The Shadow Speaker

The Desert Magician's Duology #1

by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, Nnedi Okorafor

The year is 2070, and civilization has been completely transformed following a nuclear fallout in the early twenty-first century. Magic, mysticism, and mind-blowing technology now rule the world.

In West Africa, fourteen-year-old Ejii struggles to master her own magical powers. Embarking on a journey across the Sahara to find her father's murderer, Ejii discovers that her people are in danger of annihilation, and that she may be their last hope for survival.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fiction, Africa, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2007

About the author

See Nnedi Okorafor
The American-born daughter of Igbo Nigerian parents, Nnedi Okorafor is an international award-winning novelist of African-based science fiction, fantasy and magical realism for both children and adults. She is known for weaving African culture into creative evocative settings and memorable characters.

During her years attending high school in Flossmoor, Ill., Okorafor was known as a star tennis player and excelled in science. After being diagnosed with scoliosis Okorafor's student athletic career was ended. It was during this time that Okorafor picked up writing as a hobby.

Nnedi holds a PhD in literature/creative writing and is an associate professor at the University at Buffalo, New York (SUNY) She divides her time between Buffalo and Olympia Fields, Illinois, with her family.

Awards
2007 - 2008 | Macmillan Writers' Prize for Africa for Long Juju Man
2008 | Carl Brandon Parallax Award for The Shadow Speaker
2008 | The Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature for Zahrah the Windseeker
2012 | The 2012 Black Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature (Fiction) for Zahrah the Windseeker
2012 | Kindred Award for Who Fears Death
2011 | The World Fantasy Award (Best Novel) for Who Fears Death
2016 | The Nebula Award (Best Novella) for Binti
2016 | Children’s Africana Book Award for Best Book for Young Readers for Chicken in the Kitchen
2016 | The Hugo Award (Best Novella) for Binti

Reviews

[Nnedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful. :-D

[duck reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so torn over this book. It's a post-apocalyptic dystopian future fantasy set in West Africa, starring a teen girl with magic powers who goes on a quest with a really kickass warrior queen, the queen's two husbands, another teen with magic powers, and some talking animals. It should have been SO GOOD. It really set out to be, too. The protagonist, Ejii, is very likable, and though her magic is possibly too immediately powerful to be satisfying, she does struggle with it and with her newfound role as a game-changer on a grand scale in a believable and endearing manner. She's timid and unused to taking control in a way that's quite well done, and her efforts to overcome that are satisfying. I also really enjoy the fact of Queen Jaa's unconventional family arrangement (and the way other people--like her first husband's parents--respond to it), and would have loved more exploration of it. The characters are intriguing and respond in very nuanced ways, and the worldbuilding is very interesting, if a little overblown at times.

The novel doesn't quite manage to come together for me, though, for a number of reasons. First, the prose is clunkier and less sophisticated than the story it's trying to hold up, and the difference is jarring. Second, the magic is a little too powerful and convenient for the stakes to feel at all risky. Third, I was really put off by the *very very overt* construction of the evil chief's fatness as proof of his icky evilness.

That said, I really really enjoyed a lot of the parts of the novel, and would pick up a sequel in a second, hoping for improvement.

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up

I'm a bit of two minds about Shadow Speaker. On the one hand, it's inventive, sometimes verging on whimsical, offering a different take on a dystopian future where hope still exists and magic is woven together with science. There are elements of it, scenes, ideas, and world-building elements that I really like. As a novel though, it can feel a bit disjointed with a plot that doesn't come together as cohesively as Okorafor's later work.

It's also worth noting there is some fatphobia that isn't challenged with a villainous character being portrayed with his fatness as part of that villainy. Given that this was recently reworked it's disappointing that's still there. There's also a reference to creatures knowing if a man or woman is riding them even if the man is dressed up like a woman, which could come across as transphobic, though it's unclear whether that was the intent. In general I would say this isn't my favorite work from Okorafor, but it was still interesting. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

[Brok3n · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Anything goes" world-building

Shadow Speaker is an expanded re-issue of an out-of-print novel The Shadow Speaker by self-described Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor. (Okorafor mostly eschews the word "magic" in favor of "juju".) I haven't read the original version (indeed, I have not previously read any of Okorafor's works), so I have little to say about what is new. One thing I CAN point to, however, is the cover. Here's the original cover , and here's the new one -- so much better! In addition, we have a new introduction by the author, written in the voice of The Desert Magician, a character in the novel.

