Who Fears Death

By: Nnedi Okorafor

Narrated by: Yetide Badaki

Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Now optioned as a TV series for HBO, with executive producer George R. R. Martin!

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.

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 color 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2010 Nnedi Okorafor. (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Yetide Badaki anchors this fresh production of Okorafor's sprawling postapocalyptic fantasy with her heartfelt portrayal of a fierce, young heroine.… 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.”—AudioFile Magazine

"Haunting and absolutely brilliant. My heart and guts are all turned inside out."—John Green, New York Times-bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars

"Beautifully written, this is dystopian fantasy at its very best. Expertly exploring issues of race, gender, and cultural identity, Okorafor blends future fantasy with the rhythm and feel of African storytelling."—Library Journal (starred review)

I love this author....

To me Nnedi Okorafor is right up there with Margret Atwood and Ursula Le Guin. She writes of strong women and young women today should be reading her books.

I'm angry.

I have been looking forward to this book for a long time.
I love the unique world that is set-up, I love a lot of the secondary characters, and I love the African fantasy and culture that is crafted and displayed with pride.
I hated the ending, I hated the main character, and I hated how much was not explained or even expanded upon.
So much talk for so little. This is a good example of why you need to take time to set up your magic system. The relationships between sorcerers held little to no weight, and there was so much world to explore yet somehow everything felt so small. there was no reason for it to be set in Post-Apocalyptic Africa because pre-Apocalyps has no bearing on the story. There's no point to much of the plot points, and I left the book feeling angry that I had wasted so much time looking forward to something that led nowhere.

it's worth a read, but I wouldn't read it again or recommend it to anyone.

Heavy, Deep Story

Ok the ending was heavy but I definitely enjoyed the story. The performance was a great addition.

Powerful and organic world building

I love everything about this book. The beautifully flawed characters, the amazing descriptions. There is violence described sexual and otherwise. It is necessary in the story but be forewarned if these things are triggers.

Solidly Good Book

The writing style is engaging and the plot is interesting and reasonably well developed. Overall, I found the book entertaining. The African cultural themes are a good departure from typical European and American-based fantasy and sci-fi. I would definitely call this a fantasy book set in the future, rather than sci-fi, since there is a lot of magic and almost no speculative technology. Shortcomings include woefully emotionally immature characters who constantly flare up in anger over trivial things (constantly). That gets pretty tiresome after a while-- like reading about some particularly immature high school students having spats over dating and insecurities. There is also an odd choice of plot where a character chooses not to kill the primary antagonist despite that same character taking no issue with killing innumerable other people... it's just a jarring choice that makes it harder to stay immersed in the plot. Overall, it's worth reading. More pages devoted to developing the plot or the universe and fewer pages rehashing juvenile emotions might have made it a great book.

The Ending Wasn’t Satisfying

I enjoyed this book so much, until the last hour or so. It felt rushed like the final season of GOT. Great narration and great characters! I’ll probably still read the sequel.

Enjoyable

This was enjoyable but not as good as her Akata series. But, brilliantly narrated by my old friend Yetide Badaki.

Epic timelessness of the story

Excellent performance of a masterful tale: romance, magic and liberation all woven into a beautiful and captivating story. Loved it and cried at the end!!!

Enjoyable but fell flat at the end

I was enjoying the story and narration for about 3/4 of the book but the ending seemed very rushed and disconnected. I could see the potential but definitely needed more polishing.

The rewritten

I enjoyed this book. Well written. Evocative. Treads themes that I ponder about our society. I liked the rewritten chapter and its possibilities.