I recently picked African Fantasy novels up again because it’s such a vast and interesting genre with thousands of mythologies and cultures from across Africa.
The issue is mainly with African writers in diaspora. I’m unsure of the reason but they never research deeply enough before setting their novel in a culture. It often seems that the culture they choose becomes a decorative backdrop in the story. E.g. They state it happened in Nigeria, but never state the tribe or specific cultures in it; or they state a culture and use wrong info.
I recently read a novel that was ‘African-inspired’ meaning the book was a piecemeal item with no focus. The book used traditional names from several tribes in different cultures with meanings that were utterly irrelevant.
Maybe if I had no knowledge of any of the cultures, I could enjoy it as a decent book.
by FrustratedMashup