I'm looking for novels that are sci-fi, fantasy, horror, or fanboy stuff where a fantastical world is created, but the hero also has to overcome real world racism, sexism, colonialism, or class discrimination as they go about their goal.
I'm not looking for fantastical worlds where the make-believe characters face prejudice from the world building: so, no Harry Potter, Age of Fire, I, Robot, Berenstain Bears, City of Bones, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Discworld, The Host, Mortal Instruments, or the like. I'm not for an allegory on how hard it is as a vampire, fairy, werewolf, etc that doubles as a commentary on real-world prejudice.
I'd like works where there is a pointed reference to the hero's race, sex, or economic background. It'd be ideal if the hero is a person of color or a woman. But I'd like to hit at least two demographics, if at all possible. Some examples of what I've read that are genre works are:
- Beloved (racism, class discrimination while fighting a ghost)
- Parable of the Sower (racism, sexism, class while in a dystopia)
- Cloud Atlas (racism, sexism, class through all six stories)
For non-genre works I was thinking of:
- Moby Dick (racism, class)
- Things Fall Apart (racism, sexism, colonization)
- Ragtime (racism, sexism, class)
- Invisible Man (racism, class)
I'm also trying to focus on works that are in English and American. Thank you so, so much if you're able to help.
by JRTD753
5 Comments
Maybe Babel by R F Kuang? The main character is Asian and faces a lot of racism in 1800s England. This work is fantasy/historical fiction. The magic system in this work is based on translation, so basically people who are multilingual can wield magic based on the languages they know.
Kindred,
The traitor Baru Cormorant
The Legendborn series is fantastic and sounds just like what you’re looking for. Though it’s labeled as YA, it has very mature themes and doesn’t read that way. It’s technically in our world, but reveals several magical worlds within ours. The main character is a black girl at a PWI, and she gets entangled with Arthurian (ie King Arthur) secret magical world. She deals with racism in the real world and within the magical world. She also discovers another world of magic tied to her ancestors and their history with slavery, but also motherhood and community.
It’s so good, and the third book of the trilogy comes out in March!
Just read Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson which kind of fits. It might be more on the world building discrimination side, but the world lines up pretty much exactly to our world and there is explicit discussion of race/class.
Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis series I think fits.
Maybe An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon as well
I think Samuel R Delany’s fantasy *Neveryona* series might be exactly what you are looking for.