3.5 stars rounded up

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Well, Nnedi did it again! This was a fascinating novella by the Queen of Africanfuturism.

Remote Control takes place in a futuristic Ghana, with jelly-tellies and Robocops and drones every which way. Our protagonist is Sankofa, a thirteen year old girl on a mission to reclaim what was stolen from her. Oh, and she can kill you without even touching you.

I loved the setting, and Nnedi does a wonderful job (as always) of embedding technological advancements with African (and specifically, Ghanaian) culture. No matter how far it is in the future, there will always be a scornful cousin visiting from America whose every movement drips disdain. I also took great pleasure in small details like Sankofa loving goat and plantains, because those are two of my favourite things! And did I mention I'm a sucker for an animal companion? Movenpick has my whole heart.

There were some great twists, riveting flashbacks, and nuanced exploration of fear and anger and loss. Where it fell for me is that there are several threads in the story that never get resolved. I have to hope that there's a sequel coming, because 5 days later, I still find it infuriating.

Well-written and engaging, this is certainly a novella that leaves you with more questions than answers. Go read it, then tell me what you think!

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Thank you again to Tordotcom Publishing and NetGalley for sending me and other members of the B2Weird Bookclub free e-ARCs for our Remote Control tour.

An unusual and engrossing futuristic story about an African girl who accidentally gains lethal powers and wanders Africa as the feared "adopted daughter of death." Imaginative and beautiful writing.

Heres my review on LARB
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-death-of-the-future-on-nnedi-okorafors-remote-control/

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for a honest review!

Remote Control is that short novella that leaves you wanting more. More information about the world, about how everything ties together and about the main character. I adored the relationship between the fox and our main protagonist. This was just a joy to read, both for the unique setting and storytelling, but also my tech mind was fulfilled when it was focus on science for sometimes.

Our main character, Fatima - later only remember her new name Sankofa, is the adopted daughter of The Angel of the Death, and we follow her on a journey when she discovers that her touch destroy technology and that she can fulfill people wish on an easy travel to death.

This novella is filled with love, hate, grief, aloneness and hopeful. This was a blast to read, and I can't wait to read more from Nnedi Okorafor, I'm so happy that I've more books by her on my shelves.

This novella moved too slowly for my taste, and I felt a huge distance from the main character. It was very difficult to find a way into Sankofa’s internal monologue and emotions, and the story suffered for it. While the touches of science fiction were compelling, they were not enough to ensnare the reader into overlooking the lack of emotional connection with the character.

REMOTE CONTROL by Nnedi Okorafor is a very exciting sci-fi read that was a LibraryReads selection for January 2021. The main character, envisioned on the cover, is a child named Fatima who develops a magical power so that whenever she touches mechanical or technological devices they "die." Anger, too, causes her to glow green and sometimes kill people around her so there are several dark moments. Eventually, she becomes widely known as Sankofa, or the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. The story (also labeled Afrofuturism) involves a meandering journey across Ghana as she grows into being a teenager and learns to anticipate and control her "power." There is an air of mystery and menace throughout and I quite liked the way Okorafor shifted the scenes with travelling and new characters, although the ending was a bit puzzling to me. Okorafor has won both Nebula and Hugo awards for her writing; REMOTE CONTROL received starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly who said, "Readers will be blown away."
4.5 stars

'Remote Control' is a novella about a young girl known as the Adopted Angel of Death. We learn about her life as she tries to learn her origins while staying in isolation. This is a powerful short story about survival while longing to reach a community. We follow young Sankofa's origins and the lengths she undergoes to protect herself. She faces many obstacles in her search for answers. Along the way Sankofa learns about the moments woven between strife that are powerful in humanity.

Thank you to Tordotcom publishing and Netgalley for the gifted copy!

My favorite aspect of Nnedi Okorafor's books is the opportunity to learn more about African culture; this book takes place in the near future in Ghana. It offers a glimpse into a world that is so different from my own and I am eager to learn. Another aspect that I look forward to in her books are the female protagonists. They are at an age of cognitive and emotional development (ages 6-15). Her characters push their way forward through the harsh reality that life isn’t a fairytale.

The beginning of this book is driven by the protagonist’s mysterious identity. Who is this young child? Where is she from? Why does her skin glows green? Why is she known as the adopted child of Death? With each chapter Okorafor unfolds the mystery and it is one filled with heartache. The author's choice of words immediately connected me to the protagonist's inner turmoil and sadness.

