Very thought-provoking. We need books like this - those that explore the relationship between culture and representation, identity and narrative.

A big thank you to NYU Press for allowing me to read a review copy of this marvellous book. It took me longer than expected to get to it but once I started, I devoured this with only some breaks in between because of important stuff.

My review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3183278030

I could rave for hours. This book is an experience. From start to finish, it's an absolute blast. I knew from the start that I was in good hands because Thomas writes beautifully, her prose engaging, smart and easy to understand.

In The Dark Fantastic, Thomas analyses how Black girls and women are portrayed in popular media, choosing four franchises and her decades-long experience with the fandom: The Hunger Games' Rue, BBC Merlin's Gwen, The Vampire Diary's Bonnie and Harry Potter's Hermione and Angelina.
After establishing the theoretical approach, Thomas goes from story to story and shows how these Black girls and women were portrayed within the universe and how fans reacted to the characters.
It becomes evident that these Black characters repeat the Dark Fantastic cycle, wherein their Blackness it at once their defining characteristic but also cause for their invisibility. They are relegated to the realm of "darkness and monsters" and are usually given roles that support the White main character.
But how Thomas shows, these figures are more, like Rue who is demonstrably the first and real Mockingjay or Gwen, who is the actual true Queen of Camelot, but their impact and abilities are never fully mentioned or explored within the narratives.

Thomas also analyses fan reaction to these Black characters. To say that the negative responses are filled with racism and misogyny (or misogynoir) is an understatement. Thomas carefully and meticulously explains how the Dark Fantastic cycle and our real-world racial politics influence how fans react to these Black characters. The fact that these characters have significant, often impactful roles outside of their usual racialised repertoire (like slavery, servitude and other supportin roles), is enough for many (White) fans to, pardon my French, lose their shit completely.
For our society, which is predicated on White supremacy and thus also on Black inferiority, the fact that a figure in popular media is Black AND innocent or beautiful or powerful is seen for many as a transgression and the reactions are explosive and violent. Many don't or can't see why or how their reactions are so vile but the fact is that suspension of disbelief for many fans stops at disenfranchised groups.
A newest example would be the three Star Wars sequels, where any woman or person of colour is taken seen by many fans (usually White fans) as "identity politics", "shoving diversity down our throats" and other ridiculous things.
Just remember how Kelly Marie Trans was treated by certain militant (anti-feminist and fascist) fans: harassed, doxxed, verbally abused through all social media platforms, etc. Same for Boyega and Ridley. Or remember when Poe does a reckless thing in the movie and his commanders, all women, reprimand him, and the men exploded in absolute blind rage because how dare these women and feminism is cancer, yadda yadda?

Anyhow, the point is that for many fans the presence of Black characters is seemed as negative, especially when they have roles outside of their prescribed narratives (even when said narratives aren't always that free of the usual traps, like in all the cases Thomas discusses in her book). Even a minor deviance from the usual script ellicits anger, resentment and fear.

I could go on and on about this book.
It's magnificently written. I love non-fiction anyway but Thomas writes in such a clear and engaging way that even those who never or only seldom read non-fiction, will have a blast reading this. I was hooked after the first few sentences. I love smart and deep analysis of popular media (and I've done some myself) and this book is an example on how to do it, not only good but excellently.
I mean, I've started reading Comics and Stuff about the same time and I was done after less than a page into the book for various reasons I will explore in a more in-depth review of both books (The Dark Fantastic and Comics & Stuff). But let me tell you: there is a HUGE, nay, CHASMIC difference in quality between Thomas' book and Jenkins'.
Honestly, Jenkins can't hold the candle to Thomas in every way - academically, stylistically or just basic level writing skills.

I could write pages upon pages of analysis and prais every single thing in this book and quote like 75% but I don't have much time now so let me finish by saying this:
GO BUY AND READ THIS BOOK NOW!
It's interesting, engaging and so freaking good. Thomas will expand your horizon and make you look at popular media in a new light, hopefully inspiring you to think more about what you consume. I've always been a critical thinker re: popular media and what I watch so this was right up my alley but I think that even absolute beginners can have fun with this book.

