She Who Knows by Nnedi Okorafor expands the world of Who Fears Death (book review)

The latest novella from visionary speculative fiction author Nnedi Okorafor is out now, expanding on the world of her popular story Who Fears Death. She Who Knows is the first book in a trilogy which will explore the story of Najeeba, the mother of Who Fears Death's main character Onyesonwu. It takes place in a future version of our Earth, in a desert where Najeeba discovers latent powers within herself which change the course of her life and community.

Considering that this is not only a new story from one of the genre's current masters, but also a prequel, you may be excited to read but curious about whether you need to have read Who Fears Death first. I've read She Who Knows, and am going to answer that question below as well as give you my spoiler-free review of the novella.

Book review: She Who Knows by Nnedi Okorafor

Let's start with that first question: if you haven't read Who Fears Death, can you still dive into She Who Knows? For my part, the answer is yes. I've had Who Fears Death on my list to read for quite a while, but hadn't gotten to it by the time I was sent a copy of She Who Knows. That turned out to be a good thing, because I wanted to gauge how accessible this prequel series is to newcomers as well as old hands who've loved Okorafor's work for a while.

Since She Who Knows is Najeeba's story, it still reads wonderfully whether you are familiar with the larger tale or not. I'm sure there are plenty of nods to Who Fears Death that I missed, and it does sound like the series will move past the events of Who Fears Death in later installments, but that in no way detracted from the experience of hearing about Najeeba's journey. So yes, whether you've read Who Fears Death or not, you can still read and enjoy She Who Knows. Just be prepared to settle in for a while, because if you enjoy this book you'll almost certainly want to check out Who Fears Death afterward.

I said "hearing" Najeeba's story above, and that was an intentional word choice. Okorafor is a multi-award-winning author who has been writing books for quite a while, and in terms of the actual prose part of it, she's exceptional. She Who Knows reads like Najeeba telling her story. It's told in the first person, with hints that she's telling this tale to someone she meets later in her life. Because of this, the voice leaps off the page in a way that reminded me of oral storytelling traditions. It made the book extremely immersive and hard to put down. I imagine it would be great on audiobook.

The worldbuilding in this novella is deep and interesting, with roots in our own world but supported and expanded by Okorafor's imagination. This book is set in the future of Earth, so there are both familiar things like portable phones as well as more mystical elements. Okorafor's work is often defined as africanfuturism and africanjujuism — future-focused, Africa-centered science fiction and fantasy which combines imagination with the region's myth and spiritualities, respectively — and that balance is on full display here. I love the tone and world of this book. Combined with the narrative style, it all adds together to make Najeeba's tale feel both larger than life and intimately relatable as a young person being told what roles she's expected to fill in society, and pushing back against them in favor of forging her own path.

There is quite a bit of magic in this story as well, which serves a very important role in the narrative. Okorafor doesn't over-explain a lot of the magical elements, which helps to keep them feeling magical and powerful and almost beyond comprehension for the humans involved. There were a few times where the magic almost felt a little too convenient, in terms of Najeeba not knowing what was happening but things mysteriously working out for her. But since those occasions tended to work out in ominous ways just as often as convenient ones, it never broke the immersion for me. Instead, it just made me more curious to find out more about the forces at play in the story, which I hope will be explored more in future books.

She Who Knows is a reminder that Nnedi Okorafor is a master of novellas

Now, let's talk a little about the size of the book itself. She Who Knows is a tight novella of around 160 pages, which primarily tells the story of Najeeba's childhood and how she grew into the young woman who would eventually give birth to Onyesonwu. Najeeba has a deep character arc considering the fairly short size of the book, with a lot of growth and change throughout the story. That growth arc is often supported by poignant lines about how the world around Najeeba sees or doesn't see her, and how she expands or contracts in return. The size of this story felt perfect.

Part of why it all works so well is that Okorafor is one of those rare writers who is equally skilled at writing shorter fiction and longer — her Hugo Award-winning Binti series is also a set of novellas — and that really shows in this book. This is very much the sort of novella I could see going back to multiple times, especially once its sequels come out. She Who Knows leaves off on the note that Najeeba's childhood has ended...but that she's also looking toward the future; we get a lot of that in the hints of a framing story scattered throughout. Presumably, Okorafor will explore Najeeba's future in other installments. And after reading She Who Knows, I'll be eager to read whatever she puts out next.

Verdict

She Who Knows expands upon the world of Nnedi Okorafor's beloved book Who Fears Death while also providing another solid entry point for new readers. Najeeba is a strong character surrounded by a well-rounded cast that feel like real people. The magic and internal story ring strong throughout this book, but it's very clearly only the beginning of Najeeba's larger tale. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here.

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