Who Fears Death
World Fantasy Award 2011. Nebula Award nominee 2010, Locus Award nominee 2011.
International award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor enters the world of magic realist literature with a powerful story of genocide in the far future and of the woman who reshapes her world.
In a post-apocalyptic Africa, the world has changed in many ways, yet in one region genocide between tribes still bloodies the land. After years of enslaving the Okeke people, the Nuru tribe has decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke tribe for good. An Okeke woman who has survived the annihilation of her village and a terrible rape by an enemy general wanders into the desert hoping to die. Instead, she gives birth to an angry baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand. Gripped by the certainty that her daughter is different — special — she names her child Onyesonwu, which means “Who Fears Death?” in an ancient tongue.
From a young age, stubborn, willful Onyesonwu is trouble. It doesn’t take long for her to understand that she is physically and socially marked by the circumstances of her violent conception. She is Ewu — a child of rape who is expected to live a life of violence, a half-breed rejected by both tribes.
But Onye is not the average Ewu. As a child, Onye’s singing attracts owls. By the age of eleven, she can change into a vulture. But these amazing abilities are merely the first glimmers of a remarkable unique magic. As Onye grows, so do her abilities — soon she can manipulate matter and flesh, or travel beyond into the spiritual world. During an inadvertent visit to this other realm she learns something terrifying: someone powerful is trying to kill her.
Desperate to elude her would-be murderer, and to understand her own nature, she seeks help from the magic practitioners of her village. But, even among her mother’s people, she meets with frustrating prejudice because she is Ewu and female. Yet Onyesonwu persists.
Eventually her magical destiny and her rebellious nature will force her to leave home on a quest that will be perilous in ways that Onyesonwu can not possibly imagine. For this journey will cause her to grapple with nature, tradition, history, true love, the spiritual mysteries of her culture, and ultimately to learn why she was given the name she bears: Who Fears Death?
Nnedi Okorafor
Before Africanfuturism had a name, Nnedi Okorafor was already weaving its tapestry—melding ancient myth with high-tech dreams, and reshaping what speculative fiction could look like when rooted in African cultures rather than merely referencing them. Her stories aren’t just tales of distant planets or magical beings; they’re fiercely alive, humming with ancestral memory, political edge, and the uncanny rhythm of the unexpected.
Born in the United States to Nigerian immigrant parents, Okorafor has always stood at the crossroads of cultures—and that liminal space pulses through her work. Whether it’s a semi-sentient spaceship shaped like a giant shrimp (Binti), or a Nigerian girl wielding ancestral powers in the shadow of climate catastrophe (Who Fears Death), her narratives defy the conventions of both Western science fiction and traditional fantasy. They don’t just bend genre—they build new worlds from the bones of old ones.
Who Fears Death
Who Fears Death consists of two books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
