This week I have an extra, extra special 'meet' series with the authors of the recently published anthology AfroSFv2. It's always great to find out more about the stories I read from the writers who created them. I also always appreciate authors taking the time to answer my questions, so thank you! 

Keeping in line with the sequence of the novellas in the anthology, first up is Tade Thompson and Nick Wood who give insights into their novella, The Last Pantheon, which follows two feuding brothers who came to our planet around 50,000 years ago. 

The focus really is all about the stories, but a little bit about the authors first. TadeThompson lives and works in the UK, though he is Yoruba. His debut novel, Making Wolf, recently won The Golden Tentacle Award for best debut novel at The Kitschies - and the story ‘Child, Funeral, Thief, Death’ in Apex Magazine. He is an occasional visual artist.

Nick Wood is a Zambian born, South African naturalised clinical psychologist, with over a dozen short stories previously published in Interzone, Subterfuge, Infinity Plus, PostScripts, and Redstone Science Fiction, amongst others. Wood has also appeared in the first African anthology of science fiction, AfroSF. His debut adult novel, Azanian Bridges, explores a current but alternative South Africa, where apartheid survived. Wood has completed an MA in Creative Writing (SF & Fantasy) through Middlesex University, London and is currently training clinical psychologists and counsellors at the University of East London in England. 

Thompson and Wood also both have short stories in the fabulous anthology African Monsters. They can also be found on Twitter: @nick45wood and @tadethompson.

Amazing works, and I really hope to share my thoughts on them soon. 

First, I wanted to congratulate you both on your novels - Making Wolf and Azanian Bridges - but would you be willing to talk about how the idea for The Last Pantheon came about?

Tade: Nick and I belonged to the now-defunct Facebook group The Afro-Punk Collective. In February 2013 there was a rather detailed discussion about superheroes in general and African superheroes in particular. Prior to this, Nick had written a well-received article about African comics. I approached Nick with the idea of a collaboration. The initial motive was deconstruction of the African superhero, a topic it was obvious we both cared about. It was also a love-letter to a medium that the literary establishment often dismisses as kids’ stuff. At this time we did not really know each other except by our work in the first AfroSF anthology.

Nick: Tade messaged me about my article on 'Mighty Man' on the South African Comics blog, still to be read here. We entered into a discussion around super-heroes and then African super-heroes in particular and Tade mentioned how generally politically conservative their usage had been. He raised the idea about doing a collaboration with an implicit critical exploration of this - I thought it was a great idea, a tribute to the comics of our youth and their fun but sometime uneasy relationship both to (and within) Africa.

Images via South African Comic Books

So what was it like working together on The Last Pantheon?

Tade: You hear horror stories about collaborations. You hear about ego clashes and deadline problems and decisions to discontinue.This, however, was painless. It was like we both had the same background in comics, the same narrative priorities, the same socio-cultural rage at the depiction of Africa in mass-media.

I do not recall a single disagreement. If anything, the collaboration led to us meeting each other’s families and becoming friends.

Nick: It was my first collaboration and I was a bit worried initially as I tend to be a private and reclusive writer, but also one who likes to exercise authoritarian control - over just that one part of my life at least! But from the outset when I read Tade's opening gambit I thought. 'That's good, that's smart, I can riff off this ... but can we keep it going though?' (What can I say, I'm a natural worrier!).

Needless to say we did keep it going, right until what felt like a proper ending - and with an ease and enjoyment that made me question the whole solitary writer bit. Even better, when I was stuck, Tade had several great ideas that loosened up the process for me - for example,  one idea was to  parse Lumumba's final letter across the text as appropriate, making the call for Africa to write its own history an implicit spine throughout the novella.

And yes, friendship and meeting family was another unexpected and wonderful spin-off.

   

(This is a 2-part question) I found The Last Pantheon’s approach to Africa’s political history through superheroes very interesting.

Why that focus for the story?

Tade: Because 'The Last Pantheon' is not really a superhero story. It’s really a commentary on how African history is neglected. In mainstream stories what you find is the Western version of the 'History of the World' is revised and rehashed again and again. I always wonder why any flashbacks to 'world' history always highlights Hitler as the ultimate evil, but says nothing about Leopold II.

Obviously we could not revise all of the history of the continent, but we wanted some touchstones relevant to our respective cultures.We wanted the African reader to feel important, and we wanted the Western reader to become curious if the names and events were unfamiliar.