This story successfully blends earth magic and futuristic technology. There are elements in this books that weren’t fully realized and I will be disappointed if this turns out to be a standalone. I want to learn more about “LifeGen that fucking big American corporation that’s probably going to eventually destroy the world.” I want more!

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
Available Now

Set in a near-future Ghana, Remote Control tells the story of Death’s adoptive daughter and her quest to find the mysterious object that gifted her with her deadly touch. As she travels across dirt roads and through the villages, Sankofa fills the people she encounters with fear and dread. Her powers are widely known but, even to Sankofa, a great mystery as to how they work and why. Her journey is made even more difficult by her inability to interact with the large amounts of technology found in each city and town she comes to. As she closes in on her final destination, we learn how Sankofa began her transformation from innocent child to a powerful and determined young woman. Through her imaginative and descriptive writing, Okorfar transports readers to a beautiful and intriguing world full of fascinating technology and interesting characters. Remote Control is an engrossing and compelling story of family, acceptance, and finding your place in the world.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

This is the story of Sankofa who walks with Death - or rather, is considered Death's adopted daughter. It's the story of how she came to be, and what she went through as she tried to figure out what / who she is and what to do. It's a novella, so you get right into the story - and if you know anything about the author - she's phenomenal at imaginative World building and this Afrofuturistic novel's World is no different. There are subtle ways in which advanced tech is mentioned (and maybe some not so subtle) and Sankofas journey is fraught with pain and heartbreak and discoveries. This book will leave you wanting to read more by Okorafor.

3.5 stars

Novellas are hard for me to get into but I really enjoyed Okorafor's writing. This story gets pretty heavy early on and is predominantly a sad story. Sankofa is an interesting character... quirky, resilient, confident out of necessity, and simply loveable (though she does not receive a lot of love throughout the story). It's heartbreaking.

I definitely had a lot of questions about the plot as I was reading (Aliens? Technology?? Death??? What exactly is going on here?) and the ending left me with even more questions. I do find myself wanting to know more about Sankofa and whatever might happen next in her life.

Thank you to Tor for providing an eArc!

This book is a bit different from my typical reads. I liked Sankofa, but I thought the story itself was a bit on the light side. Perhaps that's because it's a novella, though I do read those regularly. It just missed the mark for me.

I remember reading Nnedi Okorafor’s short story “Sankofa” in the anthology Decision Points (edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt) several years ago. I immediately wanted to know more about the title character, intrigued by her mysterious background, her ability to kill seemingly with a thought and how she chose to use/not use that power. I particularly loved the way Okorafor kept the reader wondering through most of the story as to how the legend of Sankofa (“adopted daughter of Death”) matched her truth.

I am happy to say that Okorafor’s new novella Remote Control expands the original short story in ways that answer most of my questions without sacrificing that intricate dance between the main character’s legend and her reality, all while introducing new questions about Sankofa’s origin, her abilities, and the near-future world she lives in.

The future Ghana of this novella is distant enough from our own that technology has made some advances (“jelli-tellies” that can be stretched to fit the available space on a wall, and which sound a bit more environmentally friendly than even our current flat-screens; robotic “cops” that control traffic at dangerous intersections) but not so far distant as to render the world unrecognizable. The advance tech is not the focus of the novel but is more than just window-dressing. It’s different enough to lend the book an undercurrent of “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” People still queue up outside electronics stores when they hear the latest items are due to arrive (although in this future, the line-up is due as much to the odds that new electronics shipments will be intercepted by roving pirates as it is to excitement about a new product), and people still place status on belongings (cars, paintings).

And people still “other” what they don’t understand. Sankofa, the girl who can kill living beings with a thought and technology with a touch, is subject to side-eye glances, gestures against the evil eye, and occasionally more violent reactions. In the first chapter, she has a gun fired at her; later, she is punched and kicked and run out of town by an angry mob. People (with a few exceptions) grudgingly accept the legend that has grown up around her – but they’d still rather not encounter her at all. Interestingly, the characters who attack her physically are almost all riled up because of the effect she has on the technology they rely on. In this near future, superstition and othering are still palpable forces as much as mob mentality and the “me first” mindset. Before this starts to sound too dismal, I should mention that not everyone Sankofa encounters is afraid of her or angry at her. There are kindly shopkeepers, farmers, and an Imam’s wife who all either accept Sankofa without question or who try to understand her role and want to help her out of her predicament.