I suspect, however, that the main impetus for the rejuvenation of Shadow Speaker is the imminent publication of a sequel Like Thunder, which has another badass cover . I would not be surprised to learn that the ending of Shadow Speaker was adjusted for this purpose, as the new edition ends in a way that seems to demand a sequel -- not quite a cliffhanger, but definitely indications of More To Come.

Shadow Speaker takes place mostly in the Sahara in 2074, but it is a very different Sahara from the one we have now. Shadow Speaker has a postapocalyptic setting, but the apocalypse had elements of juju as well as science. There were nuclear bombs and Peace Bombs -- the latter combining science and juju. As a consequence there are magical beings -- our hero Ejimafor Ugabe is one such, a Shadow Speaker -- and portals to other worlds, in particular a world called Ginen. Ejii is a sixteen-year-old girl, just coming into control of her juju. She journeys to Ginen following her hero Jaa, and stuff happens there.

I did not personally enjoy Shadow Speaker as much as I had hoped. This comes down mostly to Okorafor's world-building, which was not to my taste. I think of fantasy worlds as being Alice in Wonderland or Lord of the Rings types. Either one can be full of Cool, Exciting Stuff. The difference is that an LOTR world has a deep, carefully worked out structure in which all the Cool Stuff fits together and makes sense. In an Alice world the Cool Stuff is just random, whatever the author thought at the moment would be cool. Giant hookah-smoking caterpillar? Sure! Why not? I personally greatly prefer LOTR-type fantasy worlds. And Shadow Speaker feels very Alice to me.

The plot of Shadow Speaker also felt like a loose succession of "stuff that felt cool to me at the moment" elements. Now, I am exaggerating a bit. Both the world and the plot had some underlying logic to them. But I am describing honestly the "anything goes" feeling both gave me, and it was not to my taste. As always, YMMV.

Now, I do endorse Shadow Speaker in one important way. This morning I pre-ordered the sequel Like Thunder. To be honest, it is not so much that I want to read another book like Shadow Speaker as that I want to see how Okorafor now writes. She has published dozens of books and won multiple awards. Even surviving so many years as a writer is an accomplishment, and I am interested to see how she has evolved in her craft.

I thank NetGalley and DAW for an advance reader copy of Shadow Speaker. This review expresses my honest opinions.

Blog review.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

How friggin' scary--a talking shadow!

Perfect for Halloween! Can't wait to read this!

[Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

duuuuuuuuuuuuude. Look. I ate this up in one sitting. I could barely convince myself to put it down to pee (spoiler alert, I didn't, I took it with me.) I wish I could give it another star. I kind of want to fight people giving it bad reviews. I want to erase it from my memory so I can read it again. I want to read 1000 more books in this world. This is what spec fic should be man A+ bye yall

Awesome female lead, check. Awesome female lead with two female mentors (mother + Jaa and dont even get me started on Jaa and how much I want to read every story of her life ever), check. Two potential love interests and NO ROMANCE AND NO LOVE TRIANGLE??? CHECK. (like there was a moment or two I was scared it was going there AND IT DID NOT. GOOD.) Talking animal friend, check. Casual magic and tech blend, check. I LOVE THIS BOOK A LOT GUYS. A LOT. I don't want to get into spoilers but like go read it so we can talk about it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is AWESOME!!! When I first read the back of the book I kinda thought it was going to be like another book I read called Obernewtyn because both of them are set in worlds that have "magical powers" because of an old war. This book is reeeeally different from Obernewtyn but is still reeeeeally good! It actually reminded me of another book called The Blue Sword. I think thats because I loved that book and the character went on a life changing journey that helped her develope and save the world.O! I know what else! Blue Sword is set in like the desert with nomads and stuff and Shadow Speaker is set in that kind of place too. But what this book is about is a girl called Ejii. As I've said before their world is a future versian of ours where a bomb exploded and the radiation created this sort of super human people. Ejii is what they call a Shadow Speaker, she can speak to shadows. The leader of their country is called Jaa and she is leaving the country to go to an all important meeting to prevent all the world from warring. The shadows tell Ejii that she must go with Jaa to save the worlds. This book is completly awesome!! I actually missed the begining of American Idol to finish it! Now that is a sign of a good book. ;)

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Background: This was first published back in 2007, and was out of print for years. But the author wrote a sequel, and so this book got updated and reprinted. So it makes sense to me that reading this felt like reading Guy Gavriel Kay’s *Fionavar Tapestry*: another early work from someone still working on defining themselves as an author. This was entertaining and original, but it didn’t have the kind of *depth* I would normally expect from Nnedi Okorafor.

