Fantasy Annotation: The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
Author:
Nnedi Okorafor
Title:
The Book of Phoenix
Genre:
Fantasy/SF/Magical realism
Publication
Date: 2015
Number
of Pages: 232
Geographical
Setting: Dystopian former United States, Ghana, Africa
Time
Period: The not too distant future
Series:
Who Fears Death
Plot
Summary: Phoenix is only two years old, but she looks forty. She is the product
of a corporation/dystopian government project that uses genetic experiments to
create “speciMen,” creatures/people hybrids, coded for specific purposes. Some “projects”
fail and others succeed. Some speciMen for instance supply the world’s elite
with organs. In Phoenix’s case, she learns she is a weapon, driven by a thirst for justice she turns her powers of destruction on her careless and selfish
creators. As Phoenix’s name suggests, this story, despite the science fiction elements, is fundamentally a fable. The author Nnedi Okorafor is a first
generation Nigerian American. She skillfully weaves fairy tale elements,
magical realism, and myths to explore issues of power, race, colonialism and imperialism.
In the future dystopia Phoenix lives in, half of New York City is under water
due to climate change and ruthless corporations and the government are so intertwined as
to be indistinguishable. As Phoenix comes of age and discovers her true
potential and powers, she joins forces with two other “speciMen”, Saeed and
Mmuo, one is her lover and the other becomes like a brother. After escaping "Tower 7" (the corporate fortress Phoenix was “born” in and where the two men were
imprisoned and experimented upon) the trio begins a quest to understand how the “Big
Eye” (corporation) has set about systematically exploiting the biological
potential of people like them, most with panAfrican origins, to increase their power
and prosperity at their expense. This work is a prequel to Who Fears Death, but works as a stand-alone novel. Though it blends
the genres of science fiction and fantasy, the quest, magical realism, the
battle of good versus evil, the mystical components to the powers possessed by
speciMen, and the fable overtones make this ultimately a fantasy novel.
Subject
Headings: Magic>fiction, Africa>fiction,
Appeal:
Superhuman woman protagonist, fable like plot, blend of science fiction and
fantasy elements
3
terms that best describe this book: Engrossing dystopia, powerful story, magical
realism
Similar Authors and Works (why are they similar?):
3
Relevant Fiction Authors & Works
Goodreads describes Wild Seed some what inadequately, writing: "Doro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex or design. He fears no one until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu is a shapeshifter who can absorb bullets and heal with a kiss and savage anyone who threatens her. She fears no one until she meets Doro. Together they weave a pattern of destiny (from Africa to the New World) unimaginable to mortals." The New York Times review written on the occasion of Wild Seed's reissue does it more justice calling it, "a mesmerizing tale that combines traditions of African and African-American story-telling with a keen understanding of biological and evolutionary imperatives. Anchoring the far-ranging narrative are two of the strongest characters in modern science fiction: Doro, a more-than-man who has survived into his fourth millennium by jumping from one worn-out body to the next; and Anyanwu, a more-than-woman who has avoided death for 300 years by marshaling her shape-changing abilities, becoming young or old, male or female, as circumstances dictate.Anyanwu presents a new challenge. Her extraordinary shape-changing ability, which he must have for his experimental gene pool, allows her to withstand his coercion -- up to a point. She too has created communities, filled with her own descendants; by threatening them, Doro wins her reluctant consent. Together they travel to the New World, where their titanic battle for ascendancy is played out in a slaveholding society that considers people of African descent to be less than human."
Parable of the Sower, described by Goodreads: "In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future. Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others.When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind. " Like Phoenix, Lauren is gifted with superhuman abilities, but those same abilities create challenge and obstacles. The future dystopian world Lauren inhabits is terrifyingly realistic, so much so it makes Butler seem psychic in her predictions about a meglomaiacal ideologue who ultimately destroys the country. An absolutely addictive read.
Nervous Conditions is a fantastic coming age novel about a young girl navigating the divide between her traditional upbringing and the lifestyle of her Uncle's family, who's adoption of European customs and comforts are attractive at first, as are the opportunities to further her education his career offers. But ultimately, the younger girl finds that the tensions and pressures of navigating the cultural divides sicken her and lead to the development of an eating disorder. Readers intrigued but the anti-colonialist politics of The Book of Phoenix may enjoy this work that explores similar themes in a more familiar setting, that of the coming of age story.