Sankofa herself is unsure of why she has the abilities she has and what she’s meant to do, other than that it all started with a seed that fell from the sky and which has since been stolen from her. The personal history she has partially forgotten (including her birth name) is imparted to the reader in early chapters. We get to see the seed from which her power and her legend grew and the tragedy that drove her to partial amnesia and a nomadic lifestyle. She is dependent on the power of her legend to entice people to feed her, clothe her, and provide her with reading material, but she never abuses those who provide her what she needs. In the first chapter, realizing she needs food and new clothes, Sankofa bypasses the poorer houses of the village she is passing through and goes directly to the richest house in the neighborhood. And even then, she asks only for a good meal, her favorite drink (orange Fanta, room temperature), and a new set of clothes in her people’s native style. Sated and clothed, she leaves without doing anyone any harm. Sankofa also doesn’t abuse her actual power, other than killing mosquitoes who get too close. She only kills when someone who is terminally ill asks her to do so, or when it’s in self-defense (and even then, notably, she tries not to kill if she can avoid it). In other hands, this power could have been used to gain more power or control over a town or a region or more. Instead, it is somehow in the hands of a young woman who just wants to locate the lost seed that calls to her across great distances. She’s lonely and she’s tired of traveling. She loves animals, tries to see the best in people. She wants peace and privacy and a return to normalcy. They get denied to her at almost every turn, but she never loses hope that someday she’ll understand everything and have a quiet life.

Remote Control is a wonderful new entry under the “Afrofuturism” genre umbrella, science fiction fully immersed in African society, tradition, and history. I have no idea if Okorafor plans to continue Sankofa’s story. This novella has a satisfying ending that brings things full circle, but there are some questions I think are still lingering that could drive further stories.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First, I want to say that I love Okorafor’s writing style. Her Binti series is one of my favorites and I have been looking forward to this novella for a long time.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this story as much as I expected. “She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death.” With this quote ground in the summary, I expected differently. I thought the Angel of Death would be an actual character. It’s not. She got some sort of alien powers. Not an actual character. Also because of the quote, I actual expected a much darker story, a much more morally grey young character. Sankofa has no purpose or drive. She wants to find her box, and when she does.... that’s it. Nothing else drives her.

The summary also mentions her fox companion. I thought this was going to be a cute side character that gets her into all kinds of shenanigans. Nope. The fox doesn’t even like her until the end of the story.... so why is it even a thing?

Fatima, a young Ghana girl who has experienced sickness often finds her personal happy place within a tree outside her home. She would often climb throughout the tree and sit to herself. One day, she finds a seed in the root of the tree, or does it find her? She claims the seed as her own and secures it in a box in her room until one day, a mysterious man comes inquiring about the seed with her father. The mystery man takes the seed from Fatima’s father which leads Fatima on a journey to find “her” seed. As she sets her mind on finding her seed, she soon forgets her name, and is known throughout the villages she travels as “The adopted daughter of death” named Sankofa. Sankofa is known to have the “touch of death” which can be helpful or harmful as she understands her new given gift or curse.

I truly enjoyed this sci-fi novella about Fatima/Sankofa’s journey and abilities found from her seed. I would definitely recommend reading this one! As a person that has not read a lot of sci-fi it was a very interesting read - one that I couldn’t put down!

Huge Thank You to @Tordotcompub and @nnediokorafor for providing this E-ARC for the @B2Weird #RemoteControl #InstaTour

🪐Fatima AKA Sankofa plagued by Malaria never got to enjoy her childhood as other small children did. Sick every few months, nature became her close confidant. The large shea tree that grew in her backyard brought her great comfort and doubled as playground. Discovering the pleasure of dirt was next level for Fatima.
🪐However, the endearment she has for the constellations is incomparable. Her youthful enchantment leads her to fancy herself a starwriter. She gives planets names all her own. Palm kernel, white spark, owusu, and spider web.
🪐Never could she imagine that her life would change forever from the place that held her heart. On the night that the sky was dazzled with green streaks her family were in awe at the sight. As she sits high on the shoulders of her companion she notices that a streak has fallen from the sky and landed at the feet of her friend. She scrambles down in search of what could be there. A small egg a seed perhaps? What Fatima finds changes her life! If becoming, an orphan is not enough, Fatima becomes the adopted daughter of the Angel of death.