It was super interesting, albeit very rushed in certain places. Nevertheless it gave me a new perspective

I tried to read this as the premise sounded super interesting and I liked the idea of a post-colonial reading of popular texts but I just found the writing style a bit too dry and even though what was important and interesting I never really wanted to carry on reading this as i wasn't hooked by the writing.

Important topic and accessible writing! Definitely recommend it for everyone interested in analysing fantasy literature and race representation.

This is such an important contribution to the field of literature on children's literature, fantasy and representation.  Full review to come.

The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas is an important addition to the scholarship on fantasy and the dynamic between it and its readership and viewership.

Thomas makes many important distinctions in this work between inclusion as simply being in the story and inclusion as being essential to the story. Additionally, the difference between being included as a character with agency and being included as only representative of some element of fantasy. These insights, while not new, are brought together here as a whole with a couple of key intended takeaways.

First, the part I didn't think worked. I felt that Thomas was too concerned with making every instance fit with her relatively new paradigm for the dark fantastic. Being too wed to making things fit a standard form is part of the problem she is confronting, putting argument second to making something fit within a box, or set of sequential boxes. The only times her argument goes astray is when she is focused more on making things fit her "new" paradigm than she is on simply making her argument. I would have preferred her boxes have been posited as a "some or all" thing rather than a "they will fit this" thing.

In many cases a complaint like I just made would negate what the overall argument does, but that isn't the case here. The points she is making about these stories and the representation of the dark fantastic are spot on, once you jettison the dogmatic imposed structure. Thomas illustrates her analyses with examples and argues persuasively for what she sees within each text she looks at. If she had simply done that, this would still have been an important addition.

She also, and I think more importantly, addresses two additional areas: fan interaction and the imagination gap. These are largely linked but not entirely. The dynamic between the two help to point to future positive change.

The way that readers and viewers appropriate texts for their own uses has been an important part of the SF&F community for some time. Early examples centered largely around sexuality, rewriting oneself into the existing story by creating extensions of that universe. Rewriting oneself into the story around the concept of race is likely even more important simply because of the unconscious biases people bring to texts. It is this imaginative work on the part of fans that points back to the publishing and writing community, and education as well, to imagine better and more diverse worlds and stories. 

I would highly recommend this to scholars and fans of science fiction and fantasy. This helps us to look back at what we have already read and seen with a new perspective while also asking us to look ahead with a new imaginative frame.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

This is NOT an easy book to read. Because it questions and guides and enlightens you on ideas you have never thought of in this light of race and it's effects. I had to paise more often than I had ever before. And it made it hard to even finish the book soon. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad .. but a fair warning that this brilliant essay style book will need a lot of concentration to get hooked. And yet it is a little lacking in a way that the ideas get a little lost in too much theorizing. But I appreciate the chance to read this. I will have to take multiple readings to understand this all and how it is relevant to a non white reader like me. But this sure has inspired me to read more regional literature and stories.

THE DARK FANTASTIC by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas has an absolutely beautiful cover. Thomas, who is an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, has produced a thought-provoking work regarding the portrayal of race in children's literature. Unfortunately for our students, the tone and content is extremely scholarly.  We are in the midst of a multi-year process to make our collection even more diverse, but THE DARK FANTASTIC is not practical enough to address our needs. It is designed for a more academic audience.

I really enjoyed The Dark Fantastic. It is very readable, well researched literary criticism. If you are an avid fantasy reader and enjoy non-fiction as well I would recommend it.

This was really, really good! A collection of thoughts to put together an academic work that explores the creation and development of Black characters in young adult literature is authentic and definitely sparks a discussion for the progressive set of readers, as well as act as a realization of how such literature is being consumed. From Rue in Hunger Games to Hermione in Harry Potter, it states but also provides a hopeful narration for the future of ethnicity and better representation in books that are meant to inspire the younger and the older generation alike. It was impressive to see how clearly points were made and references were used from the quoted books to better make those points. They definitely compel the reader to view the aimed characters in a different, more ethnically focused manner and detect the presence of racism and oppression in the responses these characters have got. Like the tweets that were displayed to show the outrageous reaction The Hunger Games fans had when Rue was cast as a Black character for portrayal on the screen. The Dark Fantastic is worth reading, for sure. However, I couldn't really relate or understand points made in regards to the other two works that the author commented on: Merlin and The Vampire Diaries, so that's where one star had to go off.