It’s set in what used to be the West African nation of Niger in 2074. I suppose I would call this book post-apocalyptic, but it’s not so much that the world experienced an *apocalypse* as it experienced an enormous *change*. The main character, Ejii, is a 14 year old girl who is what is known as a Shadow Speaker, able to see extraordinarily well in both darkness and in light and able to hear the shadows of the world speak to her. Her father had been the head of her village, and imposed a strict version of Islam barring women from any real role in society and requiring them to wear burkas outside of the house. Until the queen of the region got wind of this, and arrived to correct things via decapitation.

As a result of this, Ejii grows up simultaneously hating and worshiping the queen, and is therefore conflicted when she asks Ejii to follow her as an apprentice. Ejii is needed; other planes of existence are colliding with ours, and they are ready to make war upon Earth. The shadows have told Ejii she is needed to prevent this, and so we are off.

As I said at the beginning, this was both original and creative. It’s almost relentless in its Afrofuturism, which I appreciate and enjoy. But it’s also a bit disjointed, and uncertain of what kind of story it wants to be.

Okorafor is a great author, and one who writes powerful stories. This was fun to read, but not nearly her best.

My blog

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The summary for this is a little off.
It's not about Ejii traveling across the country, looking for her father's killer.
It's about Ejii catching back up with her father's killer in order to fulfill a possible destiny.
It's not a revenge story, it's a coming of age story that doesn't involve avenging a father's death except by making sure other tyrants like said father don't come into power.

I wish I could have read this as a teenager. It would have absolutely captured my imagination.
As an old lady, I enjoyed listening to this but was put out by the unnecessary trope that popped up in order to pull heartstrings. That will never not make me bitter.

[Melanie Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bewertung folgt morgen, ein Aspekt hat mich dann noch schwankend gemacht in meiner Meinung.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this. It's an earlier work from Okorafor, and isn't as detailed or well-plotted as Akata Witch and the magnificent Who Fears Death, but it's a great read. Okorafor imbues what could have been a very dark story with a sense of wonder and joy at discovery; I wanted to spend much more time in the worlds she describes.

[Jalilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and engaging read with a powerful anti-violence message. I discovered Nnedi Okorafor last year when I read her enchanting Akata Witch series. I have since enjoyed several other of her books. This book is young Adult.

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I would read anything this author writes - she is just fantastic. I never expected to like her books, but I kept seeing her on lists and finally gave in and read Binti and then just kept reading and here we are.

This book was just fantastic - set on Earth [in the not-so-distant future] and other places, it is the story of Ejii and her life as a Shadow Speaker, and all she goes through as she learns how to navigate the world as a special person that not everyone thinks belongs.

Brilliantly told, heartbreaking in spots, I had to MAKE myself stop reading every night to go to bed. I cannot wait to dive into the sequel and learn what happens to Ejii and her family. So well done!!!

**I cannot say enough about the narrator of this book as well. She is just fantastic and I would listen to her narrate just about anything. She is absolutely one of my all-time favorites.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nnedi Okorafor, Dele Ogundiran - Narrator, and DAW for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is 2070, and life on Earth has been completely changed after a disastrous nuclear fallout earlier in the century: now in addition to technology, there is magic, and there are magical gateways to another world, Ginen (the world of Zahrah the Windseeker). Certain people have become metahuman, with strange abilities like rainmaking, or speaking to shadows, as Ejii Ugabe is able to do. When Ejii was eight, she witnessed the execution (or perhaps murder) of her power-seeking father by Jaa the Red Queen of Niger. Now that she is fourteen, she must follow Jaa to the other world of Ginen, as they strive to convince the otherworlders not to make war on Earth.

I liked this a lot more than Zahrah the Windseeker; this is not to say that I didn't like Zahrah, because I did, but The Shadow Speaker is much more complex and interesting. Ejii faces a much larger threat, and her journey feels more dangerous and tense. I appreciated the focus on Africa, on languages and cultures, and the contrast between our present and this future Earth, where Africa and Australia play a much more central part and America and Europe are barely mentioned, as well as the contrast between Earth and Ginen. It's a fascinating universe, and I hope Okorafor will return to it in future books.