This was a good eye brow furred read and would recommend to lovers of sci-fi! I read Binti before reading this and this one has definitely catapulted Okorafor to the top of my SciFi favs. I am a new fan of Okorafor and henceforth STAN with all that she writes. I now have all her backlist and now sit in anticipation for the HBO MAX adaptation of Who Fears Death.

I received an ARC of Remote Control from Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review.

Remote Control was my first experience with Nnedi Okorafor (an author I’ve become increasingly guilty for not having read over the years), and I am pleased to say it was a positive one. This rich, resonant novella follows Fatima, a Ghanaian girl who becomes known as Sankofa after acquiring the power to generate a light from her body which is lethal to anyone it touches.

The first chapter, which recalls the opening of Neal Shusterman’s Scythe, is nothing less than a knockout: it’s funny, chilling, and particularly attentive to the specificity of character, a delicious context-less dose of Sankofa at the height of her power before the story jumps back in time to fill in the blanks. The book never quite manages to recapture the singular magic of this chapter, but not because of any later failings—the opening just sets the bar really, really high.

Children are tricky to get right in fiction, but Fatima is instantly likeable. She is childlike but not childish, and I found her curiosity, her intelligence, and the transition she makes from innocence to purposefulness to be entirely credible for a character of her age. No aspect of this novella was more crucial to its success, because the story rests entirely on Fatima’s shoulders—fortunately, Okorafor created a character more than capable of holding it up. I would love to read more about her in another work, but I also feel satisfied with the story she gets here.

Remote Control takes place at some point in the future, and the science fiction elements are woven in subtly before ultimately being brought to the fore near the end of the book. It feels like a natural progression and gave me time as a reader to reconcile those aspects with the fable-like tone of the novella, a dichotomy I likely would have found jarring had the futuristic elements been present more prominently earlier in the story. The mesh of mythic and modern aspects is surprisingly elegant and allows the book to resonate not only with a broad set of themes, but also deeply with each of them despite its brevity.

My only reservation with Remote Control lies with its ending; although far from bad, it didn’t quite click for me and held the book back from becoming one of my all-time favorite novellas (a distinction I considered more than once while reading). That said, I am still happy to give this an overall strong recommendation. If the first chapter doesn’t convince you to give the rest of Remote Control your time and attention, I don’t know what would.

Remote Control by Hugo Award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor is a timeless story. This story’s narrative is at home in a world of dust and mosquitoes of rural communities of Ghana or at home in a big city with cars and mobile phones. It is told in parts like a fable complete with a companion fox. Other times, the stories’ fable-Esque tones are intruded upon by very current problems like being snatched off the road or getting hit by a truck. In both types of storytelling, Sankofa is the same. A girl out of time and adopted daughter of death. She has too much power and not enough experience using it. Thankfully Okorafor never brings the narrative down by finding comedy in Sankofa’s mistakes. There is no pratfall type of jokes here. Instead, the story has a level of sophistication, once Fatima, now Sankofa’s journey is reclaiming a gift given to her by the stars and using the power given to her by someone or something wisely. But most of all, the seed is hers, and it is wise to stay out of her way.

The story starts two-fold. In chapter one, we are introduced to a woman named Sankofa; a pure red fox follows her. She is dusty; her leather sandals slap the road. You get the impression that Sankofa has walked many streets, kicked up a lot of dust. The animals in the trees take no notice of her as she strolls. She is fourteen years old, but she is far wiser than her years.

A young man is leaning against a tree smoking a cigarette at the site of Sankofa. “Sankofa is coming! Sankofa is coming!” There are terror and urgency in his speech. People peak out of windows and out of doorways. People yell, “Beware!” The only question I have at this point is, “who is Sankofa? and “How is a fourteen-year-old engendering so much fear for these people?” Because you are terrified of this little girl walking down the street, but you don’t know why. Such is the beauty and strength in Nnedi Okorofor’s writing. In two pages, she effortlessly had me feeling terror and dread at who this little girl is. Yet, in none of the text, is there anything that portrays that idea. She is just a girl, isn’t she?

