Dark Matter: Reading the Bones [Paperback]

Sheree R. Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

Dark Matter is the first and only series to bring together the works of black SF and fantasy writers. The first volume was featured in the "New York Times," which named it a Notable Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After the spectacular Dark Matter (2000), Thomas offers something of a mixed bag in her second anthology of speculative fiction from the African diaspora. Of the stories set during the days of slavery, ihsan bracy's "ibo landing" proves that stylization of subject matter can be more powerful than historical fidelity. The shimmering, brutal outlines created by such simple sentences as "each in their own way understood the distance. they would never again be home" stay with the reader for a long time. By contrast, the weight of research muffles the emotional impact of a story like Cherene Sherrard's "The Quality of Sand." Similarly, Charles R. Sanders's "Yahimba's Choice" seems written by an anthropologist studying a distant culture, the story unable to move past surface ritual and wooden dialogue. The strongest entry is Kuni Ibura Salaam's "Desire," an experimental retelling of a folktale that's wonderfully fresh, with exquisite detail: "Quashe's back formed one gleaming stretch of reptile skin. Her torso, neck, and arms were honey-amber, human-soft skin moist with river dew." This story will probably appear in at least one year's best collection. Other stories of note include Pam Noles's "Whipping Boy" and Tananarive Due's "Aftermoon." Solid reprints from Samuel R. Delaney and W.E.B. Du Bois, among others, round out the volume, along with several essays of varying quality.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In an excellent, idiosyncratic collection of sf, fantasy and folktale-derived fiction by African American (including Caribbean) writers, the quality of writing is uniformly high, and the contributors constitute practically a who's who of African American writers who have dealt in speculative fiction, beginning with W. E. B. DuBois, represented by a piece dating from 1920. Samuel Delany, Nalo Hopkinson, Tananarive Due, and Walter Mosley also appear, and the tone of most of the stories, even "Anansi Meets Peter Parker at the Taco Bell on Lexington," is serious and even desperate. One compensation for that tone is that Mosley seems much more at home in short sf and fantasy than he is at novel length, as in Blue Light (1998). But writing of this quality speaks eloquently for itself, and so do such surprises as Carol Cooper's panegyric to the consciousness-raising influence of Andre Norton, one of three essays at the end of the volume. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Aspect (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446693774
• ISBN-13: 978-0446693776
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #922,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sheree Renée Thomas is a native of Memphis. A Cave Canem Fellow and a New York Foundation of the Arts Fellow, her short stories, poetry, and articles have appeared in various publications, including storySouth, Callaloo, Colorlines, Essence Magazine, Upscale, VIBE, Obsidian III, Harpur Palate, The Washington Post Book World, Meridians, African Voices, Drumvoices Revue, Black Renaissance /Renaissance Noire as well as in several anthologies, including Mojo: Conjure Stories, Hurricane Blues, Role Call, Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam, The Ringing Ear, MYTHIC 2, Southern Revival, Bronx Biannual, and So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy. A mother of two daughters and a teaching artist, Sheree is the editor of two anthologies (Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora and Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, winner of the 2001 and 2005 World Fantasy Award) and of SCARAB, a limited, signed artist edition of the Coptic-bound anthology. SHOTGUN LULLABIES: Stories & Poems, is the first collection of her work.


http://booktour.com/author/33091

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Speculative fiction..., January 17, 2004

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (Dark Matter (Aspect)) (Hardcover)

Sheree R. Thomas' first compilation, Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction From the African American Diaspora, received critical acclaim for its quality and historical value. Her second collection is due similar accolades.

DARK MATTER: READING THE BONES is speculative fiction from multiple vantage points. With contributors ranging from W.E.B. DuBois to Charles Johnson to Nalo Hopkinson, this collection brings forth an opportunity for many different stories to be told and many voices to be heard. DARK MATTER: READING THE BONES is a mystical journey that is somewhat sequential in its presentation; the stories of the Middle Passage are placed at the beginning, and the tales of future worlds are placed near the end. The result is a time travel experience sort of like that depicted in the final story, "Trance" by Kalamu ya Salaam, where the reader only has to flip back a few pages to recount history or flip forward to get a glimpse of the future.

There honestly was not one story in the entire compilation that I could say I disliked, but there are some favorites that I feel I must mention by name. Pam Noles' "The Whipping Boy" was heartwrenching. Walter Mosley's "Whispers in the Dark" was thoughtful and amazing. John Cooley's "The Binary" was adventurous and exciting. Charles R. Saunders' "Yahimba's Choice" was heartbreaking and poignant. I could go on and on. This is a book I would suggest every science fiction, fantasy, or horror lover read as soon as they can.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than the first Dark Matters book!, November 29, 2004

By 

Jeffrey D Ball - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (Dark Matter (Aspect)) (Hardcover)

I am a big fan of the first Dark Matter anthology and was anxious to see how this volume would compare. Much to my surprise I found this second installment more enjoyable than the first.

Anthologies are ususally pretty hit-or-miss but I found myself enjoying many of the stories included here. My favorites being Nalo Hopkinson's "The Glass Bottle Trick," Kiini Ibura Salaam's "Desire," Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu's comical "The Magical Negro," Tanarive Due's werewolf tale "Aftermoon," Wanda Coleman's "Buying Primo Time," and Douglas Kearney's hilarious "Anansi Meets Peter Parker at Taco Bell."

There were a few dogs in the bunch, the three stories that appear last in the anthology: "Maggies," "Mindscape," and "Trance" varied from too dull to too convoluted causing the collection to lose steam towards the end.

I skipped the three essays included at the end of this anthology. Perhaps it would have been more fitting to include them at the beginning along with the editor's introduction. Tacking it onto the end seemed pretty anti-climatic after reading all these intriguing stories.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some very thrilling prose, January 12, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (Dark Matter (Aspect)) (Hardcover)

Ok...so some of the essays lean to the lame side; but the fiction is generally taut and riveting. General readers will find some interesting new world views while African-American readers will find many familiar themes. Among the best:

Pam Noles' "Whipping boy"
Dubois' "Jesus Christ in Texas"
Walter Moseley's "Whispers in the Dark"
Tananarive Due's "Afternoon" and
Samuel R. Delaney's "Corona"