The legacy of colonialism in human, cultural, economic, and environmental loss is staggering and often ongoing. Colonial mindsets and values can be difficult to shake. Relearning the histories and languages that should have been our birthright can be rewarding, but also difficult and heartbreaking. Anti-Colonial Science Fiction and Fantasy grapples with this history of exploitation and it’s lasting impacts on lands and people through the lens of other worlds, imagined futures, and alternate histories. These stories powerfully highlight inequities and injustices ongoing today that we can become inured to in our daily lives.
For me Anti-Colonial SFF provides a space with the necessary distance to process the heavy burden of intergenerational trauma and grief that has been passed down by parents and grandparents. The stories of war, conflict, injustice, and abuse are as much a part of our family tree as my grandfather’s painter’s eye, and my grandmother’s sharp wit. Within fiction these complex legacies can be recontextualized and examined. And, in the same way that romance promises a happy ending after the most crushing heartbreak, SFF offers the possibility of a different outcome, a better world, a future where all of us can step into the light together.
My Filipino-Inspired Epic Fantasy Saints of Storm and Sorrow is inspired by shaman lead rebellions against Spanish colonial rule in the 1600s. It focuses on Lunurin, a bisexual nun hiding a goddess-given gift who is unwillingly transformed into a lightning rod for her people’s fight against their oppressors. The goddess of storms demands vengeance and she will sweep aside anyone who stands in her way. Coming in June from Titan Books it seeks to dig into the legacy colonization in the Philippines and the loss of culture and history that came with it. It is a story of grief but also of resilience and community.
I hope it will find the readers who need it.
In the meantime I’ve put together this list of some of my favorite Anti-Colonial Fantasy reads and some of the ones I’m most looking forward to reading this year.
Anti-Colonial Book Recommendations
Wicked as you Wish by Rin Chupeco
From the OG Filipino Fantasy Author, Rin Chupeco’s Wicked as You Wish might be my favorite firebird retelling ever, following Tala, a biracial Filipina MC with the ability to neutralize other people’s magic, and her efforts to help her best friend Alex retake the throne of Avalon. Along the way it tackles questions of immigration, colonialism, and labor exploitation naturally and accessible to teen readers.
Babel by R.F. Kuang
In this Fantastical Dark Academia RF Kuang exposes the dark underpinnings of the genre, the knowledge, wealth, and people that western academia mines out of their colonies and trains to better serve the empire. Set in an alternate-reality 1830s England a friend group of young translation students at Oxford lead by Robin Swift must grapple with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of empire. I’ve yet to read any of RF Kuang’s books without bawling my eyes out and this book is no different.
Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri
A rich Mughal India inspired fantasy focused on Mehr, a nobleman’s daughter is born with desert magic from an estranged mother persecuted for her nomad heritage. When Mehr’s magic is discovered, she’s quickly trapped in an arranged marriage to the Empire’s secret mystics. Forced to grapple, not only with her split heritage, her new husband, and the way the Empire perverts the power of her mother’s people, Mehr must find her way in the world, and a way to freedom. With desert sands filled with angry gods, who will only be appeased by blood, and what Empire must do when it’s driven that blood nearly to extinction. Come for an arranged marriage romance that will leave you on the edge of your seat, stay for an incredibly deft story about colonial power, empire, and the way it forces survivors to navigate the spaces in between.
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
In a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, which drives them mad. The only people still able to dream are America’s Indigenous peoples, from whose marrow a cure is stolen and synthesized. Driven to flee into the wilds to escape “recruiters” and “factories” the young protagonists struggle not only to survive but to piece back together the culture, history, and language that was stolen from them with their elders and their shattered families. It is a story of pain, dispossession, and the physical and cultural genocide that is the end goal of settler-colonialism, while also being a story of hope, survival, the power and the resilience of a people, culture, and language.
Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
After her family is murdered by colonizers Sigourney begins a quest for revenge in the midst of the political upheaval of the island’s childless king chosing an heir from among the noble families. Heavily influenced by Dano-Norwegian Violence in the Danish West Indies, This Caribbean-inspired fantasy doesn’t flinch from the complexities of class, wealth, and race, and the ones caught in between the lines that colonization draws.
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
An outsider who can travel between worlds discovers a secret that threatens her new home and her fragile place in it, in a stunning sci-fi debut that’s both a cross-dimensional adventure and a powerful examination of assimilation, colonization, privilege, and belonging.
So Let them Burn Kamilah Cole
Whip-smart and immersive, this Jamaican-inspired fantasy follows a gods-blessed heroine who’s forced to choose between saving her sister or protecting her homeland. Releasing this month it is a skillful commentary on colonialism and the aftermath of war. I am so excited to get my hands on this debut.
The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le
Coming out on March 19.
The tantalizing romance of These Violent Delights meets the mechanical wonders of Cinder in The Last Bloodcarver , the first in a two-book debut, releasing in March - with a riveting medical magic system and lush Vietnam-inspired fantasy world. Through the lens of Nhika, who has lost her home to colonization and now grows up in a city that doesn't accept her, it explores the many different experiences of diaspora.
Editors Note: Last but certainly not least, we can’t forget Gabriella’s own book Saint of Storm and Sorrow:
Saint of Storm and Sorrow by Gabriella Buba
In this fiercely imaginative Filipino-inspired fantasy debut, a bisexual nun hiding a goddess-given gift is unwillingly transformed into a lightning rod for her people's struggle against colonization.
Perfect for fans of lush fantasy full of morally ambiguous characters, including The Poppy War and The Jasmine Throne.
Saints of Storm and Sorrow Giveaway
In Honor of Women’s History Month Gabriella is giving away 3 custom edge painted and signed copies of her Filipino Epic Fantasy Saints of Storm and Sorrow and some character art stickers.
Make sure to enter for a chance to get your own copy of this beautiful book! You can enter the giveaway on her author website.
Gabriella Buba
Gabriella Buba is a mixed Filipina-Czech writer and chemical engineer based in Texas who likes to keep explosive pyrophoric materials safely contained in pressure vessels or between the covers of her books. She writes adult romantic fantasy for bold, bi, brown women who deserve to see their stories centered. SAINTS OF STORM AND SORROW comes out June 2024 from Titan UK.