Trying to get through a bunch of novellas to catch up on my yearly reading goal 😅 I enjoyed this. I felt really sorry for the main character, being abandoned by her family and those who knew her. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Trying to get through a bunch of novellas to catch up on my yearly reading goal 😅 I enjoyed this. I felt really sorry for the main character, being abandoned by her family and those who knew her. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Who is Sankofa, that young girl who sometimes radiates a dangerous green light around her, and who kills any technology by just touching it?
Excellent novella, perfect for a book club as it deals with numerous themes (technology, guilt, society...). At my book club, a member asked what was the message of the book, but there isn't a clear one, I LOVE that, it's a book that will make you think, not one that's going to tell you how you should think.
I forgot to review this when I read it earlier in the month, and I‘ve already forgotten it, hence why I‘m giving it a so-so.
Classed as Afro-futurist (yes, there are drones), it read more like a fable of folk-take to me. Sankofa, a young girl, gains special powers and is ostracised by the community.
It‘s a very sad tale and somehow not futurist, dystopian or fable-y enough, falling down the middle and losing out as a result.
#aam #authoramonth
#16 of #booked2023, #Afrofuturism
I'm using Okorafor's own term for her work, #Africanfuturism. They're not quite the same thing. Read her essay for more.
This book is difficult to classify. It's an alien-tech (magic?) folktale set in near-future Ghana. It speaks of power, and death, and loneliness, and surveillance, and corporate greed, and of being a young girl who is older than her years. But it's also more than that.
We had a sub no-show today so I filled in for my friends high school English classes. They‘re reading Frankenstein and I was able to read this whole novella. Nnedi Okorafor never disappoints!
A very quick listen and an interesting story! Okorafor does a great job with world building.
#bookspinbingo
#jumpstart2023
#booked2023 - Afrofuturism book
#joyousjanuary
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This book is on sale for kindle right now. If you are doing #AuthoraMonth this is one of the authors for 2023.
What are the odds I'd find two books including the premise of Death adopting a daughter?
There is an arc to the main character's journey that was completed, certainly the characters are fully formed even when only briefly met, and mysteries left unsolved is true to life. ∆ As life-giving as the imagery of seeds, trees, and green is for me, I resisted their close association with death, though it too is natural. ∆That poor, confused robot! 🥲 🤖♥️
This was a perfect audiobook for one of my weekend trips. I finished it up just as I reached my destination!
I'd call this book another great story from a masterful storyteller. It has a more haunting tone and tale, but, like all of Nnedi Okorafor's books that I've read, also has a wonderfully vibrant setting.
This felt like a modern fable. I really enjoyed the first half, the second wasn‘t quite as strong for me.
A 7 year old finds herself with a super power that she struggles to learn how to control.
#readingAfrica2022 #Ghana
This is a novella by the same author who wrote Binti that I read recently. It had a really interesting story that was much different from Binti, though had a similar theme in some ways. I thought it was very well written. I felt bad for the main character. It left me with some questions, but not in an annoying way. It will be interesting to see if she continues this story down the road.
Generally speaking, I‘m a big fan of Okorafor‘s writing, but I didn‘t feel this was one of her best. One thing she always excels at - and which IS present here - is rich world building, but there wasn‘t much of a plot, which made it a bit disappointing. Worth a read if you‘re a fan!
Another brilliant novella from Nnedi Okorafor that explores grief, growing up, and the interplay between culture, technology, and corporations.
My only complaint with Nnedi Okorafor books would be that I always want more! 😁
Okorafor has such a enchanting way with words that I become wrapped up in her worlds and characters and I never want them to end. This book is a perfect blend of sci-fi and culture. Loved it. 💚💚💚
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
Beautiful novella. Nnedi Okorafor creates such a painful, beautiful story of a young woman who walks with death and searches for answers and purpose. I loved this book.
Another great novella from Nnedi Okorafor! Can't wait for her next book.
#scifi #sciencefiction
#20in4 wrap up! Almost 16 hours, and more #audiostitching puffin progress 😊
Read from 8 (I need to stop starting more books ahh) and finished 3.
I'm not sure why, but something was missing in this for me. I thought it started off really strong, but then the second half just couldn't hold my attention. I think I wanted the story to go somewhere. More than it did. I felt pretty 'Meh' about it by the end, which was disappointing for how well I liked it initially
Young Ghanaian girl comes to accept unexplained destructive powers + fear & reverence they generate. Villagers indulge her to avoid the glowing green anger of the “Adopted Daughter of Death.” Self-knowledge, self-confidence, renaming. Sankofa is an outcast & orphan, mostly alone with Movenpick the fox (her familiar). A deep loneliness. Original villain is dispatched too quickly, novella sets up corporate villain for book two? Flowing prose. 2020
I thought this was an excellent story and an entertaining #audiobook. It's so short. I sort of wish there was another. And this cover is excellent.
#BookSpinBingo free space
@TheAromaofBooks
In a vaguely futuristic, somewhat more technologically advanced Ghana, a young girl is gifted/cursed with a glowing green seed of mysterious origins. A very good coming-of-age story where her development correlates with her learning to control her power.
