We meet her when she’s fourteen, an unwanted Christmas guest, knowing she’s not wanted yet doing what she must to continue her journey. Known as the Adopted Daughter of Death, Sankofa accepts offerings as her due, though she’s (mostly) polite about it. Only seven when she first accidentally obliterates her entire village, Fatima renames herself Sankofa and wanders from village to village seeking out the seed that started it all. Set in a future-Ghana where autonomous robots coexist with mud huts, Nnedi Okorafor’s Remote Control is a lyrical tale of a young girl who acquires the power to kill.

And she walks-alone, except for her fox companion-searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged searching for answers.īut is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?Purchase at IndieBound | Amazon | The Book Depository Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa-a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.

The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. 'She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. The new book by Nebula and Hugo Award-winner, Nnedi Okorafor. This bildungsroman is perfect for fans of Nalo Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber (2000) or Naomi Novik’s Uprooted (2015).Published by Tordotcom on 19 January, 2021 Great for speculative fiction devotees that are seeking a non-Eurocentric setting and an unusual but engrossing protagonist. Sankofa’s path through Ghana covers both the mundane and the futuristic, and Okorafor examines what happens when normal people meet someone or something they do not understand. Tense moments of conflict are followed by gentler vignettes where she gets to know the people and the world around her.

What happens when magic is more of a curse than a blessing? Will the search for answers provide closure, or make her life even more dangerous? Sankofa is an engaging character and despite her strange circumstances, she is practical and driven forward by a strong sense of right and wrong. Far from making her a superhero, her talents cause fear and awe to follow in her wake. Sankofa, a girl who has forgotten her name, finds a mysterious seed that gives her deadly powers. Okorafor’s latest (after the YA fantasy Ikenga, 2020) blends plant-based science fiction with a fairy tale-like narrative.

Remote control nnedi okorafor review