Nick: As Tade says, 'TLP' was written partly as a way to reinstate Africa back into the centre of the human narrative, given that's where human evolution began. The historical narrative has been hijacked by the West and then rewritten as if the colonial invasion was to occupy a 'dark' place without history. A place without history is a place without 'real' people, as history adds contextual substance and a past to people, making them more tangible, enabling their voices to resonate with their ancestors, deep into the past. So it's an exercise in reclaiming the historical centre ground - and having fun 'appropriating' super-hero tropes to bounce around these critical events, playing with the idea that the original super-heroes were actually the African gods.

Re Tade's point about Leopold II, watch out for Nisi Shawl's upcoming novel 'Everfair'.

Do you think BlackPower and Pan-African could have also played a more crucial role in our history if i) they weren’t so caught up in their own feud; and ii) one wasn’t so neutral?

Tade: Possibly. But the nature of the superhero narrative is flawed and perhaps rooted in adolescent power fantasies. You can’t solve your problems by punching them (or someone). One of the themes of the novella is the futility of using violence to solve your problems. Each time our heroes tried to intervene they either did not intervene early enough, or they failed outright. The Cold War in the late 60s and 70s played out in black Africa with wars, extra-judicial assassinations and coups that were thinly-veiled CIA plots. There was no easily-identifiable supervillain to incapacitate with energy bolts. 

Nick: Tade's pretty much hit the nail on the head here. There comes a time when you realise the limitations of super-heroics and that the real heroes are the ones without super-powers, getting on with their lives and making small but incremental changes on the ground. So it is, that two women of Africa take over  the (rainbow!) mantle at the end.

(This is also a 2-part question) The Last Pantheon also clearly pays homage to comic book series, some of which you mention in the story – Mighty Man and PowerMan.

Was there something particular about those two comics? And did they influence the creation of BlackPower and Pan-African?

Tade: The comics had a similar genesis, and a similar hold on our respective imaginations. I read Powerman (also known as Powerbolt) as a child in Lagos. What I later found out is that while the funds were Nigerian, the creative team was British (Comics legend Dave Gibbons actually asked the moneymen why they did not use local talent, but received no satisfactory answer). That aside, I read American comics mostly. We would buy them from Kingsway Stores, but they did not appear with any regularity. Powerman did. It was not the only comic. There was ‘Super 8’ and ‘Benbella’ (which was created locally).

I should point out that both Powerman and Mightyman were anthology comics, and they both had several backup comics in common. For example, Jake ‘Wonderboy’ Masala was a boxing strip. There was also a cowboy strip called ‘Django’ I think.

These comics told stories that were relevant to our day-to-day lives. They spiritually influenced Black Power and Pan-African.

Nick: I've written about the history of Mighty Man in the linked article referred to earlier, and yes, local comics influenced the development of this as a local African super-hero story. African comics are NOT a 'new' thing!

Also, were there any other influences (comic books or otherwise)?

Tade: Heh, how much time do you have? Pantheon is the condensed effect of possibly hundreds of influences. I mean, one has to start with the late Jack Kirby; The works of Alan Moore and Grant Morrison; Morak Oguntade and Tayo Fatunla are two Nigerian cartoonists whose work I consumed every day in my teenage years; the writer D.O Fagunwa for the novel ‘Forest of a Thousand Daemons’; the writer Kola Onadipe; Flora Nwapa; Dambuzo Marechera etc.

Nick: Marvel comics - I have FF52, the first appearance of the Black Panther! Zakes Mda, Lauren Beukes and Nnedi Okorafor (books), Will Eisner (comics), PAX (Pre-Azanian Comics - South African underground comics in the late 80's, during the State of Emergency); Johnny Wakelin (music - 'in Zay, in Zaire...' :-), Lavie Tidhar (World SF)...

Volumes 5 and 6 of Pre-Azanian Comix published by the Durban Comix Circle

(I love nothing more than learning new things, and clearly I could have gone on as Thompson and Wood have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to multiple things - comics, African super-heroes and African history to name a few; but I tried to stick with my five question challenge - which I also definitely exceeded.)

Final question (which I am asking everyone) what’s next?

Following his critically acclaimed 2012 anthology, AfroSF: Science Fiction by African Writers, Ivor Hartmann came back with Volume 2 last December. Departing from the short story format (AfroSF had 22 of them), AfroSF Volume 2 contains five novellas from six African SF writers (no that is not a typo, as one story is a joint collaboration between Tade Thompson and Nick Wood). As Mark Bould writes, this 'change of format' is significant and 'represents a conscious commitment to the further development of the field - and of the writers within in.' So what's the verdict?

