-
Access Our
Best Book Club
Books of 2025!
Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Book Reviewed by:From African futurist luminary Okorafor comes a new science fiction novel of intense action and thoughtful rumination on biotechnology, destiny, and humanity in a near-future Nigeria.
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.
Aside from a few moments that arrive rather abruptly, feeling shoehorned in to further the story at convenient moments, Okorafor's worldbuilding and characterization are handled with skill. The book says much about community and resistance in the face of corruption without ever feeling heavy-handed. That's because, for all its big and resonant themes, Noor is also a fun sci-fi romp. AO is an endearing, complex heroine who is easy to root for, and Okorafor deftly weaves her social commentary into a story that is driven first and foremost by adventure, hope and compassion...continued
Full Review
(499 words)
This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access,
become a member today.
(Reviewed by Callum McLaughlin).
The protagonist of Nnedi Okorafor's novel Noor has undergone a number of procedures and augmentations to reduce her physical discomfort and improve her standard of living. Born with missing and deformed limbs, and injured years later in a car accident, being fitted with sophisticated bionic limbs grants her the strength — both physical and mental — that she was denied by circumstance during her youth. Though the book is set in the future, and thus employs some creative liberties, the technology being discussed by the author is based firmly in very real scientific and medical practices taking place now.
More than one million limb amputations are performed globally each year. In total, an estimated 2.2 million Americans are ...
This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.
If you liked Noor, try these:
by Laila Lalami
Published 2025
READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY ● From Laila Lalami—the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a "maestra of literary fiction" (NPR)—comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman's fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.
There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven
by Ruben Reyes
Published 2024
An electrifying debut story collection about Central American identity that spans past, present, and future worlds to reveal what happens when your life is no longer your own.
.gif)