9 Afrocentric fantasy books to read right now

"Children of Blood and Bone" by Tomi Adeyemi.Macmillan Children's Books

• While classic fantasy series like "Lord of the Rings" draw on European legends, these books weave stories of myth and magic inspired by folktales and histories from across Africa.
• From a secret magic school in Nigeria to a teenage girl honour-bound to defend Atlanta from a shadow-world of nightmares, these stories star characters from across the African diaspora exploring inventive fantasy worlds.
• Many of these books use fantasy to examine our political and social reality. While Ben Okri's Booker Prize-winning novel "The Famished Road" remembers the Nigerian Civil War, Yaba Badoe's lyrical fable "A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars" melds magic with the story of a migrant orphan rediscovering her people's legacy.
• These are 9 fantasy stories that will take readers on epic adventures and wild quests, each inspired by the varied histories, cultures and legends of Africa.

Fantasy stories invite readers into inventive and imaginary worlds of myth and magic. Yet classic series such as "The Witcher" and "A Song of Ice and Fire" often use European legends as the basis for their sweeping worlds.

Inspired by the vast and varied folktales, lands and mythologies of Africa, black authors from London to New York weave the cultural heritage of Nigeria, Ghana and Jamaica into an Afrocentric vision of the fantasy epic.

From a Brooklyn artist who infuses her paintings with the power of her family's ancestral spirits to a secret sorceress taking down her nation's corrupt monarchy in an alternative West Africa, there's a story here for every fantasy fan.

Whether you're seeking epic quests, complex alternative worlds or a modern twist on magic, these are 9 fantasy stories inspired by pan-African tradition.