"A modern classic in the African literary canon and voted in the Top Ten Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century, this novel brings to the politics of decolonization theory the energy of women's rights. An extraordinarily well-crafted work, this book is a work of vision. Through its deft negotiation of race, class, gender and cultural change, it dramatizes the 'nervousness' of the 'postcolonial' conditions that bedevil us still. In Tambu and the women of her family, we African women see ourselves, whether at home or displaced, doing daily battle with our changing world with a mixture of tenacity, bewilderment and grace. " -Goodreads.
"A modern classic in the African literary canon and voted in the Top Ten Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century, this novel brings to the politics of decolonization theory the energy of women's rights. An extraordinarily well-crafted work, this book is a work of vision. Through its deft negotiation of race, class, gender and cultural change, it dramatizes the 'nervousness' of the 'postcolonial' conditions that bedevil us still. In Tambu and the women of her family, we African women see ourselves, whether at home or displaced, doing daily battle with our changing world with a mixture of tenacity, bewilderment and grace. " -Goodreads.
Readers who enjoyed the fable and folk tale elements of The Book of Phoenix may enjoy this work by Karen Lord.
"A tale of adventure, magic, and the power of the human spirit. Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makendha—now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones—the djombi— who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, a wrathful djombi with indigo skin believes this power should be his and his alone.A contemporary fairy tale that is inspired in part by a Senegalese folk tale." - Goodreads
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors
The
Wretched of the Earth – Frantz Fanon
This classic work by Frantz FAnnon will place many of the theoretical and historical concerns addressed in Okorafor's work into the larger context of colonialism's impact on African history and on the internalization of colonization that many Africans struggled with.
This classic work by Frantz FAnnon will place many of the theoretical and historical concerns addressed in Okorafor's work into the larger context of colonialism's impact on African history and on the internalization of colonization that many Africans struggled with.
"A distinguished psychiatrist from Martinique who took part in the Algerian Nationalist Movement, Frantz Fanon was one of the most important theorists of revolutionary struggle, colonialism, and racial difference in history... The Wretched of the Earth is a brilliant analysis of the psychology of the colonized and their path to liberation. Bearing singular insight into the rage and frustration of colonized peoples, and the role of violence in effecting historical change, the book incisively attacks the twin perils of postindependence colonial politics: the disenfranchisement of the masses by the elites on the one hand, and intertribal and interfaith animosities on the other." -Goodreads
Viewers of PBS Masterpiece's Victoria may recognize the name of King Leopold, who on the television series is a pesky and annoying relative who always puts his nose into his family's business. This side of the real Leopold is relatable for many, related to royalty or not, but, the actual King Leopold of Belgium (and Queen Victoria's uncle) wrought devastation, genocide and mass suffering in Africa.
Goodread's summary: "In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a genocidal plundering of the Congo, he looted its rubber, brutalized its people, and ultimately slashed its population by ten million--all the while shrewdly cultivating his reputation as a great humanitarian....With great power and compassion, King Leopold's Ghost will brand the tragedy of the Congo--too long forgotten--onto the conscience of the West."
For readers looking to take a deep dive into theories of colonization and literature, and the politics fo language this work is an interesting start.
From Goodreads: "Ngugi describes this book as "a summary of some of the issues in which I have been passionately involved for the last twenty years of my practice in fiction, theatre, criticism and in the teaching of literature.In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Europe stole art treasures from Africa to decorate their houses and museums; in the twentieth century Europe is stealing the treasures of the mind to enrich their languages and cultures...."
Hi Ricke! I recently came across Nnedi Okorafor's work while looking for book recommendations for a friend, but I haven't read any of her books myself yet. This sounds amazing!! Wild Seed by Octavia Butler is one I'm already planning on reading later this year - it's one of my book club's picks in the fall. Have you read that as well? ~Anna
ReplyDeleteExcellent annotation! This sounds wonderful as do the readalikes! Full points!
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