AUTHOR: Nnedi Okorafor
In a future Nigeria, Okorafor explores the lasting effects of colonialism and capitalism, with climate change and identity thrown into the mix. AO is a cybernetically enhanced woman who chose her implants and artificial limbs to overcome the limits of her physical disabilities, yet those enhancements make her different, as others question her humanity. Still, she manages to live a quiet life as a mechanic, until a trip to the market turns everything upside down. On the run, she meets a nomadic herdsman who goes by his initials: DNA. He, too, is on the run and the two head north where DNA's people live, and where the enormous windstorm known as the Red Eye can mean certain death.
For a short novel, Okorafor packs a lot into it. Drones are everywhere, Ultimate Corp, supplier of energy, has made itself indispensable, and everything is streamed with or without context, building on our present reality. As important as the physical journey is, so is the one AO takes as she discovers hidden truths and comes to understand just what she's capable of doing. I don't want to say more and ruin the joy of taking this journey with AO.
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