Shadow Speaker
Ratings9
Average rating3.7
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.
Series
Featured Series
2 primary books#1 in The Desert Magician's Duology
The Desert Magician's Duology is a 2-book series with 2 released primary works first released in 2007 with contributions by Nnedi Okorafor.
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
As stated in her bio, Okorafor's books are described as Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism. There is something to be said about a book that creates its own subgenre offshoot. That element kept me engaged and curious.
The world building and history writing was sufficient, but I feel it could have been fleshed out more. At moments it did feel rushed.
It ended with a cliffhanger that will likely pull you into the next book in the series.
3.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary
Eiji, daughter of the current village leader and the prior village leader killed by Jaa, an overarching leader, is also a shadow speaker whose powers are just coming in. The shadows have told her she must travel with Jaa if war is to be averted.
Review
There's a lot of similarity between Shadow Speaker and the only other Okorafor book I've read: the Binti Trilogy. They're both set in an alternate Africa, which is refreshing, but they also both have appealing characters, a hazy world, an unusual outlook, and some inconsistencies. In Shadow Speaker, a woman named Jaa is in charge of protagonist Eiji's community, but it's never really clear why or how, just that's she's forceful and has a history that everyone (save us) knows. Unlike Jaa, Eiji is a nonviolent pacifist, except when she (or Okorafor) forgets, which seems to be quite a bit of the time. The shadows she can speak to are mostly informative – except for key occasions when they act on their own, for no clear reason.
In truth, both quite a lot and not much really happen in the story. For quite a long time, Eiji is simply traveling to meet Jaa, and when they do meet, things are calm. Then there's a sudden explosion of activity, which wraps up far too quickly and neatly for my taste. A few random encounters don't feel they really have much role in the book and don't add much – e.g., with the Desert Magician of the series title.
On the other hand, the Binti trilogy also read as if it should always have been published as one volume. Here, we have a duology (with a really quite bad in-story framing prologue), so perhaps Shadow Speaker‘s second half will give the overall story a more integrated feel. We do have an ending in this volume, but it feels more ‘to be continued' than conclusion. The original, somewhat different version of Shadow Speaker was published in 2007, and it's not clear to me whether that story was split in two for this duology, or the second half is something else – perhaps Zahrah the Windseeker (a term mentioned in this book), from 2005.
In any case, I enjoyed this despite its flaws, and expect to read the second half, if only for the unusual world and appealing characters.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