[Kendra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I understand that this is an early work by Okorafor, but it is a complete catastrophe. The fatphobia alone is enough for me to not want to read any of her books going forward--and I have been a fan of hers. It's unacceptable, especially in this "Deluxe, expanded edition," even if the protagonist feels that one fat man in particular is fat because he's been traumatized. The book itself is very messy and not very good--it demonstrates the origins, perhaps, of some of Okorafor's ever-present themes and ideas, as well as her desire to write about wrongs that are righted and how to live peacefully with nature. But it just doesn't work. Trying to explain magic with science is never a good ideas, and it doesn't make sense in this book. The characters are utterly flat, have no development, and are boring. They scream a lot and there's lots of lying and betrayal and the protagonist never learns anything from these lies and betrayals and mostly mindlessly follows around her hero, who is basically a fascist. It also doesn't know what audience it's for: YA readers, as it seems adjacent to her Zarah the Windseeker, which is for YA readers and excellent; or adult readers, for whom the massive amounts of violence and language like "camelshitting" as a deragatory adjective is fine. Why Okorafor wanted to re-release this book is beyond me.

[Sheila Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shadow Speaker is a richly imagined coming of age story with a theme of empowerment. The book's biggest strength is the characters: author Okorafor-Mbachu breathes life into a fascinating cast of characters. The portrayal of future Niger is interesting, combining highly imaginative world-building with elements of modern Niger projected into the future. However, the imaginative elements were occasionally a little too bizarre for my tastes, and the reasons for the changes weren't always well-explained or believable. In spite of this, The Shadow Speaker is a fresh and enjoyable fantasy that will appeal to teens and adults.

Read my entire review:

http://www.wandsandworlds.com/blog1/2...

[Britt · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I never felt fully immersed in this story. The writing style is a bit jilted, jumping from one thing to the next, and I struggled to understand the motivations of most of the characters. They all seemed inconsistent and indecisive. If I didn’t have the second book as an ARC to read I probably would’ve given up on it. As it is, there’s potential for the second book to be more interesting but I don’t have very high hopes.

[Nicholas Gourlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this highly imaginative coming of age tale about Ejimafor Ugabe, Dikéogu, and five seperate worlds. This story had a wonderful 'feel' to it that makes me want to recommend it to almost everyone.

[MikeLikesBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the world building and the dystopian world that Ejii finds herself in. I listened to the audiobook. The narrator did a good job. I felt many parts were interesting and other parts were d slow. Overall, I liked it, but I’m afraid it will soon fade from memory. I will read the second book on the duoligy. .

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taking place in a future Earth after a terrible war that spawned a s number of people with superhuman powers. Adolescent main character Ejii is one of these people; her ability allows her to speak to shadows. There are a variety of other super powers, such as some people can understand and speak with certain beasts.

When Ejii was a child, her father was killed by a powerful shadow speaker, Jaa, and Ejii's perception of her world was shaken. Jaa returns to Ejii's life at the start of the story to convince her to learn to properly become a shadow speaker (the first step is to spend time wandering). Despite her mother's fears, Ejii leaves, and begins her wandering with her speaking camel, Onion. She meets a young man, Dikéogu Obidimkpa, who has issues and his own superpower (he can make it rain), and the two decide to travel together to meet up with Jaa. Once they're all together, the three attempt to prevent an Earth-ending war initiated by another world,

This was not my favourite story by Nnedi Okorafor. I usually love her work, but this one didn't completely work for me. I loved Ejii; she's kind, thoughtful and determined. I loved Onion, and Ejii and his wonderful friendship. I also loved how Ejii managed to resolve the conflict without violence, which was a terrific choice by the author.

And though I didn't love this book, I loved the world, the super powers, and I utterly loved Ejii.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow I liked this book, and I can't remember the last time I said that about something post-apocalyptic. Probably never. I was really impressed by the narrative character, Ejii; she is caught between being a child and a young woman and the author is not afraid to explore this dichotomy and the whirlwind of emotions that accompany every part of her changing self. I particularly liked that despite everything crazy and unforeseen in her journey, Ejii never waivers in her worldview or her faith. She may not know what she's supposed to be doing in this journey, how to accomplish it, or whether or not it will kill her, but she trusts that her purpose is important and that her presence is necessary. I particularly love that Ejii doesn't seek to kill anyone, even those who have wronged her, and through coming to understand her specific powers she learns how to understand people and what makes them who they are. Ultimately, violence and killing cannot truly solve the world's problems and will only create more misery.

