing descendants of pregnant slaves thrown overboard from slave ships. The book was developed from a song of the same name by Clipping, an experimental hip-hop trio. It won the Lambda Literary Award, and was nominated for Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards.
King and the Dragonflies is a young adult fiction book published in February 2020 by Scholastic Press and written by Saint Thomian author Kacen Callender. It is Callendar's second novel that explores the intersection between race, gender roles and sexuality. King and the Dragonflies has received a National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2020), a Coretta Scott King Honor Book Award (2021), and a Lambda Literary Award (2021).
Between Earth and Sky is a fantasy novel series by American writer Rebecca Roanhorse. It currently comprises two novels: Black Sun (2020) and Fevered Star (2022). It is an epic fantasy series inspired by various pre-Columbian American cultures. Black Sun won the 2021 Alex Award and the 2021 Ignyte Award for Best Adult Novel; it was additionally nominated for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, Nebula Award for Best Novel, and Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Jade War is a 2019 fantasy novel by Fonda Lee published by Orbit and is the sequel to Jade City. It follows the island of Kekon as the jade-controlling clans are embroiled in an international war where jade is the centerpiece. The story takes place over several years. It is the second book in the Green Bone saga, followed by 2021's Jade Legacy, the final novel in the series.
Felix Ever After is a young adult novel written by Kacen Callender and published in 2020 by Balzer + Bray. The story is narrated by a Black trans teen as he grapples "with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time".
A Brightness Long Ago is a historical fantasy novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay published in 2019 by Viking Press. It is inspired from the events of 15th-century Italy leading to the Italian Wars, and particularly the feud between Federico da Montefeltro and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta.
A Master of Djinn is a 2021 fantasy steampunk novel by American writer P. Djèlí Clark, published by Tor.com. The book is part of Clark's the Dead Djinn Universe and follows the events of the novelette "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", and the novella The Haunting of Tram Car 015.
The Unbroken is a 2021 epic fantasy novel, the debut novel by C.L. Clark. It is the first book in a planned trilogy entitled Magic of the Lost. It received critical acclaim for its exploration of colonialism in the setting of an epic fantasy novel. It was nominated for the 2021 Nebula Award for Best Novel and 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novel.
Cherae Clark, also known under the pen name C. L. Clark, is an American author and editor of speculative fiction, a personal trainer, and an English teacher. She graduated from Indiana University's creative writing MFA and was a 2012 Lambda Literary Fellow. Their debut novel, The Unbroken, first book of the Magic of the Lost trilogy, was published by Orbit Books in 2021 and received critical acclaim, including starred reviews at Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. The Unbroken was a Finalist for the 2021 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2022 Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel from the British Fantasy Awards, the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novel - Adult, and the 2022 Locus Award for Best First Novel. Her work has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies,FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn't Die, PodCastle, Tor.com, Uncanny, and The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction (2021). Clark edited, with series editor Charles Payseur, We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction of 2020, which won the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Anthology/Collected Work and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Anthology.
Elatsoe is a 2020 young adult novel by Darcie Little Badger marketed to young readers aged 12–18. It is Little Badger's debut novel. It was included on Time's list of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. Some publications have classed the novel as part of the Indigenous Futurism movement.
Trouble the Saints is a 2020 historical fantasy novel by Alaya Dawn Johnson. It was first published by Tor Books/Macmillan Publishers.
Fractured Fables is a series of fantasy novellas written by Alix E. Harrow. The series currently comprises two novellas: A Spindle Splintered (2021) and A Mirror Mended (2022). The series explores fairy tales from a modernist and feminist perspective. Both novellas have received critical acclaim.