- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: DAW (May 25 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 075640617X
- ISBN-13: 978-0756406172
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 3.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 612 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #296,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
An award-winning literary author presents her first foray into supernatural fantasy with a novel of post-apocalyptic Africa.
In a far future, post-nuclear-holocaust Africa, genocide plagues one region. The aggressors, the Nuru, have decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke. But when the only surviving member of a slain Okeke village is brutally raped, she manages to escape, wandering farther into the desert. She gives birth to a baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand and instinctively knows that her daughter is different. She names her daughter Onyesonwu, which means "Who Fears Death?" in an ancient African tongue.
Reared under the tutelage of a mysterious and traditional shaman, Onyesonwu discovers her magical destiny-to end the genocide of her people. The journey to fulfill her destiny will force her to grapple with nature, tradition, history, true love, the spiritual mysteries of her culture-and eventually death itse! lf.
About the Author
Nnedi Okorafor was born in the United States to two Nigerian immigrant parents. She holds a Ph.D. in English and is a professor at Chicago State University. She has been the winner of and finalist for many awards.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The author comes in to her own!,
By
This review is from: Who Fears Death (Hardcover)
A fascinating, excellent, challenging book for older teens and adults! A young sorceress is largely rejected by her community, but must take on an impossible task to avenge the terrible wrong done to her mother and protect the people. Accompanying her are her friends and her lover, who must also mature and accept both their individual powers and their interdependence. Thought-provoking. Great characters, and a wonderful story!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (43 customer reviews) 53 of 53 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliant non-traditional fantasy,
By Laurel - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Who Fears Death (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Set in an alternate/post-apocalyptic/futuristic African desert (with magic) "Who Fears Death" opens with a teenage Onyesonwu at her father's funeral. Grieving, she briefly and unintentionally starts to bring him back to life. She is a sorcerer, feared and hated because of her powers and her parentage. Her abilities, though spectacular, mostly endanger her and cause her suffering. But they also lead her on a quest to save her mother's people from impending war, slavery, and eventual genocide.The story is non-linear and framed as a more mature Onyesonwu's last words. Though complex and exotic, the way it's told makes everything clear and easy to follow, with background introduced just when we need to know it. In its skeleton, the novel is not so different from a classic quest fantasy. There's a magical apprenticeship, prophecies, a quest to fight evil, and travels with a band of companions, but the details make the experience very, very different. Note that "Who Fears Death" deals frankly with some horrific subjects. Be prepared to face the reality of topics like rape, war, genocide, and female circumcision. It's never gory, gratuitous, or -- amazingly -- particularly depressing (!!), but nothing is glossed over. The characters were all distinct, real, and interesting. The plot is engaging and logical. While there are real-world political and social issues addressed, the story -- Onyesonwu's story -- is what matters. Best of all (sorry, I'm shallow) there are numerous elements which are just extremely *cool*. Vivid, beautiful, fun, terrifying, and numinous, in turn. Overall, highly recommended. 26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unfulfilled Promise,
By Kevin L. Nenstiel "omnivore" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Who Fears Death (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Nnedi Okorafor unites the best of Achebe's Things Fall Apart with The Odyssey and The Lord of the Rings in a post-apocalyptic fantasy that sadly just thuds. Her story begins pregnant with possibility and rich with the kind of language and imagery that has long drawn me to post-colonial African literature, and I knew I'd love it. But then it bogs down in extraneous content and never achieves real traction.Conceived in violence and born in war, Onyesonwu has fought for everything all her life. But she becomes apprenticed to a great wizard and finally finds her place in society. That is, until one rash choice draws the attention of the brutal biological father she has never met. Suddenly Onyesonwu must leave the only life she's ever known to confront her father before his dark wizardry consumes her people. The first third of this novel really sings. Growing up an outcast in a world that denies its violent heritage, Onyesonwu must uncover her destiny as a stranger. Her evocative descriptions create a lively society built on the mysterious foundations of a dead world. Living on the outside, Onyesonwu sees truths her peers reject, and she describes them in such incisive detail that I believe I could travel to this place. But then the story shifts to a conventional quest fantasy as Onyesonwu and her friends seek her father. And the quest drags in an episodic fashion. The team has encounters, sometimes proves its mettle, but most often talks interminably. They have soap-operatic personal encounters, and unbelievably long passages occur in which nothing happens to advance the plot. I soldiered on, hoping the story would redeem itself at the end. No such luck. Important events flash past, and if your mind wanders at key moments, too bad. One principal character dies so suddenly, with so little fanfare, that our narrator has to remind us the death has happened. Even the confrontation with the ultimate evil happens very fleetingly, just one more episode in a string like beads. This book starts so well, and then I found myself praying for the end. After three acclaimed YA novels in a similar African dreamscape, this is Okorafor's first novel featuring an adult heroine. Perhaps Okorafor is maturing as a writer herself. If so, well done, but she has far to go. Her menacing evil should be less abstract, her quest should be more tightly constructed, and she must hold her characters' feet to the fire. This book never quite fulfills its exquisite promise. 19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who Fears Death,
By Live2Cruise "Live2Cruise" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Who Fears Death (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
It's difficult to describe this novel, which has elements of fantasy, supernatural, and speculative fiction. It's set in Africa, in an apparently futuristic time after a disaster has occurred which has caused technology to fall by the wayside as magic and sorcery flourish. There is growing conflict as the Nuru people attempt to exterminate the Okeke based on writings in their holy book, "The Great Book." Into this canvas steps Onyesonwu, the heroine, whose name means "Who Fears Death." Onye is the product of a Nuru soldier's rape of her Okeke mother. As a young child, Onye discovers her own magical powers and is drawn into a fascinating world of sorcery, prophecies and a frightening end game to the genocide spearheaded by her biological father. Onye learns that she has a powerful role to play in determining the fate of this world.I loved this novel and found that everything around me seemed to disappear as I read it. The author is a master at world-building and created so sharp and vivid a picture of this magical world that it felt very real. The characters, too, were clearly brought to life and easy to care about. The storyline went at a good pace, with some suspenseful moments and some tearful ones. While set in a fictional world, the story in many ways mirrors present-day Africa, particularly the genocide in the Sudan. I think this novel would appeal to a varied audience, from those who love African fiction to those who enjoy supernatural/ fantasy tales. |
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