Charles Saunders, renowned sword and soul writer and author of the Imaro series recently passed away. His first novel, Imaro, introduced me not only to his superb writing, but to a hero every bit the equal...more so...of Conan the Barbarian, Tarzan and a litany of white protagonists that have populated heroic fantasy for over a hundred years.
Charles, however, flipped the script, establishing a model followed by black speculative fiction writers. He veered away from the cookie cutter Eurocentric fantasy aesthetics in his work to create African-based worlds, rich in African-derived culture, and driven by black heroes of epic qualities, who were center stage in their narratives, not side kicks.
In addition to the four Imaro books he wrote, Charles created perhaps the first black female fantasy heroine, Dossouye. The character was based on female soldiers who fought for the African kingdom of Dahomey in the 18th and 19th centuries.
This speaks to Charles' knowledge of and deep respect for the history of Africa. Embarking on his writing journey, he sought to counter the degrading depictions of Africa and Africans so prevalent across the spectrum of fantasy works he read.
Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan, strongly influenced Charles. Yet Charles remained far from oblivious to the anti-black racism and white supremacist themes that colored Howard's literature. Charles indulged his love for sword and sorcery by writing his own tales. But he approached his writing with a militant determination to push back against the disparaging images of black people perpetuated by Howard and his ilk.
In his books, from Imaro to Dossouye to Abengoni, Charles depicted African-type worlds, so richly textured, immaculately detailed and fleshed out by research. Charles was an inveterate researcher who poured what he learned about Africa into his fiction. The magnitude of his research is reflected in the diverse analogues of every African region along with a variety of historical African kingdoms and empires, woven into his tales.
In Charles's stories, Africa is no longer a dark continent teeming with untutored, spear wielding savages awaiting the guiding hand of a European jungle hero. Charles' Africa reveals sophisticated civilizations whose peoples would have put the likes of a Tarzan or Conan to flight.
Charles' writing talent extended into other areas of speculative fiction beyond fantasy. He wrote a pulp adventure novel called Damballa. He created a hero in the mold of the Shadow, a man of African and African American parentage who battles Nazis in 1930s Harlem. He also wrote a skin crawling horror short story, demonstrating prodigious literary chops in that area.
I am aware that Charles was a journalist and wrote non-fiction material about Nova Scotia. I haven't those works, but I did read a number of his essays and took inspiration from them when he discussed the importance of a black presence in speculative fiction. I think Charles inspired many black writers to continue forging ahead with vigor and purpose on the trail that he blazed.
I will forever be appreciative and grateful for Charles' contribution to speculative fiction. To the father of Sword and Soul: Rest in Peace in the land of Nyumbani.
Charles, however, flipped the script, establishing a model followed by black speculative fiction writers. He veered away from the cookie cutter Eurocentric fantasy aesthetics in his work to create African-based worlds, rich in African-derived culture, and driven by black heroes of epic qualities, who were center stage in their narratives, not side kicks.
In addition to the four Imaro books he wrote, Charles created perhaps the first black female fantasy heroine, Dossouye. The character was based on female soldiers who fought for the African kingdom of Dahomey in the 18th and 19th centuries.
This speaks to Charles' knowledge of and deep respect for the history of Africa. Embarking on his writing journey, he sought to counter the degrading depictions of Africa and Africans so prevalent across the spectrum of fantasy works he read.
Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan, strongly influenced Charles. Yet Charles remained far from oblivious to the anti-black racism and white supremacist themes that colored Howard's literature. Charles indulged his love for sword and sorcery by writing his own tales. But he approached his writing with a militant determination to push back against the disparaging images of black people perpetuated by Howard and his ilk.
In his books, from Imaro to Dossouye to Abengoni, Charles depicted African-type worlds, so richly textured, immaculately detailed and fleshed out by research. Charles was an inveterate researcher who poured what he learned about Africa into his fiction. The magnitude of his research is reflected in the diverse analogues of every African region along with a variety of historical African kingdoms and empires, woven into his tales.
In Charles's stories, Africa is no longer a dark continent teeming with untutored, spear wielding savages awaiting the guiding hand of a European jungle hero. Charles' Africa reveals sophisticated civilizations whose peoples would have put the likes of a Tarzan or Conan to flight.
Charles' writing talent extended into other areas of speculative fiction beyond fantasy. He wrote a pulp adventure novel called Damballa. He created a hero in the mold of the Shadow, a man of African and African American parentage who battles Nazis in 1930s Harlem. He also wrote a skin crawling horror short story, demonstrating prodigious literary chops in that area.
I am aware that Charles was a journalist and wrote non-fiction material about Nova Scotia. I haven't those works, but I did read a number of his essays and took inspiration from them when he discussed the importance of a black presence in speculative fiction. I think Charles inspired many black writers to continue forging ahead with vigor and purpose on the trail that he blazed.
I will forever be appreciative and grateful for Charles' contribution to speculative fiction. To the father of Sword and Soul: Rest in Peace in the land of Nyumbani.
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