So, this is a reprint of one of Ms. Okorafor's earlier novels, and unfortunately, that fact is a bit obvious. The characters, while interesting, don't entirely gel together, and there's a lot of hand waving as to what's going on and why, and what the ultimate goal of everything is here. It's definitely interesting to have read the earlier part of Ms. Okorafor's works.

Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this DRC before the archive date. However, I was able to recommend it for the bookstore, as we carry many of her other works.

Nnedi Okorafor does it again! Okorafor is a master of writing amazing characters and being able to masterfully interrogate the harm society causes. An amazing dystopia from an amazing author!

This book is a great introduction to Afrofuturism. We're in 2074, following a great "Change" that shook up Earth to the extent that portals to other worlds have opened, some people born at the time of the Change have developed unusual and super powers, and Africa has advanced to seize its own destiny. Into this we introduce a common, but still powerful, trope. Namely, the spunky girl with a special power who must travel the Earth to meet her destiny. Along the way she has adventures, overcomes obstacles, finds friends and foes, and comes face to face with difficult choices. It all works because our heroine, Ejii, is smart, spunky and engagingly human, (warts and all), because of the rich background of Nigerian culture and customs, and because the book is briskly paced and set in a world that is well constructed but not fussy or over described. This is a nice find, and has been reprinted now in anticipation of an imminent sequel.

5/5 Stars This is Excellent sci-fantasy. Though I didn't realize this is a reprint with new art? Interested to read the whole collection and see what changes were made from the original draft. Highly recommend for those intrigued by dystopia scifi with afrofuturism vibes and exquisite prose.

Nnedi is a masterful storyteller. I love the use of familiar and technology in Shadow Speaker. Nnedi has a way of keenly dismantling oppressive and antiquated patriarchal ideology in her books. The world building is amazing.

This is an inventive dystopian book that explores heavy themes through the eyes of younger characters. I enjoyed following Ejii's journey. I just had an issue with the pacing.

I have had this author on my to-be-read list for a while, and with the beautiful reprinting of this story and the new book coming out, I decided to give it a try. This story follows Ejii and is set on Earth following a nuclear war and a peace bomb that changes some humans and opens a rift to different worlds. This is a quest story and explores war versus peace. One complaint I have is it felt like the story just ended. It hinted at some turmoil in Ejii's village but was not resolved. Also, I did not understand the different powers or even how Ejii's shadow speaker powers worked. Overall, I enjoyed the book and will read the next one.

Sometimes I get so excited by a book that I feel that I have not enough words to express (keep in mind that English is not my first language). It happens a lot when I'm trying to write abou Nnedi's books.
Shadow speaker was an absolute delight, I loved the characters, the baddies, Onion!!!, the world building is amazing, the backstories!
I can't wait to read the sequel.

This is a newer addition, the original book was published in 2007. It now includes a new forward by the author.

In a strange post apocalyptic Niger Ejii witnesses her father's sudden beheading. In most ways he deserves it, but does that mean his killer, the powerful and progressive Queen Jaa is is good? At 15 Ejii follows Jaa on a quest and meets a friend along the way.

This is a Chosen One story. Ejii is coming into her powers and trying to control them. She is a very thoughtful girl and quick thinking. She and Dikeogu have many adventures before catching up with Jaa. The books have complex themes beyond the main trope. Ejii knows she needs to find Jaa and help avert a war, but is hesitant about leaving her home.

Background: This was first published back in 2007, and was out of print for years. But the author wrote a sequel, and so this book got updated and reprinted. So it makes sense to me that reading this felt like reading Guy Gavriel Kay’s *Fionavar Tapestry*: another early work from someone still working on defining themselves as an author. This was entertaining and original, but it didn’t have the kind of *depth* I would normally expect from Nnedi Okorafor.

It’s set in what used to be the West African nation of Niger in 2074. I suppose I would call this book post-apocalyptic, but it’s not so much that the world experienced an *apocalypse* as it experienced an enormous *change*. The main character, Ejii, is a 14 year old girl who is what is known as a Shadow Speaker, able to see extraordinarily well in both darkness and in light and able to hear the shadows of the world speak to her. Her father had been the head of her village, and imposed a strict version of Islam barring women from any real role in society and requiring them to wear burkas outside of the house. Until the queen of the region got wind of this, and arrived to correct things via decapitation.

As a result of this, Ejii grows up simultaneously hating and worshiping the queen, and is therefore conflicted when she asks Ejii to follow her as an apprentice. Ejii is needed; other planes of existence are colliding with ours, and they are ready to make war upon Earth. The shadows have told Ejii she is needed to prevent this, and so we are off.

As I said at the beginning, this was both original and creative. It’s almost relentless in its Afrofuturism, which I appreciate and enjoy. But it’s also a bit disjointed, and uncertain of what kind of story it wants to be.

Okorafor is a great author, and one who writes powerful stories. This was fun to read, but not nearly her best.

I love being able to visit this world that we have not seen before. I love Afro-futurism and this book run my cup over. I can not wait to read the next book.

I recently finished Shadow Speaker by @nnediokorafor from @dawbooks, and y’all, it is wonderful. While quite a bit of the story revolves around an impending war, there is an always-present sense of optimism and hope.

Ejii lives in a future world that has been devastated by nuclear war but also changed forever by Peace Bombs that have created magical changes everywhere. Ejii is a shadow speaker, and the shadows have told her that she will help to prevent another war, this one with Ginen, one of the other worlds that has been connected with Earth by the Peace Bombs.