The people of the town bustle about her; Sankofa looks around and finds the wealthiest looking home, walks up, and knocks on the door.
“She lifted her chin, raised a small fist, and knocked on the gate’s door. “Excuse me, I would like to come in,” she called in Twi. She wasn’t sure how far she’d come. Better to stick to the language most understood. Then she thought better of it and switched to English. “Gateman, I have come to call on the family that lives here.” When there was no response, she turned the knob. As expected, it was unlocked ...Then he turned and spat to the side, making no move to escort her to the house. “Thank you, sir,” Sankofa said, walking”

A stunned family greets Sankofa. “I would also like a change of clothes,” Sankofa said. “I have been wearing these garments for a week.” The woman smiled gratefully and nodded. Sankofa guessed the woman was about ten years her senior, maybe even fifteen. “Something like what you are wearing now?” the woman asked. Sankofa grinned at this. “Yes, if possible,” she said. “I like to wear our people’s style.” The woman seemed to relax. “I know. We all know.” “My name is known here?” Sankofa asked, the answer being obvious.”

This girl is known and feared. Enough so that she can walk into a stranger’s house and eat food and be dressed in prepared clothing if she deigned to stop by. At this point in the story, you are grabbed and reigned in. You want to know more about Sankofa. Who is she? Why does she have this immense power? And what is she searching for? And, through Okorafor’s beautiful gift in storytelling, we are given answers, some we might not have been prepared for. But answers none the less.

Then the story reverts back to the very beginning, to Fatima. To how all this happened and how Fatima became Sankofa. We journey with this young girl of seven and watch her age in both years and wisdom until the two narratives collide and Sankofa is 14.

Okorafor’s is a master of the shorter novella style story. She creates a tight and crisp dialog and ideas that are full of descriptions so accurate you can smell the dust in the air. There are no wasted words or ideas; everything she writes is purposeful. And, just like her Binti stories, the dialect and prose flow like water or fall like rain. You are these characters. In the case of Sankofa, you are immersed in her and why she feels the fear of the unknown. You are in her when she feels gratitude to the townsfolk, and most importantly, you are in her as she feels rage at anyone who stands in her way.

It is a beautifully written burst of a story. It is full of so much joy, love, and power, and by the end of it, there is some resolution, although it might not be what you would think.

Nnedi Okorafor is the queen of Afrofuturistic fiction. Binti is a work of art and one of my favorite series I have read in the last few years. Also, her short story Hello Moto, and the comic Shuri. You cannot go wrong by picking up all her work and binging it, Remote Contol included.

Check out Remote Contol so that you can love it as much as I did.

Thank you, Tor and Netgalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor is an African futurism novella about a girl, Fatima, with powers who leaves destruction in her wake. Her powers are deadly, and she must face the consequences of her powers. As she navigates, going through the world, gaining her reputation as Death’s Adopted Daughter while also not touching technology. Everyone she encounters is afraid of her, the robots in the city don’t know what to make of her, and she can’t help but destroy things. As death’s daughter, she tries to use her powers for good by helping those ready to pass on by giving them a peaceful death. Despite the judgment that Fatima faces from almost everyone she meets, she still holds onto her purpose and doesn’t lose herself. Even though she is very lonely and is only seen by her destruction and not as the person she is, Fatima continues moving on with life.
This novella is beautifully written with detailed descriptions that put you into the story and allow you to see the world Okorafor describes. Okorafor is a fantastic storyteller and a master at creating such real worlds.

Fatima who is now renamed herself Sankofa is feared in every town she visits for she is the adopted daughter of the Angel of death. When a meteor shower lands in her small town in Africa, Fatima a curious child by nature investigates when one of the rocks falls on her family shae tree farm. After touching what is called a "seed", Fatima now has powers she doesn't understand and at the start of this book, she doesn't know how to control. After the lost of her family and the town she lived in, Fatima now Sankofa starts a journey of finding the source of what she feels started her troubles, the seed. It was sold by her family to a crooked politician and an even more crooked thief. This journey takes Sankofa across small villages in Africa where she is feared and celebrated. But Sankofa who is a child (age 5) when we start this story is literally growing (not much) and learning during her travels.

This was an interesting story. This author takes African folklore and blends it smoothly with science and current times. Basically, Fatima is radio-active because she has touched the meteor that fell in her family's farm. This would explain the green glow of her skin, why she cannot touch electronic gadgets or cars for that matter. This author also explores the push of American-ism here as there is a sinister element of the research company that has some play in the meteor that effected Sankofa's life. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending, it was abrupt imo but maybe because this author is not done with Sankofa's story. Again, when we go into this story, she is five and when it ends, she is fifteen...
so in Remote Control, we are reading this child attempt to navigate life while also trying to understand a power she slowly starts to control.

Again, interesting and I would like to see more of Sankofa's story.