#shadow speaker

[nn-noor]

I love reading in the park, but I have two huge bug bites and that's why I don't go.

[iluxie]

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[goblinhotel]

hi this took a week of procrastination and 65 layers

[read-alert]

Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor

This is a YA science fantasy where after bombs fused with juju were dropped across the world, many people began developing supernatural powers and bridges to other worlds began opening. Ejii, a fifteen year old girl with the ability to speak to shadows, is told by the shadows that she must journey with the woman who killed her father to one of the adjoining worlds to prevent a war. This covered Niger for my Read the World Challenge.

This is one of Okorafor's first books and it shows. While much of her later work comes together seamlessly, here you can really see the gears turning on every page to try to build a story out of constant exposition dumps, despite which, the magic system seems to constantly change to meet the demands of the plot rather than having a consistent power set. The pacing also felt off, with most of the book being rather slow but the conclusion very fast paced. It also spends so much time establishing the personal relationships Ejii has in her village only for none of it to matter once she leaves- no one comes with her and no conclusion is given to the heavily implied soon to be revolution in her village. There is a sequel to this book that I suppose could futher explore these elements, but its description sounds like it will focus on a side character from a different town instead of Ejii, so I doubt it. And the overall theme of diplomacy vs violence feels very scattershot. And of course, I have to mention that the greedy, evil, hedonistic villain wanting to wage war and conquer Earth is incredibly fat and uses a wheelchair. Because that's not the most played out, offensive, lowest hanging fruit in the whole world of literature.

There are some elements that are well done. I like Ejii's journey unlearning internalized misogyny and that she operates by approaching every situation with empathy- even if she comes at some situations with prejudice, she still does her best to understand and work through it. I also like the framing device of this being a story the Desert Magician is telling us, calling back to oral storytelling. And the backstory with Ejii's father is a well executed little microcosm of how a despot can rise. But overall, the book is kind of a mess and I do not plan to continue with the series. I'm glad Okorafor has improved so much as a writer since this book, but this one is such a let down. 1.5⭐️

[kulekrizpy]

no sequel from arif's perspective?? 🥺