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Title details for Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor - Available

Who Fears Death

by Nnedi Okorafor
Nneka Okoye
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
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2 of 2 copies available
An award-winning literary author enters the world of magical realism with her World Fantasy Award-winning novel of a remarkable woman in post-apocalyptic Africa. Now optioned as a TV series for HBO, with executive producer George R.R. Martin! In a post-apocalyptic Africa, the world has changed in many ways; yet in one region genocide between tribes still bloodies the land. A woman who has survived the annihilation of her village and a terrible rape by an enemy general wanders into the desert, hoping to die. Instead, she gives birth to an angry baby girl with hair and skin the colour of sand. Gripped by the certainty that her daughter is different – special – she names her Onyesonwu, which means 'Who fears death?' in an ancient language. It doesn't take long for Onye to understand that she is physically and socially marked by the circumstances of her conception. She is Ewu – a child of rape who is expected to live a life of violence, a half-breed rejected by her community. But Onye is not the average Ewu. Even as a child, she manifests the beginnings of a remarkable and unique magic. As she grows, so do her abilities, and during an inadvertent visit to the spirit realm, she learns something terrifying: someone powerful is trying to kill her. Desperate to elude her would-be murderer and to understand her own nature, she embarks on a journey in which she grapples with nature, tradition, history, true love, and the spiritual mysteries of her culture, and ultimately learns why she was given the name she bears: Who Fears Death.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 31, 2018

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780008288730
      • File size: 429605 KB
      • Duration: 14:55:00

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Anne Flosnik adopts an accented, hushed tone for the character of Onyesonwu, whose mixed race is the focal point of this story of warring tribes somewhere in Africa at some time in the future. Born of the rape of her mother by a sorcerer, she begins her life wandering in the desert, and after a number of years of living in a village, she returns to a life in the desert. There her nascent talent for magic develops, and she moves closer and closer to a confrontation with her birth father. Flosnik quietly follows the subdued moods of Onyesonwu through her adolescence and the beginning of her journey. As the drama intensifies, Flosnik accentuates the suspense of Onyesonwu's struggle to survive. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 5, 2010
      Well-known for young adult novels (The Shadow Speaks
      ; Zahrah the Windseeker
      ), Okorafor sets this emotionally fraught tale in postapocalyptic Saharan Africa. The young sorceress Onyesonwu—whose name means “Who fears death?”—was born Ewu, bearing a mixture of her mother's features and those of the man who raped her mother and left her for dead in the desert. As Onyesonwu grows into her powers, it becomes clear that her fate is mingled with the fate of her people, the oppressed Okeke, and that to achieve her destiny, she must die. Okorafor examines a host of evils in her chillingly realistic tale—gender and racial inequality share top billing, along with female genital mutilation and complacency in the face of destructive tradition—and winds these disparate concepts together into a fantastical, magical blend of grand storytelling.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Yetide Badaki anchors this fresh production of Okorafor's sprawling postapocalyptic fantasy with her heartfelt portrayal of a fierce, young heroine. Onyesonwu knows she's different; a mixed-race child born of rape, she's considered an outcast among her people. As her magical powers begin to reveal themselves, Onye discovers that she is destined to rewrite the story of violence and genocide that plagues her home--if only she can harness her abilities. Badaki throws herself into her narration, giving Onye a powerful voice that handily demonstrates her anger at the world she inhabits and her determination to change it. A wry sense of humor accentuated by Badaki rounds out Onye's character and balances the darker aspects of this sometimes bleak and painstakingly detailed world. N.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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