“The Dark Fantastic” by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas is a non-fiction book about the representation of black women in fantasy. Thomas focuses on four examples of popular fantasy books and television series that feature a black female character. Thomas presents her theory of the Dark Other as a lens through which to understand how black women are marginalised, even in magical worlds. Exploring the themes of spectacle, hesitation, violence, haunting and emancipation, Thomas analyses “The Hunger Games”, “The Vampire Diaries”, “Merlin” and “Harry Potter” in depth while making mention of many other examples of afrofuturism and black fantastic stories.

This is a meticulous and thoughtful book that gives characters like Rue, Bonnie Bennett, Gwen and Angelina Johnson the attention and analysis that they often did not receive in their own stories. There were some very compelling arguments in this book, particularly Thomas’ discussion of hesitation and the rationale behind why readers, writers and publishers find black characters so disconcerting – even in fantasy worlds. I thought that the idea of waking dreams and the hypocrisy of how the idea of magic doesn’t break the illusion but an empowered black woman does was particularly piercing. Thomas is very frank about her experiences in fantasy fandom, and this first-hand knowledge and response enriches this structured and well-researched book.

I think the main question I have after reading this is who is the intended audience? Although softened y the autoethnography parts of the book, as well as the appealing subject matter, Thomas nevertheless has a very scholarly writing style that indicates her significant academic experience and qualifications. While I highly doubt anyone could fault her theories, research or conclusions, part of the advantage of writing non-fiction books is to bring complex yet important concepts to a broad audience and I think that some parts of Thomas’ book could be a little too intellectual for the average reader.

A fascinating and academic work about a phenomenon that any pop culture consumer has been exposed to but most probably haven’t even noticed.

In The Dark Fantastic, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas discusses how people of color have been excluded from popular young adult fantasy works (or sidelined as the victim or villain), and how racism works to make even the idea of black characters anathema to some fans. She talks about what it means when children and young adults don't see themselves or their lives reflected in popular culture and examines the way that black characters - particularly black girls - have been depicted in recent TV shows and movies, including Rue in The Hunger Games, Gwen in the BBC's show Merlin, and Bonnie in The Vampire Diaries. She shows how these characters get stuck in cycles, and how they are ultimately failed by showrunners, movie makers, and white fans. I haven't seen Merlin or The Vampire Diaries, but that didn't matter - I found Thomas's analysis really engaging and interesting. I especially liked her conclusion, in which she talked about young people imagining themselves into stories and thus remaking them - and the entire genre. I was lucky enough to see Viet Thanh Nguyen speak recently, and this book brought to mind his argument that we need narrative plenitude; that is, everyone needs to see themselves in works of art and culture, and not just as a supporting player, but as the hero or heroine. The Dark Fantastic is recommended to anyone who likes literary or cultural criticism, but also any fans of fantasy works.

This book is a really fascinating investigation on the way race is handled in children and young adult fantasy books and tv. It’s quite academic in the way it’s written but it’s worth taking the time to concentrate on because it highlights and examines many aspects of these popular fandoms like Harry Potter and the Hunger Games which I think many people will have simply, unfortunately, not thought about at all. Very much worth reading.

"When people of color seek passageways into the fantastic, we have often discovered that the doors are barred.

The Dark Fantastic explores multiple film and book series and how they include, exclude, or erase diversity.

This was a great read. I agree that the lack of diversity is also a lack of imagination. I can't imagine truly living in a reality where everyone I know looks exactly like me. Diversity in books is needed to reflect the world we live in. Otherwise, we do a disservice to the world. 

Highly recommend this read.

Thanks to NetGalley and NYU Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dr. Thomas shares the commonalities she has found in the representation of black and brown characters historically and into the present using four specific examples in media. These characters have been othered repeatedly when they are on the page and even when they are completely erased or are absent. Thomas explains that The Dark Other in stories is “the monstrous Thing that is the root cause of hesitation, ambivalence, and the uncanny.” The Dark Other is “the obstacle to be overcome.” She explains that the fantastic has needed darkness because the stories have needed heroes and villains and this locked the Dark Other into the role of antagonist.

