Like thunder

Nnedi Okorafor

Book - 2023

Niger, West Africa, 2077. Welcome back. This second volume is a breathtaking story that sweeps across the sands of the Sahara, flies up to the peaks of the Aïr Mountains, cartwheels into a wild megacity--you get the idea. I am the Desert Magician; I bring water where there is none. This book begins with Dikéogu Obidimkpa slowly losing his mind. Yes, that boy who can bring rain just by thinking about it is having some... issues. Years ago, Dikéogu went on an epic journey to save Earth with the shadow speaker girl, Ejii Ubaid, who became his best friend. When it was all over, they went their separate ways, but now he's learned their quest never really ended at all. So Dikéogu, more powerful than ever, reunites with Ejii. He records t...his story as an audiofile, hoping it will help him keep his sanity or at least give him something to leave behind. Smart kid, but it won't work--or will it? I can tell you it won't be like before. Our rainmaker and shadow speaker have changed. And after this, nothing will ever be the same again. As they say, 'Onye amaro ebe nmili si bido mabaya ama ama onye nyelu ya akwa oji welu ficha aru.' Or, 'If you do not remember where the rain started to beat you, you will not remember who gave you the towel with which to dry your body.'

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Subjects
Genres
Afrofuturist fiction
Fantasy fiction
Dystopian fiction
Action and adventure fiction
Novels
Published
New York : DAW Books 2023.
Language
English
Main Author
Nnedi Okorafor (author)
Edition
First edition
Item Description
Sequel to: The shadow speaker.
Physical Description
327 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9780756418793
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

The impressive finale to Nebula Award winner Okorafor's Desert Magician's Duology (after Shadow Speaker) turns the focus from Ejii Ugabe, the girl who saved the world, to her mysterious companion, Dikéogu Obidimkpa.The story is presented as an audio file of his hazily pieced together memories, recorded to keep himself sane. After the event known as the Big Change, which altered the laws of physics and gave certain people (or Changed Ones) special powers, Dikéogu discovered he could control the weather. Upon learning he was Changed, his fearful parents sold him into slavery, though Dikéogu managed to escape. Years later, as part of a specialized team to take down child slavery on chocolate farms, Dikéogu kills his former slaver with a lightning strike. Eager to explore his rainmaker powers and seek further revenge, he separates from his team to seek out his parents. From there, he embarks on a fast-paced, violent journey through the sinister sides of post-Change Africa, trying to outrun ever-growing anti--Changed One sentiment. Dikéogu's perspective lends greater depth to Okorafor's apocalyptic Saharan world, offering a pessimistic counterpoint to the first novel's optimism. While this is less vibrant and more devastating than its predecessor, readers will be just as enthralled. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maass Agency. (Dec.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A supernaturally gifted teenager haunted by lost memories shares what he remembers of his story in this Africanfuturist tale. Decades ago, a nuclear catastrophe known as the Great Change destroyed society as we know it and split apart the boundaries between worlds. The disaster gave birth to the Changed Ones: people who can control the elements, wield light as a weapon, or see into another creature's very spirit. As a storm-wielding rainmaker, Dikéogu Obidimkpa is a Changed teenager who takes refuge in Timia--where fierce anti-Change sentiments thrive--following his escape from a cocoa plantation. There, he meets Tumaki, a prominent imam's electrician daughter, and the two soon find themselves in the throes of a heady--and largely off-page--romance. All is not well in Timia, however, and genocidal sentiments against the Changed Ones ramp up, culminating in a monstrous attack on Dikéogu and Tumaki's hiding place. Dikéogu wakes up half-delirious in the desert a year later, with little memory of what transpired in the interim. Left with a strange puzzle to solve, he seeks out his old allies--including his first love, Ejii, whose story was told in The Shadow Speaker (2007)--and begins to piece together not only what happened to his girlfriend, but also the mystery of a reticent Ejii's shocking experiences. Okorafor pulls no punches here, openly drawing connections between the public's mistreatment and distrust of the Changed Ones to genocidal campaigns around the world. Many bigoted characters use the term "cockroach" to refer to Changed people, a direct reference to the Rwandan genocide. Eagle-eyed readers will also spot quiet criticisms of contemporary internet celebrities in general, and family influencers in particular. An emotional near-future novel that will keep readers turning pages even as their mountain of questions grows larger. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.