Audiobook Review – Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor, Narrated by Adjoa Andoh (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 156 pages
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release Date: January 19, 2021
ASIN: B0879FRJ9X
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed Audiobook from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa—a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.
Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks—alone, except for her fox companion—searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.
But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this strange read about a young girl who gets turned into a sort of bringer of death by advanced technology. It was well done. I didn’t like this quite as much as the Binti series but it was still a fun listen (I listened to this on audiobook).
Fatima acquired an object from the sky and after that she could emit a deadly strange light when she was harmed. The story starts in the present and then goes back to show us how Fatima, now known as Sankofa, acquired this strange power. We follow her story until we end up back in the present where we watch Fatima try to find some peace.
This was well done and has a lot of food for thought in it. I enjoyed listening to it on audiobook. The narration is well done, the narrator does speak with a heavy African accent which was a bit tough to understand when there was a lot of background noise around. However, it was pleasant to listen to and fit the tone of the book well.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this quite a bit. I liked Fatima and her story and the undercurrents about society, the environment and those they treat as outcasts. I didn’t like this quite as much as the Binti series. I have also read the first book in the Nsibidi Scripts and didn’t really enjoy that series. I would like to checkout some of Okorafor’s other stories in the future.
