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A review by sergek94
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
3.0
3.5/5
Anwuli Okwudili, more commonly known as AO, is no ordinary woman. After having to endure life with many physical defects, some she had to suffer since birth while others were inflicted on her through a tragic accident, AO, with the help of high-tech equipment supplied to her by a top-tier organization called Ultimate Corp, was able to "fix" her defects by getting new implants, and since her defects were so many, one would wonder if AO is more machine than human at this point. This obviously doesn't help with social integration, and AO is an outcast, looked down upon by most people. After an incident takes place where AO had to resort to fatal violence to defend herself from being brutally murdered, she was forced to escape the town she lives in and head to the ruthless desert to save her life, but nature there might even be as cruel, if not crueler, than her persecutors. In the depths of the desert, AO encounters another outcast, just like her, and the two of them must escape together, knowing very well that the path they are treading leads straight to a terrible desert sandstorm that has been raging on for years on end, slowly getting worse and spreading its reaches to the south.
This is the first work I read by Nnedi Okorafor. The story is set in a futuristic Nigeria, and the future envisioned by Okorafor is a realistic one I can see happening quite easily. The main themes covered in this work are how foreign powers encroach upon the local resources of less wealthy countries, desecrating the nation in the process while swelling their bank accounts. The organization that is the main power here, Ultimate Corp, sells its products for a price cheaper than the Nigerian market itself, and the citizens themselves feed into an organization that does harm to their country, because the momentary comforts their products give are effective tranquilizers. The theme explored here is a powerful one, and I enjoyed reading it.
The world building was really nice. I've been a fan of desert based stories lately, and this one scratches that itch quite well. The writing is immersive and takes the reader on a thrilling journey in the depths of the desert, just around the eye of a terrible sandstorm that has only gotten worse over the years. Reading SF through an African lens was very enjoyable, which is one of the reasons why I will continue reading more works by this author, since she does a great job in blending in local African culture in her prose in a way that is immersive and takes the reader on an exotic trip.
Where this book fell a bit short for me though, was the plot and characterization. It started off quite nicely, and I was quickly immersed, but around the halfway mark, it hit a slog that eventually made me lose that hyped up interest I had at the beginning. I found that the characterization, although good at the start, stagnated as well, and we were at a point where nothing much was going on and the plot was meandering, and we were just walking in circles, waiting for the story to become interesting again. By the end, when things do escalate, I was too bored with the plot to care that strongly, and the characters had gotten to a point where they felt bland to read about, which nullified any emotional impact I had when challenging things happened to them. It almost felt like I started the book off digging into the inner world's of the characters, expecting it to go deeper, being intrigued at first, only to get to a place where there's nothing left to dig for. There was also a fair share of plot conveniences in this book, so that is an aspect one must overlook to enjoy the work.
That being said, AO's plight is powerful. It shows just how ruthlessly judgmental and prejudiced people can be at any perceived extreme difference between themselves and others. AO is constantly berated for being mostly machine, and that most of her body doesn't even belong to her, while in truth, all of it is indeed a part of her now, and dehumanizing her because of her unique issues is in no way morally justified. This book sheds light on the outcasts of society, and how cruelly we humans have the potential to treat one another. The ever present reality of foreign enterprises taking advantage of African resources was also a strong point in this book, and something we must all be aware of.
So overall, despite the flaws in plot pacing and characterization, the themes and world building helped this work stand on its feet. I also enjoyed the mix between futuristic SF elements and traditional local customs and beliefs that go centuries back. This was also represented through a vague presence of magic, which might be odd to read in such a SF book, but I enjoyed it because it helps bridge the gap between hard science, and the occult side of things we don't necessary have explanations for. I'm giving this a 3.5 and I do recommend reading it, but be warned that the pacing isn't really the best here and it might get boring at some point, but if you push through, the big picture of this work would probably make this a good read.
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“They hate what it does, yet Ultimate Corp continues doing it. It’s something more than human, by Allah. It’s the beast, a djinn. Fire and air, insubstantial, but very real. Human beings created it, but they will never control it.”
