Staff Pick
Nnedi Okorafor creates great characters, rich and real future worlds, and stories filled with high stakes and tension. Here she does it again, a fast-paced and thrilling tale with a protagonist faced with rejection from all around her, imminent danger, a questionable companion, and a race against time. Recommended By Doug C., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From Africanfuturist luminary Okorafor comes a new science fiction novel of intense action and thoughtful rumination on biotechnology, destiny, and humanity in a near-future Nigeria.
Anwuli Okwudili prefers to be called AO. To her, these initials have always stood for Artificial Organism. AO has never really felt… natural, and that’s putting it lightly. Her parents spent most of the days before she was born praying for her peaceful passing because even in-utero she was “wrong”. But she lived. Then came the car accident years later that disabled her even further. Yet instead of viewing her strange body the way the world views it, as freakish, unnatural, even the work of the devil, AO embraces all that she is: A woman with a ton of major and necessary body augmentations. And then one day she goes to her local market and everything goes wrong.
Once on the run, she meets a Fulani herdsman named DNA and the race against time across the deserts of Northern Nigeria begins. In a world where all things are streamed, everyone is watching the “reckoning of the murderess and the terrorist” and the “saga of the wicked woman and mad man” unfold. This fast-paced, relentless journey of tribe, destiny, body, and the wonderland of technology revels in the fact that the future sometimes isn’t so predictable. Expect the unaccepted.
Review
“Both wondrously magical and terribly realistic.” The Washington Post
Review
“To compare author Nnedi Okorafor to the late Octavia E. Butler would be easy to do, but this simple comparison should not detract from Okorafor’s unique storytelling gift.” New York Journal of Books
Review
“Haunting and absolutely brilliant. My heart and guts are all turned inside out.” John Green, New York Times-bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars
About the Author
Nnedi Okorafor is a Nigerian American author of African-based science fiction, fantasy and magical realism for children and adults. She is the winner of Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Locus, and Lodestar Awards, an Eisner Award nominee, and her debut novel Zahrah the Windseeker won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. Nnedi has also written comics for Marvel, including Black Panther: Long Live the King and Wakanda Forever (featuring the Dora Milaje) and the Shuri series. Her science fiction comic series LaGuardia (from Dark Horse) is an Eisner and Hugo Award nominee and her memoir is a Locus Award nominee. Nnedi holds two MAs (literature and journalism) and a PhD (literature). She lives with her daughter Anyaugo and family in Illinois. Follow Nnedi on Twitter (as @Nnedi), Facebook, and Instagram. Learn more about Nnedi at Nnedi.com.