She's timid and unused to taking control in a way that's quite well done, and her efforts to overcome that are satisfying. The protagonist, Ejii, is very likable, and though her magic is possibly too immediately powerful to be satisfying, she does struggle with it and with her newfound role as a game-changer on a grand scale in a believable and endearing manner. It's a post-apocalyptic dystopian future fantasy set in West Africa, starring a teen girl with magic powers who goes on a quest with a really kickass warrior queen, the queen's two husbands, another teen with magic powers, and some talking animals. Learn more about Nnedi at and follow Nnedi on twitter (as Facebook and Instagram. She lives with her daughter Anyaugo in Phoenix, AZ. Her debut novel Zahrah the Windseeker won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. Her many works include Who Fears Death (winner of the World Fantasy Award and in development at HBO as a TV series), the Nebula and Hugo award winning novella trilogy Binti (in development as a TV series), the Lodestar and Locus Award winning Nsibidi Scripts Series, LaGuardia (winner of a Hugo and Eisner awards for Best Graphic Novel) and her most recent novella Remote Control. Born in the United States to two Nigerian (Igbo) immigrant parents and visiting family in Nigeria since she was a child, the foundation and inspiration of Nnedi’s work is rooted in this part of Africa. The more specific terms for her works are africanfuturism and africanjujuism, both terms she coined and defined. Visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (Okorafor is a New York Times Bestselling writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. Myself totally absorbed in this 352-page long novel.įor grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, Is certainly appropriate for youth ages 12 and up however, as an adult I found This is a futuristic tale with fantasy and magic tossed in with alternate worlds, a perfect setting for this exciting adventure filled with unique creatures and humanoids with strange yet useful gifts. Ejii must overcome a difficult memory – the beheading of her father – and learn to forgive his murderer if she is to prevent war, Ejii must also find peace in her heart. The lead character is a fourteen-year-old girl who goes by the name Ejii.

This stress and fear is leading toward unsettling events and may even lead to war. In some places revered, in other areas despised and feared.

Mutant humans begin appearing with magical skills and are Unfortunately, Earth’s current technology is poisonous to one area known as the Ginen. Alternate worlds are merging and fraying the fabric that separates them. On a future Earth after a great war or a great bomb, when magic returns to the planet… but something else does, too.

The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor