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Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (Dark Matter (Aspect)) (Hardcover)

~ Sheree R. Thomas (Author) "they would not remove themselves from his mind..." (more)
Key Phrases: stink shield, old flesh, mud cloth, Aunt June, Old One, Los Santos (more...)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Kindle Edition $7.99 Available for download now. Published January 2, 2004	Kindle Edition, January 2, 2004	$7.99	--	--
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Paperback $23.74 In Stock. Published January 31, 2005	Paperback, January 31, 2005	$23.74	$18.49	$4.95

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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.

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

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Product Details

Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Aspect (January 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446528609
ISBN-13: 978-0446528603
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,052,704 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
they would not remove themselves from his mind. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
stink shield, old flesh, mud cloth, new scanner, baby bag, speculative fiction

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Aunt June, Old One, Los Santos, New York, Bryan Faust, Commander Bashe, Queen Anne, African American, Kai Lin, Andre Norton, Dream Meter, Lady Bag, Miss Niobe, Misty Bent, Jake Zeno, New Bahama, New Ouagadougou, Officer Juno, Officer Sheba, Ptolemy Bent, Sagan City, Vice Ambassador, Virginia Hamilton, Elder Hodari, Guilt Bill

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 78 books:

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton on page 370, page 371, and page 373
The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez on page 349, page 350, and Back Matter
A War of Eyes and Other Stories by Wanda Coleman in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Beast Master by Andre Norton on page 376, and page 377
Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction by Nalo Hopkinson in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 78 books this book cites

1 book cites this book:

Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century by Justine Larbalestier on page 215, and Back Matter

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Best Places Seattle by Shannon O'Leary

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	72% buy the item featured on this page: Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (Dark Matter (Aspect)) 4.5 out of 5 stars (6)
	14% buy Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora 5.0 out of 5 stars (14) $28.80
	5% buy Blood Colony: A Novel 4.3 out of 5 stars (27) $10.20
	5% buy So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy 4.4 out of 5 stars (5) $17.05

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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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

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

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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	J. Ball - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some very thrilling prose, January 13, 2004

By A Customer

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"

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great and Varied Anthology
These short stories range over a variety of SF and Fantasy genres, and were written across a long range of times. Read more

Published 19 months ago by Anne McKenzie Hunter

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good anthology
Just like the first anthology, this book introduces one to Black authors who you might not have known before and also you might read new stories from authors you do know.

Published on July 17, 2005 by R. Allen

4.0 out of 5 stars Caution for the ebook edition
Here I am, a computer analyst and it took me two days to "get" my copy of this book! The documentation should mention that you must have the latest version of Adobe Reader for... Read more

Published on December 20, 2004 by M. D. Moore

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