On the Horizon – noor (Nnedi Okorafor) – It’s Sci-Fi Month

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

Title: noor

Author: Nnedi Okorafor

Publisher:  DAW

Publication Date: TOMORROW!! (hardcover/e-book)

ISBN:  978-0756416096

Source:  NetGalley

I am a fan of the author’s writing having read six of her previous works and I will continue to read new releases and catch up on old ones.

Noor follows the life of Anwuli Okwudili who changed her name to AO – short for Artificial Organism.  She was born with birth defects and made the choice to get augmentations to her body.  She embraces the pain and her choices and is determined to live life on her own terms.  Others call her freak, devil, and worse and see her mechanical legs and arm as abomination.  The day comes where AO protects herself in self-defense and her life is destroyed.

The novel follows her journey on the run and the truths she discovers.  I really loved AO as a character.  The pain she suffered, her self-will, and her ability not to see the world through the lens of hatred were admirable. I love both her body positivity and her realistic viewpoints on human behavior and prejudice.  Not that I wish people weren’t so horrible of course. This novel doesn’t shy from the selfish things folks do out of ignorance or selfishness or fear.  But there is good in humanity as well.  I also loved the herdsman DNA and his two awesome cows.

The world building is as wonderful as usual.  This book was inspired by the author’s visiting an African solar plant.  I loved the solar and wind powered tech.  I loved the desert life and the tech for survival..  I loved how the big bad corporation controlled the world and how there is a small amount of justice in the end.  This comeuppance may not last long but it is nice to see the maligned and outcast part of society win.  There is always satisfaction in that.  If ye haven’t read this author’s afrofuturism style before, this is a good place to start.

So lastly . . .

Thank ye DAW!

Side Note: There is going to be a third book in the Akata Witch series out in January 2022.  Cool!!

Goodreads has this to say about the novel:

Anwuli Okwudili prefers to be called AO. To her, these initials have always stood for Artificial Organism. AO has never really felt…natural, and that’s putting it lightly. Her parents spent most of the days before she was born praying for her peaceful passing because even in-utero she was wrong. But she lived. Then came the car accident years later that disabled her even further. Yet instead of viewing her strange body the way the world views it, as freakish, unnatural, even the work of the devil, AO embraces all that she is: A woman with a ton of major and necessary body augmentations. And then one day she goes to her local market and everything goes wrong.

Once on the run, she meets a Fulani herdsman named DNA and the race against time across the deserts of Northern Nigeria begins. In a world where all things are streamed, everyone is watching the reckoning of the murderess and the terrorist and the saga of the wicked woman and mad man unfold. This fast-paced, relentless journey of tribe, destiny, body, and the wonderland of technology revels in the fact that the future sometimes isn’t so predictable. Expect the unaccepted.

To visit the author’s website go to:

Nnedi Okorafor – Author

To buy the novel visit:

noor – Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List

Previous Log Entries for this Author

binti – book 1 (Captain’s Log – Sci-Fi)
home – book 2 (Captain’s Log – Sci-Fi)
the night masquerade – book 3 (Captain’s Log – Sci-Fi)
akata witch – book 1 (Captain’s Log – YA Fantasy)
akata warrior – book 2 (Captain’s Log – YA Fantasy)
remote control (Captain’s Log – Sci-Fi)