Nnedi Okorafor Wins the 2011 World Fantasy Award

Well, he bears a Fantasy name, that's for sure.

But I might just have to look him up. I wonder how much his work might resemble that of Amos Tutuola, a folk-fantasist from Nigeria whom I greatly admire.

caw

blacbird said:

Well, he bears a Fantasy name, that's for sure.

But I might just have to look him up. I wonder how much his work might resemble that of Amos Tutuola, a folk-fantasist from Nigeria whom I greatly admire.

caw

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You mean, she bears a fantasy name...

Maybe I should have started with Who Fears Death instead of Akata Witch. A post-apocalyptic setting seems far more likely to interest me than a school.

blackbird said:

Well, he bears a Fantasy name, that's for sure.

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Last I checked, Igbo was not a fantasy language.

Who Fears Death is an interesting book with vivid worldbuilding and backstory. But I should warn anyone who goes to read it that it falls apart at the end. So badly, in fact, that I'm surprised it won anything. The ending left me confused and angry; it was that bad.

The lesson here is that a reasonable ending isn't necessary if your worldbuilding, characters, and plot are excellent throughout three-fourths of the book. I'm not sure that's a lesson I want to take to heart.

Ian Isaro said:

Maybe I should have started with Who Fears Death instead of Akata Witch. A post-apocalyptic setting seems far more likely to interest me than a school.


Last I checked, Igbo was not a fantasy language.

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It's not a post-apocalyptic setting. It's an African-based world at war.

RemusSheperd said:

Who Fears Death is an interesting book with vivid worldbuilding and backstory. But I should warn anyone who goes to read it that it falls apart at the end. So badly, in fact, that I'm surprised it won anything. The ending left me confused and angry; it was that bad.

The lesson here is that a reasonable ending isn't necessary if your worldbuilding, characters, and plot are excellent throughout three-fourths of the book. I'm not sure that's a lesson I want to take to heart.

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One of the interesting things about this book is that this book had enough of a mystical feel that I didn't mind the ending.

If anyone is interested, my review is here.

I loved Who Fears Death, and didn't feel that it fell apart at the end. I thought the ending was pretty appropriate to everything that had gone before, and was foreshadowed quite early, and throughout the book. It was an excellent book, even if it did make me wince at several points. Some very raw material, there.

Based on the mixed feelings in this thread, I feel like I need to read the book even more now. I will say that in my general experience the World Fantasy Awards value creativity in worldbuilding more highly than many other factors.

breaking burgundy said:

It's not a post-apocalyptic setting. It's an African-based world at war.

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I haven't read the novel, so I could easily be wrong. I used that term because the OP link and the author's website describe it as post-apocalyptic. You motivated me to look a little further. While I am entirely in favor of African-flavored alternate worlds, this interview indicates that this book is not one:
http://kgogomodumo.com/blog/2011/09/10/interview-nnedi-okorafor/

eyeblink said:

You mean, she bears a fantasy name...

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How can ya tell?

caw

blacbird said:

How can ya tell?

caw

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I knew anyway, but the photograph in that link above is enough of a clue.

Incidentally, all but one of the WFA winners this year are female. As I've been a Joyce Carol Oates fan for about thirty years now, I'm particularly pleased that she won Best Short Fiction, though I haven't read that particular story yet.

This book is now on my TBR pile, on the top.