Anwuli Okwudili, more commonly known as AO, is no ordinary woman. After having to endure life with many physical defects, some she had to suffer since birth while others were inflicted on her through a tragic accident, AO, with the help of high-tech equipment supplied to her by a top-tier organization called Ultimate Corp, was able to "fix" her defects by getting new implants, and since her defects were so many, one would wonder if AO is more machine than human at this point. This obviously doesn't help with social integration, and AO is an outcast, looked down upon by most people. After an incident takes place where AO had to resort to fatal violence to defend herself from being brutally murdered, she was forced to escape the town she lives in and head to the ruthless desert to save her life, but nature there might even be as cruel, if not crueler, than her persecutors. In the depths of the desert, AO encounters another outcast, just like her, and the two of them must escape together, knowing very well that the path they are treading leads straight to a terrible desert sandstorm that has been raging on for years on end, slowly getting worse and spreading its reaches to the south.
This is the first work I read by Nnedi Okorafor. The story is set in a futuristic Nigeria, and the future envisioned by Okorafor is a realistic one I can see happening quite easily. The main themes covered in this work are how foreign powers encroach upon the local resources of less wealthy countries, desecrating the nation in the process while swelling their bank accounts. The organization that is the main power here, Ultimate Corp, sells its products for a price cheaper than the Nigerian market itself, and the citizens themselves feed into an organization that does harm to their country, because the momentary comforts their products give are effective tranquilizers. The theme explored here is a powerful one, and I enjoyed reading it.
The world building was really nice. I've been a fan of desert based stories lately, and this one scratches that itch quite well. The writing is immersive and takes the reader on a thrilling journey in the depths of the desert, just around the eye of a terrible sandstorm that has only gotten worse over the years. Reading SF through an African lens was very enjoyable, which is one of the reasons why I will continue reading more works by this author, since she does a great job in blending in local African culture in her prose in a way that is immersive and takes the reader on an exotic trip.
Where this book fell a bit short for me though, was the plot and characterization. It started off quite nicely, and I was quickly immersed, but around the halfway mark, it hit a slog that eventually made me lose that hyped up interest I had at the beginning. I found that the characterization, although good at the start, stagnated as well, and we were at a point where nothing much was going on and the plot was meandering, and we were just walking in circles, waiting for the story to become interesting again. By the end, when things do escalate, I was too bored with the plot to care that strongly, and the characters had gotten to a point where they felt bland to read about, which nullified any emotional impact I had when challenging things happened to them. It almost felt like I started the book off digging into the inner world's of the characters, expecting it to go deeper, being intrigued at first, only to get to a place where there's nothing left to dig for. There was also a fair share of plot conveniences in this book, so that is an aspect one must overlook to enjoy the work.
That being said, AO's plight is powerful. It shows just how ruthlessly judgmental and prejudiced people can be at any perceived extreme difference between themselves and others. AO is constantly berated for being mostly machine, and that most of her body doesn't even belong to her, while in truth, all of it is indeed a part of her now, and dehumanizing her because of her unique issues is in no way morally justified. This book sheds light on the outcasts of society, and how cruelly we humans have the potential to treat one another. The ever present reality of foreign enterprises taking advantage of African resources was also a strong point in this book, and something we must all be aware of.
So overall, despite the flaws in plot pacing and characterization, the themes and world building helped this work stand on its feet. I also enjoyed the mix between futuristic SF elements and traditional local customs and beliefs that go centuries back. This was also represented through a vague presence of magic, which might be odd to read in such a SF book, but I enjoyed it because it helps bridge the gap between hard science, and the occult side of things we don't necessary have explanations for. I'm giving this a 3.5 and I do recommend reading it, but be warned that the pacing isn't really the best here and it might get boring at some point, but if you push through, the big picture of this work would probably make this a good read.
------------------------------------------------
“They hate what it does, yet Ultimate Corp continues doing it. It’s something more than human, by Allah. It’s the beast, a djinn. Fire and air, insubstantial, but very real. Human beings created it, but they will never control it.”