Noor
(Libby/OverDrive eAudiobook)

The newest novel from acclaimed Africanfuturist Okorafor, is a rich story of climate, capitalism, and biotech. AO, a confident disabled woman with biotech body augmentations that draw the ire of people around her, is left fleeing her city after an incident in the market. She runs into Fulani herdsman DNA, who is also being pursued for a crime he committed in self-defense. The two become caught up in a story of exploitation and imperialism as the power-hungry and manipulative Ultimate Corp follows them into the never-ending sandstorm, the Red-Eye, determined to see them fall. As always, Okorafor's world building is intricate, vivid, and fascinating, and Noor's scathing critique of imperialism and capitalism's ties to climate disaster is a powerful and welcome call-to-action. Some of the revelations of the novel come about in overly coincidental or convenient ways. That said, the novel's true magic lies in AO's stubborn, fierce will; in DNA's earthy compassion; and in their self-discovery and refusal to give into a power system determined to dehumanize and defeat them. Readers will be rooting for AO and her battle against the brutal, insatiable greed of the megacorporations and governments in charge of this near-future world.

Convenience and comfort come at a cost in this probing, brilliant near-future odyssey from Okorafor (Remote Control). Anwuli Okwudili changed her name to Augmented Organism, or AO, as a nod to the body augmentations she's used to compensate for her physical and mental disabilities over the years. Now she's partially robotic, with various cybernetic limbs, organs, and implants produced by the mega company Ultimate Corp--and at times she feels more connected to Ultimate Corp's machines than to her own people in Abuja, Nigeria. When AO is attacked while at the market, she inadvertently kills her assailants in self-defense, displaying the deadly range of her cybernetically enhanced capabilities. Branded a murderess, she goes on the run with Dangote Nuhu Adamu, or "DNA," a Fulani herdsman wrongfully accused of terrorism. Together, the fugitives battle never-ending sandstorms and evade both Ultimate Corp's watchful eye and the Nigerian government's retribution as they make their way across the desert. Okorafor exposes the cracks in this technology-driven, highly surveilled society as each detour in AO and DNA's route adds layers of intrigue on the way to a jaw-dropping finale. Frequent instances of suicidal ideation may be triggering to some readers, but Okorafor handles heavy subjects well. This is a must-read. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maass Literary. (Nov.)

The latest from Okorafor (Binti) explores a future where people can augment their bodies with cybernetic parts while questioning the contents of their souls. In this world, force fields can insulate people from destructive winds, information and energy are readily accessible to everyone, and mega-corporations can know everything about you to better satisfy your desires. AO, a cybernetically augmented woman, and DNA, a herdsman who lives a simple life with only his cattle, flee from a society where they are wanted as terrorists and deviants. While facing the swirling storms of the Redeye, they learn that AO possesses unique abilities that can help them fight back. The audiobook's narration by Délé Ogundiran helps immerse readers in this future Africa, and Okorafor's story tackles far-reaching yet timely questions about colonialism, consumerism, and self-actualization. VERDICT This beautifully depicted example of Africanfuturism, a subgenre coined by Okorafor herself, offers both timely and timeless social commentary.--James Gardner

Okorafor has defined Africanfuturism, once and for all, in this tale of scapegoats and revolutionaries. All Nigeria has seen the videos--the Igbo cyborg killing five men in the market, the Fulani terrorist shooting a villager in cold blood--but few know what happened to drive the two killers into the Sahel Desert. AO and DNA killed in self-defense: She to protect herself from a lynch mob that demonized her technologically advanced prosthetics, he to save his cattle from villagers who mistook him for a terrorist. Thrust together when their paths cross while on the lam, AO and DNA set their sights on the one place they hope no one will look: a secret community of outcasts living in seclusion at the heart of the giant Red Eye storm. Okorafor grounds AO and DNA's world as an extension of our own, a world in which William Kamkwamba, Greta Thunberg, and O.J. Simpson remain household names and in which the personal is still very much political. Thanks, in part, to that grounding, it's nigh impossible to read about Ultimate Corp--the massive company that has monopolized Nigeria's agriculture and technology--without thinking of the real-life corporations that control similar spheres in our own time. AO's and DNA's experiences in their Ultimate Corp--saturated home settlements stand in stark contrast to life inside the stormy Hour Glass, where "non-Issues"--that is, non-Nigerians--live together in borderless harmony. That Ultimate Corp manufactured the means of its own demise brings a hopeful note to what could have been a depressing and agitating story. A searing techno-magical indictment of capitalism from one of the strongest voices in fiction. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.