The moon was just rising when Sankofa came up the dirt road. Her leather sandals slapped her heels softly as she walked. Small swift steps made with small swift feet.
#firstline(s)Friday
@ShyBookOwl
#Maycharacters #Merciful
@Eggs & @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Hope you both had great weekends!
"She's the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own"
While most fear her, Sankofa will use her "power" for good. Ending the life of a man riddled with cancer, is her being merciful, and his wife and children are thankful.?
This was a quick novella listen. It was pretty good.
Sankofa wakes up one day and can‘t remember her name. Everyone around her is dead. She ends up leaving and walking around. She doesn‘t understand her powers at first but learns what she can and can‘t do. She‘s walking and searching for a meteorite.
I enjoyed reading this one because it was fun. But I almost felt like I was missing something when she mentions a big Corp but nothing happens
"She's the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own"
My only complaint is that this was too short of a book, I wanted more time with Sankofa. As her story is told I really felt for her and loved her. The writing felt so magical. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wonderful!!!
When you have the power of a god but you‘re just a child who wants your family back, there are hard choices to make. I am so curious as to the backstory of Movenpick.
This Africanfuturist novella reads like a folktale from a near-future Ghana about Sankofa, “the adopted daughter of Death.” It‘s important to know that the Sankofa bird is Ghanaian symbol of retrieval from the past. This left me with more questions than answers, but it is a meditation on tradition and technology as powerful as it is brief. (On #petsandpagesmonday, I share a photo of an adoptable shelter cat with my current read for our bookshop.)
And of course before I read the books I just bought, I need to read my library books 🤣
#bookworm #librarybooks #idonthaveabookproblem
I read several books by Okorafor and in my opinion this one has the best writing style so far. The ending was so-so, but overall a quick solid read.
I really enjoyed listening to this one - my first by this highly esteemed author. I liked the hybrid of folklore and sci fi. My concern is that maybe I didn‘t get it all in one listen and may need to reread!
New in! I love Binti (which the delightful @DaveGreen7777 gifted to me!) so I am excited to read this one! Also, I am really loving this cover! 💕📚 #librarylove #librariansoflitsy
My March #bookspinbingo card
@thearomaofbooks
I'm supposed to be working but I'm playing with Photoshop and making Bingo Cards....sounds about right for me.
Enjoyed this novella not only for its unique perspective but also the mystery behind the character. A bit sci-fi mixed with the mysterious & supernatural.
I will read anything Nnedi Okorafor writes. She is that good. This novella was excellent, and her blog and TED talk are excellent as well - https://nnedi.com
And here's all you need to know to entice you to give it a try. Remote Control is:
1. Set in near-future Ghana
2. Features the Adopted Daughter of Death
3. Has a problematic robot in it
Excellent novella that‘s one part coming of age (young girl on her own in Ghana), one part fantasy/sci-if/Africanjujuism (she is granted mysterious powers of death and unwittingly kills her entire town including her family).
Another short one that I loved. The speculative was super interesting and the way it blended concepts of folk tale, tech and aliens(?).
Misty magical snow day ❄️ I was supposed to work today, but thanks to an influx of snow we islanders are less than prepared for, my bus isn‘t running so I get a snow day! Current audiobook tagged.
Set in a near-future Ghana, this novella has glimpses of almost possible tech like jelli tellis. At its heart though, this story is a haunting fairy tale both achingly lonely and darkly sweet.
#FirstLineFridays ☆ @ShyBookOwl
"The moon was just rising when Sankofa came up the dirt road."
Loving the artwork at the start of each chapter in this slim novel.
Finished this novella tonight for #booked2021 sci-fi written by a woman. It really packed a punch for such a quick read. And the audio was pretty amazing. The world building and folklore were so fantastic. I felt very connected to the MC. I was just let down a little by the lack of resolution on the science fiction parts. I very rarely read sci-fi, so it was hard for me that it was pretty open ended at the last.
Immediately finished this book and restarted. Nnedi Okorafor is an author whose books will always be added to my TBR. Something about this specific story, in this specific time in history just hits a little different, personal. Maybe it's Mother Nature's torment coming to a head or living through a pandemic with early mention of experimentation on African people. So many things. The moral of this rant is to encourage ppl read this author.
"There's more vivid imagination in a page of Nnedi Okorafor's work than in whole volumes of ordinary fantasy epics." Uesula K Le Guin
Love her compact writing. A gem of afro futurism. About loss, loneliness, growing up and owning ones own power. Loved it. 4 ?
I just plowed through this story & now I need someone to talk to about LifeGen, lab rats, and lonely girls who have gifts they don‘t understand.
I loved this Afrofuturism novella that manages to meld science fiction and the tone of a folk tale. A young girl wanders the countryside alone. The people of towns and villages give her whatever she wants, even though they obviously fear her. She could never be one of them. I don‘t want to spoil any of it, but what a gem of a book! 💫