Throughout the book, Thomas lays out the many ways the Dark Other have been portrayed in the fantastic that continues to be manifested in contemporary media. Storytellers and readers accept that stories only work one way – dark pitted against light. The Dark Other as a protagonist or hero has been thought by reviewers and critics to be unbelievable. People have come to accept this fallacy and cannot see beyond what has always been. With example after example, Thomas shows readers how the lack of imagination has kept literature stagnant and falling into the same inequitable patterns for years.

There is a way out though. Thomas shares that there are creatives pushing back against these confines. They are reimagining the world of stories especially within fanfiction. This could also be done within the publishing industry. She also provides a list of ways to emancipate the dark fantastic. The Dark Fantastic isn’t simply a history, but is also a call to action and will hopefully educate and inspire change.

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<p>Review copy provided by the publisher.</p>
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<p>This is a really interesting work of SF criticism focused on the Dark Other, specifically on Black girls/women on the peripheries of popular media properties. Thomas takes the lessons of the title works and others and uses them as exemplars of larger issues in the genre. She deliberately eschews the old-fashioned academic convention of obscuring/abstracting the critic's voice: she is coming from a very specific place as a late Gen X Black woman from Detroit, and she explicitly (as well as implicitly with her prose choices) rejects the idea of some universal construct called "the reader" who can stand for every reader. This is extremely constructive.</p>
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<p>In addition to the titular works, Thomas spends a fair amount of time on the TV show <em>Merlin</em> and also on both the TV show and the book series <em>The Vampire Diaries</em>, examining the ways visual adaptations of preexisting material interact with fan expectations. She has deep roots in fanfiction fandom and is not afraid to use that experience as a lens in this work.</p>
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<p>Frankly I think a lot of white SFF writers could benefit from seeing Thomas's perspective laid out in detail with examples. The power of "I didn't realize I was doing that, and I'd prefer not to" is pretty strong, and it has to be in the face of "I don't worry about that kind of thing."<br></p>
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In The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games, author and scholar Ebony Elizabeth Thomas considers the representation of ethnic characters in written and filmed media.  Thomas begins the book by noting her predilection for speculative work, and I was surprised to learn that she also composes fan fiction.



This book legitimizes my own mingling of academic and affinity-based practice, and showed me that, yes, works like The Hunger Games are complex and open for detailed analysis.  At the same time, this book challenged my assumptions about balanced and accurate representations in media.



Genre is yet another way that people are separated, and Thomas makes this case clearly and with ample evidence from the works she examines, as well as a foundation in scholarship.  My interest in this book is first as a lover of cinema and literature, but also as someone who has a desire to create positive learning environments for everyone.



Thomas's examination of popular culture through the lens of critical race theory helped me think through these works of fiction from a different perspective.  I am grateful for the opportunity to read The Dark Fantastic.  



May the conversation continue and may social (and artistic) changes ensue.

This book hit home as this is something that I can understand, not seeing yourself in the media around you. It was such an interesting read and helped me convey and discuss this issue with others around me. I also love the title!

Dare I say it? The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Thomas is my second favorite nonfiction of the year! First off, this cover is stunning! Now that I’m done drooling over this cover let’s get to this review. 
Thomas is straightforward in her research and observation in the adventure to dystopian futures. She highlights the race cycle that appears throughout each chapter in The Hunger Games (Rue), Merlin (Gwen), The Vampire Diaries (Bonnie Bennett) & Harry Potter (Angelina). 

To quote Thomas "When youth grow up without seeing diverse images in the mirrors, windows, and doors of children’s and young adult literature, they are confined to single stories about the world around them and, ultimately, the development of their imaginations is affected.” I couldn’t agree with her more. 

Thomas speaks about Black feminism, Afrofuturism, and highlight the works of Tomi Adeyemi and Nnedi Okorafor whom have written books for young readers that are based on Nigerian and Nigerian-American cultures. There is so much more to this book, for folks like me that enjoy these futuristic worlds, but never understood why black people didn’t really live in these books and shows, well Thomas pretty much explains it one chapter at a time.  Thank you, Netgalley & NYU Press, for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.