Without a doubt the stand out stories for me were novella 1 (The Last Pantheon by Nick Wood and Tade Thompson) and novella 3 (The Flying Man of Stone by  Dilman Dila). I also really enjoyed reading novella 4 (VIII by Andrew Dakalira), although I wanted more. Now with novella 2 (Hell Freezes Over by Mame Bougouma Diene), I had mixed feelings - enjoying the second half more than I did the first. Finally, novella 5 (An Indigo Song for Paradise by Efe Tokunbo Okogu) was all kinds of crazy, but with hindsight I wonder if that is what the author was going for. So what were they about?

In The Last Pantheon, Nick Wood and Tade Thompson give us a glimpse of Africa's post-colonial history through the lives of feuding alien brothers who came to our planet around 50,000 years ago (ancient, much!). The story starts in the late 1970s, but it goes back and forth (mainly between the 1960s and 2015 - although there is some focus on 50,000 BP) and tracks their story as gods turned superheroes turned rivalling siblings. Black-Power and Pan-African have been part of a lot of our history - yes, Black-Power was in Katanga Province when Patrice Lumumba was assassinated. The brothers could have probably played a more significant (and positive) role in our development, but one brother did not want to take sides politically and instead focused on more superhero dealings - you know protecting the innocent and whatnot. Now it's 2015, the brother's have not been in contact for decades - one in Cape Town, the other in Lagos - and there is now a fight being promoted to reunite the feuding brothers. The Last Pantheon tells elements of Africa's political history in a great way, and if like me you are interested in the political economy of African countries, it's a wonderful read told from a unique perspective - that of superheroes. 

In Hell Freezes Over, the world has become dark and eerie, and if that's not bad enough, it might be coming to an end (hello post-apocalyptic world!). In the future world, we have five Castes, who each have a part to play - The Moles (who dug and borrowed),  The Fish (who dove and swam), The (engineering) Ants, The (agricultural) Bees and The (labour intensive) Beasts. The novella is broken into two parts. In the first part, which seems to be present day (in the context of the novella) we spend a lot of time with The Fish, and one in particular - Ari. The Fish travel far distances, going to towns and cities that have been submerged in search of food, materials, power sources and really what is needed, as ice is coming (clearly not a good thing) and they will be living in caves when this eventually happens. In this part we know there is some tension between the Moles and Fish, but it's not quite clear - but we do know that they have a vendetta against the Fish, who used to rule once.

Part 2 takes us back in time to when The Fish ruled, about a hundred years earlier, and here we meet Rina (she's a Mole woman). Now a Mole woman's life is set in stone and determined to a large extent by her results in the 'Fitness & Fertility' test. Basically if after the test you are barren (a Mole woman's job seems pretty much to populate and re-populate) you have two options: 1) you are cast away from your Caste and you hope another of the male Castes would take you as a wife; 2) you join the comfort houses to provide services for other Castes. Rina chose the second. Rina, I liked though - she didn't follow the norm. Yes, she went to the comfort house, but a revolt was coming and she joined it and played quite a crucial part in it. I do wonder though, if ever there was a history of the Moles take down of The Fish (clearly, I'm getting ahead of myself here) would Rina be included in it or would she be in the shadows - with her brother, the leader, discussed more? My fantasy history of this world aside, we see how - even in a world that is slowly being destroyed - power still dominates.

The Flying Man of the Stone, was another beautiful - if bloody - tale. There has been a civil war in an unnamed African country, and while Katong town was previously left untouched, as the story begins it has now been attacked by soldiers in search of recruits. Our protagonist, Kera (a teenage boy), and his father, Baba Chuma, are the only survivors in their family - Kera's mother and two younger siblings are dead and his older brother captured (pretty much dead). They find a hiding place - a cave in the plateau with charcoal drawings, drawings that came alive and captured Kera's father. The cave, it seems was home to spirits (more like ancient alien race) who transformed Baba (younger, tech savvy and he now even speaks fluent English) as they needed his help. They gave him rocks, which were really an advanced technology that enabled Baba to create wonderful inventions, such as a replicating machine or the flying machine and gun he makes for Kera to rescue his brother. If only it was so simple, as Baba's good intentions lead to unforeseen consequences. 

I really liked Dilman's writing in this story and I have really been meaning to read his collection, A Killing in the Sun. Reading this novella spurred me to do so. In Chapter 2 of the novella, he excellently captures the downfall of Katong town, which went from a worker's camp to a divided home for Indian traders, English colonial governors and mine owners and African workers - 'servants to the foreigners'. A military coup, death of a charismatic General, bloody coup after bloody coup, and a civil war later brings us to Katong town today. This section is quite key to the story as it reveals how colonialism lingers today in the town and with its inhabitants - particularly with one character's distrust of Europeans and non-African religions and his devotion to traditional religions and the ancestral spirits. This leads to an uprising - Baba's inventions have been taken to mean the ancestors are back - which spirals out of control. This story reveals how terrifying humans, and our killer instincts, can be. 

