I have been a longtime fan of Nnedi Okorafor's writing, so it was an absolute delight to meet her in person, have some books signed, and even get a copy of her (then upcoming, now out everywhere) new novella She Who Knows FROM NNEDI HERSELF. Okay, okay, breathe, Dina. Oh yeah, did I mention I also snagged a (signed) proof of the upcoming January novel Death of the Author? I didn't? Well, consider my bragging over and let's get onto this book, the first in the Desert Magician Duology.
SHADOW SPEAKER
by Nnedi Okorafor
Published: DAW, 2023
Hardcover: 336 pages
Series: The Desert Magician Duology #1
My rating: 6.5/10
Opening line: You again. Why do you keep coming back?
Niger, West Africa, 2074
It is an era of tainted technology and mysterious mysticism. A great change has happened all over the planet, and the laws of physics aren't what they used to be.
Within all this, I introduce you to Ejii Ugabe, a child of the worst type of politician. Back when she was nine years old, she was there as her father met his end. Don't waste your tears on him: this girl's father would throw anyone under a bus to gain power. He was a cruel, cruel man, but even so, Ejii did not rejoice at his departure from the world. Children are still learning that some people don't deserve their love.
Now 15 years old and manifesting the abilities given to her by the strange Earth, Ejii decides to go after the killer of her father. Is it for revenge or something else? You will have to find out by reading this book.
I am the Desert Magician, and this is a novel I have conjured for you, so I'm certainly not going to just tell you here.
It took me exactly two lines to fall in love with this book and by that time I hadn't even reached the prologue! The opening chapter is the Desert Magician talking to us, the readers, and his voice is an utter delight! I was almost a bit sad that the rest of the book is a third person narration because, man, would I listen to stories upon stories told by that mysterious, mercurial voice that begins this book.
In a way I consider pretty perfect for a YA novel, we are introduced to our protagonist Ejii, a Shadow Speaker with quite the past for a 15-year-old. First, there is the world's past, the big Change that happened after humanity tried to bomb itself to pieces, instead getting hit by something called Peace Bombs. I'll let you discover the details yourself, but these Peace Bombs were the beginning, or the catalyst, for changes that happened not only to landscapes (the Sahara is quite green in places), but also to people. We've encounterd Windsingers in Okorafor's work before, Ejii herself is a Shadow Speaker, and there are various other people with abilities that we in our world would consider magical. It's a great setting and I can't wait to discover even more of that world.
But Ejii herself also has an impactful past, what with her father having been killed after taking over command of their home, enforcing strict laws that especially restrict women's lives. The burqa/hijab was the smallest price to pay for his rule. By the time the novel opens, something resembling equality has been restored for a while and Ejii gets to study alongside the boys her age and, more importantly, alongside the other Shadow Speakers.
But when the Shadows finally start talking to her in a comprehensible way and tell her to leave town alongside their ruler Jaa, Ejii needs to make some difficult decisions.
What follows is a trip through the desert with a trusted (and talkative!) camel called Onion, where Ejii meets friends and foes, as well as the Desert Magician that gives the duology its name. But the world is much bigger than Niger, even bigger than the Sahara, because there have always been rumors that there are other worlds, adjacent to ours, where strange creatures and people live. Jaa is on her way to just one such world to negociate peace and keep the Earth from being destroyed by the other worlds' superior technology. Ejii is supposed to join this mission and help keep everyone she knows and loves alive. You know, just regular teenage stuff...
I already mentioned how much I loved the world building, now let me gush about the characters for a second. Ejii is a great protagonist, not only because she is easy to root for, but especially because she isn't perfect and doesn't always think before she acts. In fact, she does a whole lot of acting/speaking before her brain can catch up. But she has a good heart and that is just one reason why the boy she meets on her journey, Dikéogu, decides to stick with her, despite plans to the contrary. I'm not sure how much of a romantic sub-plot was intended, but it's very, very subtle, if it turns into a romance at all. I appreciated these two for their interactions and how they slowly learn to trust each other, confide in each other, and turn into friends.
Jaa, this larger-than-life character who is actually smaller than most people around her, was not my favorite character, but she definitely was the most interesting! She and her two husbands travel together, she has this charisma, she has this certainty of what she needs to do. She is the one who killed Ejii's father, all those years ago, and didn't even flinch. For fear of spoilers, I won't say much more about Jaa, only that I found her to be super intriguing and I appreciate complicated women showing up in YA books.
A couple of things did not work so well for me, and the most important one is pacing. While the book starts out at a great and mostly even pace, with quieter moments and action-packed scenes balancing out, once Ejii reaches Ginen, it feels like everything happens all at once. A ton of characters are introduced at breakneck speed, there's a whole world to set up, with its own politics and creatures and tech, then there are several more worlds that we need to learn about in order for the negotiations to make sense. It all felt a bit too much for me and I couldn't really get to know any of the characters I would have liked to. This detracted from the impact certain events might have had and which I can no further describe, because spoilers.
The book ends in a way that lets you close its pages with satisfaction, while still looking forward to the sequel and the tale's conclusion. I appreciate when authors manage to tell a story without cliffhangers. The second part is already out, however, so I will not wait long to pick it up and see what Like Thunder is about. The cover gives a big fat clue and I am here for it. 🙂
MY RATING: 6.5/10 - Very good
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