[Ai Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really had no idea what to expect going into this and WOW it really blew my socks off! The world was so rich and yet so, so grounded; the characters all were so complex and sympathetic and yet frustrating as well. I loved that things had consequences in this book, and was left wanting a lot more of this world- I was surprised there hasn't been a sequel because it really felt like there was going ot be, but I also recognize the power in having this be a standalone and encouraging the reader to do imagining of a future on their own.

Okay I will say: having the 'Villain' (insofar as you can point to one characters as one in this book) be Fat, even with the explanation as to why, was a little gross honestly? Like we don't need to use fatphobia to reinforce how bad this guy was. There are other avenues. That and a throwaway line about Native people which wasn't BAD but could definitely be read as reinforcing some stereotypes about alcohol are my two biggest issues with the book, which speaks volumes as to how good the book is!

[Karen Healey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not crazy in love with the style of this book; it's a little simplistic for my taste. Which isn't a criticism as such - it's good, solid writing, just not the kind of thing I swoon for. (More critically: I think also that the pacing's off, and while I like the characters, I found it difficult to reach empathy with many of them).

However, I am head over heels for the ideas. There's so much excellent world-building and flat-out awesome GOSH in this book.

[Kamakana · Rating 3 out of 5]

290910: interesting locale and culture as background to adventures, fantasy/sf version of post-nuclear war societies in africa. this world connected to others, merging, polluting, with some portrayal of lead characters, as different, not entirely earth humans. tendency towards new age, green, environmentally sensitive other worlds, an ending that is not an ending...

[Daniel Burton-Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never thought I'd read a Disney book that quoted Fanon on the cleansing power of violence. I like it!

[Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up only bc I like Nnedi Okorafor's other writing (death of the author remains one of my favorite books of the year)

This book had an interesting concept and a lot of potential, but it just didn't come together. I only realized halfway through that it was a re-release (ostensibly somewhat edited) of one of her early novels, and it really reads like an author still trying to figure out pacing, character development, etc. The re-release was to prepare for a new sequel that is also out by now, and I hope the issues were fixed in the sequel, but honestly I didn't find the direction the story is going after this super compelling and I'm not sure I care to read the sequel (maybe eventually).

Considering this book was re-released, you would have hoped that the emphasis on the fact that the main antagonist of the end of the book is fat would have been removed or even toned down, but nope! Not only was he fat, him being fat was a result and a direct visual indicator of his evilness, which is really a trope we as a society should have moved past by now. Truly I do not think we went more than 3 pages after his introduction without a reminder that he was fat ("his fat fingers", "his large belly", etc.), as if the reader could have forgotten. There was also a weird throwaway couple sentences talking about Native Americans and alcohol that was soooo utterly unnecessary and not done in a way that avoided negative stereotypes. I don't think it was intended to be negative but it didn't feel great to read.

I'm not convinced the book was super thoroughly edited for the re-release, and it shows, between the aforementioned stereotypes and fatphobia and multiple pbvoois typos throughout. I think more editing would have helped, but suspect it was rushed so this could get out with adequate time to build hype before the sequel.

I also have complaints about how OP the main character is (it worked in this book bc she was still coming into her powers but I'm nervous how that will play out in the sequel) and the fact that I think there was a completely shoehorned in romance at the end that wasn't built up to at all. At the end of the day I was just bummed because this book had the potential to be so much better, the author has written so much better, and it wasn't good.

[Zana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initial thoughts:

Wtf did I just read? 90% vibes, 10% plot. Not sure why the author or publisher decided to re-release this.

Review:

This gave me Nghi Vo's The Empress of Salt and Fortune vibes, so if you're into that, then this might be for you.

I requested this re-release on NetGalley because I loved Nnedi Okorafor's Binti series, Shuri comic book run, and more recently, her horror short story in Jordan Peele's Out There Screaming anthology.

But damn, Shadow Speaker ain't it at all. You can tell this is one of her earlier works because it just didn't feel refined. I haven't read the original version, so I can't compare it to the re-release.

So, there really isn't a plot, which isn't my cup of tea. I did love the vibes though, which is why this is a 3 star instead of a 2 star read. The world building was excellent. Dystopian post-apocalyptic Nigeria in a world that was completely upended by a nuclear terrorist attack, which created access to other magical worlds, one of which is Ejii's destination, called Ginen. Ginen is a really cool biopunk world where plants are buildings.

