Any good SF about Race/Ethnicity?

[ReturnoftheNAK]

I am a big fan of books about race by people like Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, etc. Can anyone recommend any Sci-Fi that tackles issues of racial and ethnic identity, race and ethnicity and general. I think the obvious choices would be Samuel Delany and Octavia Butler, but I am looking for contemporary writers. Thanks.

 

[psikeyhackr]

In the Balance by Harry Turtledove

The Earth of World War II is invaded by

THE RACE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldwar:_In_the_Balance

The series is a total of 8 books. It covers the world, the United States, China, Russia, Poland, the Middle East, Germany, England and South Africa.

The Poles hate the Jews and the NAZIs, Blacks in the US fight for the aliens against Whites, the aliens think we are all crazy. It's hysterical.

psik

 

[Seli]

A recent short story that has the cultural as well as ethnic component at its core is Immersion by Alliette de Bodard (published in/at Clarkesworld).

Furthermore, a lot of the short stories by Ken Liu, such as Mono No Aware (re-published at Lightspeed), or Paper Menagerie (re-published at io9 http://io9.com/5958919/read-ken-liu...wept-the-hugo-nebula-and-world-fantasy-awards) cover similar ground.

I assume you are looking for novels, but I cannot recall any good examples at the moment, I hope others will be able to fill in.

eta: using fictional cultures, but part of the background of Walter Jon Williams' Metropolitan is a person belonging to an ethnic minority dealing with the dominant culture.

 

[N. E. White]

Well, there's N. K. Jemisin. In The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun, she writes within a rich and diverse storyworld where the peoples of different races clash rather harshly and dramatically. Very much recommended.

EDIT: Dope! Not science fiction. Still, they are good!

 

[ReturnoftheNAK]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone!

 

[KatG]

You can try The Wind-Up Girl and other works by Paolo Bacigalupi, pretty much anything by Haruki Murakami, Zoo City by Lauren Beukes, Altered Carbon and other works by Richard Morgan. I consider Kameron Hurley's series to be futuristic fantasy, but some see it as SF cyberpunk, so you can check that out. Apex Books' World SF blog gives a good run through of a lot of authors.

 

[joedokan]

Not strictly science fiction but China Meville's Perrido Street Station is sublimely weird and draws on themes such as racial oppression/racial segregation.

Definitely worth a look.

Regards,
Joe.

 

[Charlie]

"Racial" themes

A few suggestions:

By Greg Bear: "Darwin's Radio" and its sequel "Darwin's Children".

By Nancy Kress: "Beggars in Spain" and its sequel "Beggars and Choosers".

Lastly, from the 1960's, "Slan" by A. E. van Vogt.

All deal with prejudice and isolation due to being different. Some are different humans, others aliens.

Charlie

 

[Stan]

Not racial identity, but The Left Hand of God by Ursula LeGuin tackled sexual identity a long time ago.