3:75 Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

 Anwuli Okwudili (although she prefers to be called AO for Artificial Organism) was born disabled, and only survived due to massive medical intervention. Between that and a car accident when she was 14, she has had both legs amputated and replaced, one arm, a lung, and various other enhancements. This is just who she is and since she was old enough to decide, these choices have been ones that she made. She just had no idea how others were helping to shape those choices.

Then comes the day in the market where everything goes wrong. Now she is on the run but she doesn't know what she's running to, only that she's running away from what has happened, and this running runs her into DNA, a Fulani herdsman, who is trying to figure out what is happening in his life except that for him, he is returning to his family to get guidance. His kind nature brings AO along with him but fate has determined that they are both to be outcasts, hunted together through the desert. AO is about to learn so much more about who she is and what she can do against those who sought to use and control her.

I've been enjoying Nnedi Okorafor's work and this was no exception. An indictment of oligarchies and large corporations, intolerance for differences, and our loss of privacy in society. She is succinct in her brevity but she continues to draw me into her worlds and her characters with her weaving of African lore and culture throughout her stories. 

Page count: 214p/462p ytd/371,390p lifetime

22:100 Binti Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor

I first read the standalone novella, Binti, back in 2018.  Here are my thoughts at that time:

The Himba people have never left their homeland, much less traveled to the stars, but Binti has been accepted to go to the Oomza University which is offworld.  She knows she cannot tell her family, they will never approve, so she sneaks away one night to board the ship that will take her. 

She is other to everyone.  No one is familiar with the Himba people as they remain isolated and do not travel but Binti hopes that those traveling to the University will learn to treat her as an equal.  On the trip, things are going well and she is even starting to make some friends until the ship is attacked by the Meduse.

Earth and the Meduse have been at war for a long time and this is just the latest strike.  Now the Meduse have killed everyone on board except for Binti for there is something about her that is different.  Now she has the chance to try and be a bridge between the Meduse and Oomza University in order to bring peace. 

This was truly a remarkably crafted tale.  At less than 100p long, it was tightly woven with amazingly detailed characters and universe.  Ms. Okorafor is an incredibly talented wordsmith and worldbuilder and I can't wait to read more of her work.

I had no idea what the rest of the series would be about but was hoping it would follow Binti at the University.  It instead brings her back to her village as a broker of the peace talks between the Meduse and humans. Unfortunately there is much fear and Binti has now become too alien after her fusing with the Meduse to be easily accepted by the people she grew up with. Now she must learn her full past, the story of the stone she brought with her on the ship to Oomza University, and the history of the war with the Meduse if there is to be any hope of peace between the worlds.

I will admit to being a bit disappointed at first that this was not the story I was hoping to get (but very thankful that in the Kindle version of the trilogy there was a short story of University days). I did find it a bit harder to get into the rest of the series as a result as I also found the pacing to be a bit slower but the story did pull me in with the masterful writing and intriguing characters. I am definitely a fan of Ms. Okorafor and will be continuing to work my way through her body of work.

Page count: 368p/6,033p ytd/353,423p lifetime 

16:100 Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

 Fatima is from a small village in Ghana where the shea trees are farmed. She loves to climb trees and especially the one in her yard. She wants nothing more than to climb to the top. Then one day, she finds a green stone nestled in the roots of her special tree. She treasurers it but one day, her father sells her stone away from her.  In that next year, she starts developing an internal heat and a green glow that comes upon her sometimes and when it does, she can kill. And then came the day of the accident, when her village was wiped out but for her and she forgot her name.

Now she is known only as Sankofa, the Adopted Daughter of Death. No one remembers where she came from but all know that she travels alone with only a fox as her sometimes companion, and her touch brings death. She searches for the stone that was taken from her, the part of her past that she thinks may heal her.

While this is definitely SciFi, and specifically Africanfuturisic, the technology plays such a small part in the overall story. It's such a human tale of longing and suffering and discovery. You can't help but feel for this girl who wanders alone while everyone fears her or wants to use her in some way and it's that, the heart of the story that draws you in and doesn't let go.

Page count: 160p/4,245p ytd/351,635p lifetime