Throughout Ejii’s journey, she gains allies and friends, as well as new connections to her emerging powers. She also learns life lessons that help her understand her place in the upcoming war, and helps her understand that violence is not the way to peace.

The story is beautifully told, the imagery is vivid, and the character development is strong. This is an earlier work of Okorafor’s that is being rereleased, so doesn’t have quite the polished edges of her more recent work, but it is still a remarkable story. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the duology, Like Thunder, just released this week.

A huge thank you to DAW and @netgalley for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I really like Nnedi Okorafor‘s writing style and I found story to be different from anything I have ever read. I was hooked.

I do recommend.

(3.5/5 stars) When I saw that Shadow Speaker (originally released in 2007) was being re-released as a duology with [book:Like Thunder|198224509], I immediately requested the advanced copies. My first introduction to afrofuturism was through Okorafor's novella [book:Remote Control|34215764], and I love her writing style. In this duology, the majority of the story takes place in Nigeria in 2070. Following a nuclear war, "peace bombs" created a world where magic freely roams and doors open to other worlds. Ejii, the main character, is a shadow speaker, and when the shadows tell her she has to leave her home in order to prevent a war, she follows. Honestly this novella could have been a full length novel with more worldbuilding because I loved both post-war Earth and Ginen and would love to explore those worlds more. I'm already looking forward to the sequel to compare how much Okorafor's writing has evolved since this book debuted in 2007.

I wanted to love this more than I did but I was entertained and I'll be reading book two, I need to know how Ejii and Dikéogu's stories end.
Fascinating tales of a future wherein the main characters are African and Muslim.
You'll find friendships, talking animals, a badass warrior leader and her two husbands, vibrant descriptions and twists and turns and magical beings and creatures.

The world building isn't straight forward so you'll need to dive in and accept that you'll be confused as Ejii is explores as she embarks on this adventure.

Nnedi Okorafor has created another wonderful novel, one which, again, uses the mythology of Nigeria to create a future in which the mythology of the past combines with fantasy and climate awareness, along with a female teenage protagonist. If you enjoyed Binti, you need to read this book!

Ejii is a shadow speaker - a metahuman directly impacted by the Change, a wave of green power that spread over the world in the past. Being a shadow speaker means that her eyes appear different than most human eyes; it also means that shadows speak to her. This can manifest in many ways; in Ejii's case, her abilities let her speak to animals, and, as she matures, hear what the shadows themselves are saying. The child of a pair of tribal leaders - her father a past leader who abused his power, her mother a present leader - Ejii is ostracized for her powers but also elevated for her status as the child of her parents, but that elevation varies depending on which of her parents the speaker prefers. Drawn into a conflict with species from 4 other worlds that Earth can now connect with following the Change, Ejii has one chance to avert a war. A beautifully written novel that will appeal to readers of all ages.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

The Shadow Speaker is a fantasy book that follows Ejii who is fearless and smart and a child of a politician. She witnessed her father die but her father wasn't well liked and was also cruel. She is sad that her father was was killed because children do not inherently see the evil of their parents even. With her new abilities she decides to seek her father's killer. As a non-fantasy reader the book was interesting .


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I was quite excited to be given the opportunity to review both the revised version of "Shadow Speaker" and the sequel "Like Thunder," both by well-regarded authoer Nnedi Okorafor. These came in at the same time for me, and while I was tempted to review them as a single unit, it turns out that I've walked away with different impressions of each.
The described setting and genres (genre crossing? sharing? morphing? I don't know quite how to describe this as it blurs the lines a bit across fantasy, sci-fi, and it's own sort of dystopian) were intriguing to me, and I was excited to dive in.
"Shadow Speaker" was ... ok. Perhaps the fantasy thumb on the scale was a bit heavier than suits my taste? I'm not quite sure. I do know that I found it just engaging enough to finish, but that I didn't love it. Also, there were a few bits that probably should have been adjusted for the 2023 release, but remained anyway.
After reading "Shadow Speaker" I'm not sure I'd have chosen to read "Like Thunder" had I not received it as an ARC and felt compelled to at least give it a chance. I'm so glad I did though, as this sequel far outshines the first in the series, and is an excellent example of Okorafor's skills as a writer.
Final verdict: "Shadow Speaker" 3 stars, "Like Thunder" earns 4.

Shadow Speaker was originally released in 2007. This year the whole duology is being rereased. It is an interesting novel that is set in a post-apocalyptic world, taking place in Niger.

In the past a nuclear war and peace bombs created a world where magic was released over the world. Doors opened to other worlds and children got gifts. Our main character Ejii can talk to shadows and her friend can control the weather. When the shadows tell Ejii to follow Jaa, the leader of her town and the person that beheaded her father, she goes. Against the wishes of her mother because the shadows told her she'll make a difference in preventing the war.

There are a lot of really interesting things in this world. How this world came to be for instance. But also the opening of doors to the other worlds. A lot of things are seeping through in our own world. From talking cats to the guardians of the doors to the other worlds. The other world we actually visit has a problem with us because of the polution we bring. Their world is complete nature. There are so much great things to be find here.

But I didn't love it. I struggled to connect with the characters. I felt very far removed from them byt he writing, and as such it was hard to care if something happened to them. I missed some depth in places.

Even so, the world building in itself interests me enough to want to try the conclusion to this duology.