Title: Remote Control
Author: Nnedi Okorafor
Pub. Date: January 19th 2021
Genre: Science Fiction Fantasy
Format: eGalley
Publisher: Tor.com
Pages: 160 pages
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“𝐼𝑛 𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑜𝑓𝑎’𝑠 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑, 𝑠ℎ𝑒’𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠.“
Nnedi Okorafor’s Remote Control is an Afro futurism novella featuring a seven year old Sankofa aka The Adopted Daughter of Death as she travels down the winding roads in Ghana after a tragic accident that changed her life. Sankofa travels alone with the exception of a fox who never leaves her side for long. Wherever she goes, death follows. Her touch can destroy towns as well as grant death to those ailing or diseased. Sankofa doesn’t have many answers but she does set out to find the object that fell from the sky. In this Novella we see Sankofa grow into a woman who has learned to observe those around her. Humans deep reliance on technology and what fear can inspire in others. Our MC has experienced a deep and tragic loss before the start of her journey. She then goes on to experience trauma at the hands of strangers who either fear her or see her as a literal remote control they can wield for their own benefit. This was my first time reading Nnedi Okorafor, I found Okorafor’s writing style easily transported me to the winding roads of Ghana. I smelled the shea butter tree and cream Sankofa used on her skin. I heard the slap of her sandals on the ground and the rustle of tree leaves. There was one morbid scene that had my stomach turned inside out but it also left me in awe. I was blown away at how much was delivered in this 160 page novella and the fact that it still delivered a satisfying ending. Sankofa is a memorable character that I wouldn’t mind coming across again if the author were to revisit her story. Remote Control was my first venture into Afro-Futurism but it won’t be my last! If anything, Okorafor has awakened my interest in this genre. I look forward to reading more from this author and in fact have already hauled the Hugo and Nebula Award winner Binti trilogy🖤
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