Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okorafor has a talent for mixing science fiction and fantasy. Who Fears Death is set in a post-apocalyptic future so distant that apocalypse itself has become mythologized in the “Great Book” which is something very like the Bible. In this book, the people are split into two people: the dark skinned Okeke who pay for causing the apocalypse by being willing slaves to the lighter skinned Nuru. Over time, things become violent and the novel commences during a time of violence when the Nuru believe that the Great Book wishes the Okeke to be exterminated. The main character, Onyesonwu, is born out of the violence and conflict and is lighter-skinned like her mother’s Nuru rapist. Children liker her are called Ewu and are reviled. She quickly discovers that she has mystical talents and she struggles against convention and tradition to train her gift.

I opened with a short summary because it illustrates the many themes running through this novel. There are many difficult things to this book such as rape and violent prejudice, but it was not a difficult read. Onyesonwu is a fighter and I found myself cheering for her even when she was childish and temperamental. There is an aspect to this that is a messiah story. It is not over-blown and it adds a layer to the read that made me very thoughtful. There is so much violence in religious texts, is that because we a violent species? Or is it because we so desperately need saving?


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