Another AH series I highly recommend is Steven Barnes's "Lion's Blood" and "Zulu Heart." It, too, starts with most of Europe being decimated by the Black Plague, and it's the Abyssinian Empire that conquers the New World.
While the sociopolitical framework is still based in violent colonialism, the books deliberately deconstruct racism, asserting that, within that corrupting framework, human beings react and respond in certain ways. They're both brilliantly written, although"Lion's Blood" is particularly brutal; I don't know if I can reread it.
Another AH series I highly recommend is Steven Barnes's "Lion's Blood" and "Zulu Heart." It, too, starts with most of Europe being decimated by the Black Plague, and it's the Abyssinian Empire that conquers the New World.
While the sociopolitical framework is still based in violent colonialism, the books deliberately deconstruct racism, asserting that, within that corrupting framework, human beings react and respond in certain ways. They're both brilliantly written, although"Lion's Blood" is particularly brutal; I don't know if I can reread it.