Starred review from July 10, 2023
Worlds collide in the formerly out-of-print gem that opens Hugo and Nebula Award winner Okorafor’s Desert Magician’s Duology (first published in 2007), revised and expanded into an unputdownable Africanfuturist epic. In 2074 Niger, 15-year-old shadow speaker Ejii Ugabe is only just beginning to understand her mystical abilities when her father is beheaded in front of her and her life changes forever. Determined to hunt down his executioner, Ejii treks to the place where other worlds merge with Earth. Along the way, she meets the cagey but strong-willed Dikéogu Obidimkpa, a potential friend who may be more than he seems. Together, they discover both lost legends and purpose among the treacherous desert sands. The postapocalyptic Saharan landscape is striking; technology, magic, and awe-inspiring nature all weave together in the background of this vivid adventure centered on the coming-of-age theme that is a hallmark of Okorafor’s work. The characters, meanwhile, are expertly realized—especially Ejii, who makes a valiant heroine. The linear narrative is occasionally broken up by excerpts of Ejii’s own writing—an email to herself, an essay she wrote for school—reminding readers of her age and vulnerability. The result is a mind-blowing expedition into a not too distant future world.Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maass Agency.
August 1, 2023
Transformed by nuclear and biological warfare, the Sahara of 2070 nonetheless remains a place of wonder and danger, albeit now with homicidal sandstorms, talking animals, portals to other universes, and metahumans with preternatural abilities. Ejii, a shadow speaker and product of the change, only recently started honing her ability to interpret the shadows when Jaa, a living legend, publicly deposed Ejii's despotic father via decapitation and stepped in as interim leader of her Nigerian town. Though grateful for her progressive policies, Ejii struggles with reconciling Jaa's ruthless means to achieve her ends and the trauma of witnessing her father's murder. When Jaa asks Ejii to accompany her to a peacekeeping summit with the clandestine intent to murder the opposition in the name of preventing interuniversal war, Ejii must decide if she will continue Jaa's bloody legacy or if she will effect change through nonviolence. Crafted around complex themes of identity, morality, and empowerment, this bildungsroman, originally published in 2008, will appeal to young adult and adult readers alike with its highly original and imaginative Africanfuturism elements.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.