Hello and welcome to this guest post here on Track of Words, where today I’m thrilled to welcome Esmie Jikiemi-Person, winner of the inaugural Future Worlds Prize and author of the upcoming The Principle of Moments (out on the 18th January from Gollancz)! Esmie has very kindly put together a fantastic post about the value of looking for new authors to read and new worlds to explore, featuring a trio of up and coming SFF writers whose novels she recommends checking out. So if you’re on the lookout for new reads (and let’s face it, who isn’t?) then this is for you – and if you’re keen to know more about The Principle of Moments too, keep reading!
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Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson: In a genre with such a rich and storied past, it can be so easy to lose oneself in the annals of SFF history, re-reading old favourites, and wrapping childhood stories around you like a warm blanket. Personally, I can’t think of a better way to spend an evening than curled up in bed with a cup of tea, tagging along with Bilbo and the Fellowship once again, or walking through the wardrobe into Narnia, or marvelling at the strange archipelago world of Earthsea.
But part of the joy we find in exploring new worlds is, well, exploring new worlds. This year alone, I have travelled to magical kingdoms inspired by the ancient kingdom of Ife in West Africa, I’ve been to the deepest reaches of space aboard a ship carrying the last of humanity, and I’ve watched empires rise and fall through the eyes of a lowly scribe. Here are three of the SFF writers I think we should all be on the lookout for (plus a bonus book!).
Kemi Ashing-Giwa’s The Splinter in the Sky is a ‘breathtaking space opera’ as per Publishing Weekly, where it received a starred review. In this novel, a young tea expert strives to get revenge on the empire that killed her lover and abducted her sister by making her way into the heart of the capital. Along the way we find out she may be trying to free more than just her imprisoned sister…her nation’s freedom and independence hangs in the balance as well. With heapings of political intrigue, queer representation, and anti-colonialist themes, as well as a tea-expert protagonist to root for among the large cast of characters, this book is very different to other space operas I have read, in the best possible way. If you like your SFF thoughtful, but piercing, then this is the book for you.
Yume Kitasei’s The Deep Sky is climate science fiction at its best. Kitasei takes us on board The Phoenix, the ship carrying the last hope of humanity in the form of eighty elite grads of a highly competitive programme. Their task: to give birth to the new generation of children, deep in space, and ensure humanity makes it to a distant, liveable planet. But then a bomb detonates on board, killing three crew members, but sparing Asuka – the last grad picked for the mission, who struggled during training, and is representing Japan, despite feeling distant from her heritage as a half-Japanese girl raised in America. As the only witness, Asuka must prove her innocence and find the culprit before the bomber gets a chance to ruin the mission completely. This book does what my favourite sci-fi does best: holds a magnifying glass up to the deepest parts of our humanity, and forces us to confront them.
Ehigbor Okosun’s Forged By Blood is an elaborate and beautifully wrought novel, set in a kingdom inspired by ancient West African kingdoms, and Yoruba lore. It tells a story of vengeance – that of its magical protagonist, Demi. After her mother’s tragic murder at the hands of their oppressors – who kill those who practice magic – Demi is given the opportunity to kidnap the prince of the non-magical ruling class who are decimating her people, the magical Oluso. This is a story that delves deep into the wounds caused by colonisation, and revolution, but never loses its laser-sharp focus on the rich interior lives of its incredible cast of characters. The second book, Exiled by Iron, will be out in October of next year, so you’ve got plenty of time to read the first one before diving back into this brutal but brilliant world.
And finally, a bonus entry. My own book! The Principle of Moments is out in just a few weeks, on the 18th of January. It tells a story that spans centuries, starting with a dying planet, and the heroes created to save it from ruin. It is full of original mythology, alien religions, and the discovery of ultra-powerful artefacts… but mainly, it is the story of an indentured labourer named Asha, who finds out she has a sister imprisoned by the emperor, and decides to leave her awful life to go out into the galaxy and find her. Along the way, she meets a melancholy time-traveller with secrets of his own, and a snarky deckhand with a dark, murky past.
It’s my love letter to the big hearted, occasionally camp Star Wars films and the eternal wackiness meets emotional gut punch of Doctor Who. It owes a huge debt to Black female writers such as Octavia Butler, who wrote strong, complex Black characters in fantasy settings, and to whom I owe so much of my love for fantasy and space opera. My book deals with some knotty themes, like capitalism and imperialism, but also friendships that grow so close they begin to feel like family, learning your own strength, and as cliche as it sounds, the extraordinary and transformative power of love. So if you feel like reading a soaring space opera with a cast of loveable but intensely human characters – this is the book for you!
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Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson is an SFF writer, inaugural winner of the Future Worlds Prize in 2020, and author of the century-spanning, genre-bending space opera, The Principle of Moments, (Gollancz 2024). A recent graduate with a BA in English Literature and Classical Studies, Esmie is also co-founder of Impact of Omission, a campaign to make Black history a compulsory part of the national curriculum, as featured in The Guardian, The Financial Times, and The Times. When she isn’t writing about Black kids dismantling space empires, she can probably be found campaigning for a copy of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to replace the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.
Visit Esmie’s website for more information.
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Thanks so much to Esmie for putting this together, and for recommending such fantastic-sounding novels. I was already looking forward to The Principle of Moments, but now my TBR has grown yet further – and I suspect mine isn’t the only one!
The Principle of Moments is due out from Gollancz on the 18th January 2024 – check out the links below to order* your copy:
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