Recs for Indigenous/Anti-Colonialist AUs, Indigenous History, POC SFF Traditions, and More!

[sanguinity]

It's time for our monthly recs post! Usually I make this a space for members to ask for recs that interest them, but this time oyceter and I want to do something different.

Dunno how many of you have been following the dustup over a certain pair of white SFF authors? (Briefest of summaries: one author wrote a "shiny" alternate-universe U.S. "frontier" story in which Indians never existed and the U.S. never had slavery; she also characterized that as a history that wouldn't be "wildly divergent". Another author made statements that, among other things, imply that POC are new to SFF.) Notice, please, that this isn't a post about the two authors: we don't write posts about white authors on this comm.

Given that we don't write posts about white authors, here's the reason I'm even bringing up that hot mess: while browsing nahrat's link round-ups, I've been noticing that now and again someone asks for recs of books that give the lie to the assumptions those two authors made. Unfortunately, the rec-making has been a bit thin, and sometimes is pretty heavily tilted toward white authors.

Happily, reccing POC authors is something this comm does really well. Let's make some recs! I'd like to see recs for the following:

• Alternate histories or universes that are indigenous-centric and/or anti-colonialist. There is no need for the AH/AU to focus on the Americas, and I'd love to see recs that don't.
  
• Books that oppose the notion of an Empty Continent -- again, books can focus on either of the Americas, Australia, Africa, or anywhere else that has had to deal with that lie.
  
• Books about how indigenous peoples have been an integral part of shaping the history of the world, and aren't just optional background scenery.
  
• Books which document and/or demonstrate that POC have a long history with SFF, or a history that's independent of the Verne/Heinlein/Asimov/Campbell anglophone tradition.

If you have other themes that seem appropriate to the discussion, do feel free to start a comment-thread for them.

Additionally, here are two existing POC-author rec-making posts in the discussion:

• ithiliana: Some of my favorite American Indian authors
  "Feel free to suggest other writers! Please!"
  
  
• Bangla at deadbrowalking
  "So several of the Desi folks commenting on the Global Represent thread have mentioned reading genre fiction in Bengali. Who are the authors you recommend? What's been translated to English or other languages?"

Remember, please: this is not a post for discussing white authors; this is a post for reccing POC authors. Let's make some recs!

ETA: I set up some category-specific comment threads below, but if you've got something that needs to be rec'd and the categories seem to be too constraining, DO feel free to ignore the categories. The recs are the important thing here, not the categories.

Comments

[sanguinity]

Indigenous-centric or anti-colonialist alternate universes / histories:

[lovecraftienne.livejournal.com]

The thread over at Tor Books about the 13th Child had a number of people linking to this comm, by the way, with much positive to say about it (as do I, when SFF racism comes up elsewhere). I'm looking forward to the recs! :)

[sanguinity]

Countering the notion of an Empty Continent, whichever continent that might have been:

[sanguinity]

Indigenous people shaping the world:

[sanguinity]

POC having a long history with SFF, or having SFF traditions that are independent of the anglophone, western, mainstream SFF tradition:

[lady-tigerfish.livejournal.com]

This encompasses many of the categories listed above, but as it doesn't fit under any one, I'm going to give it its own comment; please feel free to remove it if it's cluttering up the post.

So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonialist Science Fiction and Fantasy is an anthology compiled by Uppinder Mehan and community favorite Nalo Hopkinson. It was one of the first books I read for this challenge, familiarizing me with a lot of authors whose novels I went on to read, and I give it my wholehearted recommendation.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to make a separate thread for Louise Erdrich's middle-grade children's chapter books, the "Omakayas Stories" or "Birchbark Series." Starting with The Birchbark House, Erdrich follows the story of an Ojibwa girl growing up in the mid-19th century US.

They're amazing books, and they portray the rich, complex cultures that the Little House on the Prairie series marginalizes and demonizes. They're my standing present to all the little girls I know as soon as they turn 8 (the publisher's target age is 8-12).

[juliandahling.livejournal.com]

I was referred to this thread by a tumblr thread, and I'm disappointed to be three years late to the conversation. I'd like to recommend "The Gaslight Dogs (http://www.amazon.com/Gaslight-Dogs-Karin-Lowachee/dp/0316021792/ref=sr_1_1/183-1999301-8762309?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254928941&sr=1-1)" by Karin Lowachee. It's a steampunk-esque Victorian-esque fantasy novel written by a POC author, with a native main character. I really loved that the book tackled themes of colonialism in unexpected ways, defying some of the unspoken rules of the genre. If anyone has read this, I'd really like to talk more about it.