Kemi Ashing-Giwa discusses her debut novel, The Splinter in the Sky, as part of the new occasional event, the Sistah Sci Fi Series. 

The Splinter in the Sky (Gallery/Saga Press, 2023) is a diverse, exciting space opera about young tea expert, Enitan, who is taken as a political prisoner and recruited to spy on government officials — a role that may empower her to win back her nation’s independence. All she wants is to quit her day job and expand her fledgling tea business. But when her lover is assassinated and her sibling is abducted by Imperial soldiers, she abandons her idyllic plans and weaves her tea tray up through the heart of the Vaalbaran capital. There, she will learn just how far she is willing to go to exact vengeance, free her sibling, and perhaps even secure her homeland’s freedom.

Kemi Ashing-Giwa was born and raised in sunny Southern California, where she grew up on a steady diet of sci-fi and fantasy. She enjoys learning about the real universe as much as she likes making ones up. After studying integrative biology and astrophysics at Harvard University, she joined the Earth & Planetary Sciences department at Stanford University as a PhD student. She has published numerous short stories with Tor.com, and This World Is Not Yours was her first novella.

The "Sistah Scifi Series" is proudly presented as a partnership between the San Francisco Public Library's African American Center and Sistah Scifi. This groundbreaking series invites you to explore the boundless realms of Afrofuturism and Afrofantasy, celebrating the vibrant contributions of Black women authors to the ever-evolving landscape of speculative literature. 

Sistah Scifi is the first Black owned bookstore focused on science fiction and fantasy in the United States.