In Cadwell Turnbull’s 2019 science fiction novel, The Lesson, a sophisticated alien ship appears in the skies over Water Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Ynaa bring promising technological and medical advancements to Earth while agreeing to confine themselves to the Caribbean island. While the majority of Earth's people benefit from contact with the alien species, living alongside the Ynaa radically alters the lives of the islanders who experience the aliens' sudden violence firsthand and question the cryptic meaning behind their promise to depart once they’ve imparted an important lesson to the people of Earth.
The Lesson is an example of Afrofuturism, a growing genre that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magical realism with non-Western beliefs. Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred was one of the first novels of speculative fiction to focus on displaced people of Africa. In recent years Afrofuturistic themes have found fertile ground in films like Black Panther and books like Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi, and Tade Thompson’s Wormwood trilogy.
The Lesson describes life on the Islands before and after contact with the alien race, as well as during the Colonial era when Africans were sold as slave labor on plantations. In many ways, life under alien rule mirrors life under Colonial rule. If you’re interested in socially relevant science fiction with a fresh take on typical genre tropes, check out The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull or ask a staff member for assistance in finding other books of Afrofuturism.
Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist
#WeKnowBooks
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