Other than that, there wasn't really a plot? Ejii wanted to leave home, so she went across the Sahara, ran into some kid, Dikeogu, and they became friends. Eventually they met up with Queen Jaa and her husbands, and they go to Ginen. Ejii fights the Big Bad, some guy whose one major trait is being fat. (wtf?)

I didn't understand why any character did anything. Things just seemed to happen to Ejii and she rolled along with it. Idk. The whole thing was forgettable, honestly. It's too bad because there was so much promise.

I did love the audiobook narrator though. Even though I didn't care for the story, Délé Ogundiran really brought the whole thing to life and made the whole thing feel immersive. (Another reason why this is a 3 star read instead of 2 stars for me.)

Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for this arc.

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually adore Ms. Okorafor’s novels, so I was surprised to find I wasn’t enjoying this one as much as I have her others. It seems clunky and disjointed to me, not nearly as cohesively written as her other novels. I found myself losing interest, and I had to force myself to pay attention to what was going on a few times.
Add to that, even after the author’s reworking of this novel recently, she did not omit or change the fact that her fatphobia was on full display for everyone to see, as one of her villainous character is portrayed with his fatness as part of that villainy. And this is not challenged by other characters at all. (There may be some thinly veiled transphobia as well, but I was unsure of this issue tbh).

Because of these issues, I don’t think I will be continuing with this series at all. My tbr pile is too big, my time is too short, and I don’t have the patience for this shit. I’ve dropped other authors for the same thing, before this, and I won’t go back. I’m too old for games, now get off my lawn.

Délé Ogundiran Is the narrator for the audiobook version of this novel and her melodious voice is a joy to behold. I wish Ms. Ogundiran had a much bigger list of audiobooks that she has narrated for, because I could listen to her read the phone book. Unfortunately, all my library has is three audiobooks by Ms. Okorafor and that’s it. Well, at least I have one left…!
Tantor Media, Inc., please consider using Ms. Ogundiran’s narration skills more in future endeavors..? I, for one, would sincerely appreciate it.

Beautifully bookish Bethany: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Duck reads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

2 stars, and not recommended.

[Jung · Rating 2 out of 5]

[2.5 stars] An Africanfuturist YA adventure following a teenage girl endowed with sensory powers as she comes to terms with her father’s legacy, learns how to harness her abilities, and travels far from home. First published in 2007, Shadow Speaker was revised and recently reissued ahead of its follow-up’s publication. In general, I love Nnedi Okorafor’s world building, and was drawn into all the settings introduced. I could definitely see the potential for Ejii’s development as the duology continues, though wanted more about and for Jaa. I thought the “violence isn’t the answer” theme was too simplified a conclusion for a book that offered opportunities for nuance and complexity elsewhere, and I’m curious if and how this message may shift in the continuation of the duology. Most of all, though, I was super turned off by the blatant and unnecessarily descriptive fatphobia written into descriptions of the primary villain in the final 50 pages, especially knowing that other aspects of the book had been rewritten for the 2023 version; it really demoted what would’ve otherwise been an okay (3.5-4 star) read.

Goodreads Challenge 2023: 45/52
Popsugar Reading Challenge: alliterative title (bonus category!)

[Octavia Cade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this, and I think it's my favourite of Okorafor's that I've read so far, even surpassing Who Fears Death, which was outstanding but a little too violent for my tastes. I don't even want to give the library copy of Shadow Speaker back, which means I'll have to buy one of my own...

I think what attracts me most to this is the imagery. In a way it reminds me of Meredith Ann Pierce's Darkangel trilogy. Not because of any similarity of setting or subject matter, because there is none, but because both Okorafor and Pierce built these worlds bursting with colour and magic. In each, the pages are just stuffed with strangeness and wonder and I think that's what really appeals to me: the sense of wonder. Usually that's something I get from science or science fiction rather than fantasy, but every so often I read a fantasy that becomes so technicolour, if that makes sense, that it seems to billow out of the black and white world of print and I'm left delighted and amazed at the pictures these worlds form in my imagination. And, you know, the story here is appealing too. I will never not like books about young women who abandon the expectations other people have for them in order to experience something larger, or something more idealistic. In this case it's stopping a war, and that's done at least in part, but the vividness of the worlds traveled through makes Ejii's journey far more wonder-full than the norm.