On to VIII. I read the last line, 'War had begun', and I could not believe it was over. I honestly felt like there was more, or at least there should be. It is 2023, and the 8th billion person is about to be born. A cause for celebration, and there will be one as preparations are under way. On a beach near Lake Malawi, a spaceship has crashed and with it a series of events unfold - increasing murders in Malawi and beyond, and the Roman numerals, VIII, on some of the dead bodies. Um! What's going on? Multiple characters are in this story, but it doesn't feel overwhelming or confusing. With time we find out what exactly is going on. It's an alien invasion, but not as you might think. We find out from Sir Gregory - who was pretty bad ass - who finally reveals his secret and the reasons behind the killings. This has been coming for a really, really, really, really, really long time and the aliens have been waiting until we were at 8 billion for their fun to begin. Here, I got Predator vibes (in a hunting-humans-for-sport way). 

I liked this story. It had a very cinematic feel to it (I also got Independence Day vibes - maybe it's the alien invasion, the President ...).  I could see Onani in his white 2006 Corolla listening to R&B, the female prisoner in Chilinde Barracks being held captive, the road blocks, the conference room in Lilongwe ... Still the story ends abruptly, which is sad because it could certainly have gone on. As it ends, we know there's going to be a bloody battle between the Metsu's and the guma's, but who will win? I guess it's entirely up to us to decide.

Last, but certainly not the least is An Indigo Song for Paradise, which was all kinds of weird, but I wonder if that's what Okogu was going for because 'Paradise City, aka God's clock, aka the PC', seems to be all kinds of crazy. It starts with Ecila, who finds a metallic object after a storm which transports him instantly from his village to Para City - which used to be part of a once great city before the emperor departed and took the brightest and best with him. What Paradise City is now is pretty unclear - even for its inhabitants. Is it 'an illusion, a simulation on a hyper-dimensional computer', a 'criminal organisation', or something else? In between there are huemen's, vampires, xombie's, TerraCorp's and more. There's also a lot going on - a protest against TerraCorp who is 'terrorising the planet', what looks like a heist/or a break-in to retrieve an object from TerraCorp (an object that is pretty similar to the one that transported Ecila to PC), cops trying to break the riots, a science fair, a music award show and towards the end a xombie apocalypse (don't worry, this was not all in one night). There is clearly frustration in Para City, with the majority huemen mad at the ruling minority vampire elite and their corruption and devastation of the city. I wonder, is this story placing a mirror onto society, corporations, ruling elites, the like? Also, will violence, and a xombie apocalypse, be the only way to deal with the social injustices that are present (and have been present) for a really long time in this world?

Having read the anthology, there is an underlying theme of violence (in different forms) in this collection - the political violence in African countries, but also the feuding superhero brothers and their fight to death; the Mole take down and the violence that comes with it and the resulting doom of the Fish 100 years later; the civil war and the uprising in Katong Town; the alien invasion and killings in 2023 Malawi; and the madness in Paradise City (there was a lot of killing there). Scratch through that and there is some serious social commentary about the state of affairs - be it in the past with Africa's political history post-independence to the injustices that arise from corporate and elite greed. Having said that, this is also a really fun collection, and while I definitely enjoyed some of the stories more than others, Ivor Hartmann should be commended again for bringing together such innovative and imaginative stories. 

I still would have loved some female voices up in here (something I mentioned previously). Fear not! There has been a call for submissions for AfroSFv3 - a spaced themed anthology - and I remain optimistic that the brilliant female voices in African SF won't be left out.  Deadline for submissions are December 1 2016. I would like to thank Ivor Hartmann for the ARC of AfroSFv2, and I eagerly await v3.

Hortensia James and Marion Agostino are neighbours and sworn enemies. They share hedge and hatred and prune both with a zeal and vim that belies the fact that they are both over eighty. Marion, troubled by her inertia in the face of apartheid, nevertheless resents the intrusion of a black woman into her white neighbourhood. Hortensia, weary of the hypocrisies of South Africa and blind to her own, has no capacity for social graces or friendship.

But one day an unforeseen event forces the women together. Gradually the sniping and bickering softens into lively debate and memories shared and, finally, just possibly, into something that looks a bit like a (rather spiky) form of friendship.