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A review by thepurplebookwyrm
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Eh, this wasn't bad, but it also wasn't exactly my thing. Who Fears Death is kinda weird, genre-wise; I'd say this is... post-apocalyptic fantasy? Far-future science-fantasy? Though really, it works more as fantasy than anything else just... set in the far-future, in Africa – with very obvious signposts to this being set in Africa.
I liked this, mind you, as it made the book feel a bit different. Unfortunately, I can't say there weren't any issues with the world-building. In fact, I felt pretty disconnected from the story, and its world. Something didn't quite add up for me, in terms of time and place, chiefly because neither were well-defined... except, I suppose, for the latter, since you learn that the book's Kingdom of the Seven Rivers used to be the Kingdom of Sudan. But you learn this at the very, and I do mean very end of the book, and I was left wondering why it was even included. I guess it's because the plot revolves pretty heavily around the threat of genocide, racism/ethnic discrimination, rape as a tool of violent oppression – especially in the context of war and 'ethnic cleansing' – all of which are, sadly, relevant to the situation in Sudan today, but like... it was just one mention, and nothing else was done with it. 🤷♀️ You can easily tell the book's theming refers back to related phenomena in the real world – in Africa mores specifically, even – so what does name-dropping Sudan in the last few pages of the book actually accomplish, or simply add? Especially considering this remains... fantasy, with pretty strong magic?
Don't get me wrong: I actually liked the book's magic 'system'. It felt strongly rooted in shamanism, and featured connection to a spiritual realm that was convincingly brought to life. I liked the emotional emphasis that was placed on the master-pupil relationship; I thought it was an original twist to have the 'ego death' that tends to feature in a lot of shamanic initiations here be the spiritual experience of one's literal death in the future... and so on and so forth.
The book's theming on ethnic oppression, and discrimination against 'mixed' individuals (in this case often the product of rape, and exemplified by the story's MC, the Ewu Onyesonwu) was well realised overall. It was developed with a decent amount of nuance, in that it condemned all violence against the innocent, even when said violence was committed by the oppressed group (here, the darker-skinned Okeke). It's pretty clear to me the book also tried to explore sex-based oppression (Aro initially refuses to take on Onyesonwu as an apprentice because she's a girl, rape features pretty heavily in the story, and girls in Onyesonwu's home town undergo FGM at the onset of puberty), but I didn't find this thread of theming nearly as well developed. Something felt... missing, there, in terms of supporting foundations.
Something felt missing more broadly, honestly. There was a problem with the setting, like I said, in terms of time and place; the story felt largely 'untethered' as a result. And the ending really brought it down for me too. It felt way too convenient, easy, and thus unearned (it was also pretty confusing, quite frankly).
I'd definitely try something else by Nnedi Okorafor in the future, given I liked some things about Who Fears Death, but I certainly won't be re-reading this one.
PS/CW: that gang rape in the book's second chapter, and the FGM... were a little rough to read through, not gonna lie.
I liked this, mind you, as it made the book feel a bit different. Unfortunately, I can't say there weren't any issues with the world-building. In fact, I felt pretty disconnected from the story, and its world. Something didn't quite add up for me, in terms of time and place, chiefly because neither were well-defined... except, I suppose, for the latter, since you learn that the book's Kingdom of the Seven Rivers used to be the Kingdom of Sudan. But you learn this at the very, and I do mean very end of the book, and I was left wondering why it was even included. I guess it's because the plot revolves pretty heavily around the threat of genocide, racism/ethnic discrimination, rape as a tool of violent oppression – especially in the context of war and 'ethnic cleansing' – all of which are, sadly, relevant to the situation in Sudan today, but like... it was just one mention, and nothing else was done with it. 🤷♀️ You can easily tell the book's theming refers back to related phenomena in the real world – in Africa mores specifically, even – so what does name-dropping Sudan in the last few pages of the book actually accomplish, or simply add? Especially considering this remains... fantasy, with pretty strong magic?
Don't get me wrong: I actually liked the book's magic 'system'. It felt strongly rooted in shamanism, and featured connection to a spiritual realm that was convincingly brought to life. I liked the emotional emphasis that was placed on the master-pupil relationship; I thought it was an original twist to have the 'ego death' that tends to feature in a lot of shamanic initiations here be the spiritual experience of one's literal death in the future... and so on and so forth.
The book's theming on ethnic oppression, and discrimination against 'mixed' individuals (in this case often the product of rape, and exemplified by the story's MC, the Ewu Onyesonwu) was well realised overall. It was developed with a decent amount of nuance, in that it condemned all violence against the innocent, even when said violence was committed by the oppressed group (here, the darker-skinned Okeke). It's pretty clear to me the book also tried to explore sex-based oppression (Aro initially refuses to take on Onyesonwu as an apprentice because she's a girl, rape features pretty heavily in the story, and girls in Onyesonwu's home town undergo FGM at the onset of puberty), but I didn't find this thread of theming nearly as well developed. Something felt... missing, there, in terms of supporting foundations.
Something felt missing more broadly, honestly. There was a problem with the setting, like I said, in terms of time and place; the story felt largely 'untethered' as a result. And the ending really brought it down for me too. It felt way too convenient, easy, and thus unearned (it was also pretty confusing, quite frankly).
I'd definitely try something else by Nnedi Okorafor in the future, given I liked some things about Who Fears Death, but I certainly won't be re-reading this one.
PS/CW: that gang rape in the book's second chapter, and the FGM... were a little rough to read through, not gonna lie.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Violence, Murder
Gang rape in the second chapter, FGM of four girls, death by stoning, violence in the context of ethnic cleansing.