Nigerian-American writer Nnedi Okorafor has won countless awards for science fiction and fantasy and currently has a number of books being adapted for film and television. Her hilarious new novel, The Death of the Author, is a blend of science fiction and literary thriller that leaves the reader breathless by the end.
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The story follows Zelu, a struggling, disabled literary author who, in a fit of desperation, writes a science fiction novel called Rusted Robots, which unexpectedly becomes a massive success. While Zelu struggles to cope with the attention, her Nigerian family bring her back to earth with a bump.
We get excerpts of Rusted Robots along the way, and gradually the two narratives begin to resonate with each other in unexpected and beautiful ways. Okorafor handles these two threads impeccably, in the process taking the reader to a profound understanding of the relationship between writers and readers, and the importance of stories in the human condition. Exhilarating stuff.
The Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor is out now (Gollancz, £20). You can buy it from the Big Issue shop on bookshop.org, which helps to support Big Issue and independent bookshops.
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