A fiery spirit dances from the pages of the Great Book. She brings the aroma of scorched sand and ozone. She has a story to tell….
The Book of Phoenix is a unique work of magical futurism. A prequel to the highly acclaimed, World Fantasy Award-winning novel, Who Fears Death, it features the rise of another of Nnedi Okorafor’s powerful, memorable, superhuman women.
Phoenix was grown and raised among other genetic experiments in New York’s Tower 7. She is an “accelerated woman”—only two years old but with the body and mind of an adult, Phoenix’s abilities far exceed those of a normal human. Still innocent and inexperienced in the ways of the world, she is content living in her room speed reading e-books, running on her treadmill, and basking in the love of Saeed, another biologically altered human of Tower 7.
Then one evening, Saeed witnesses something so terrible that he takes his own life. Devastated by his death and Tower 7’s refusal to answer her questions, Phoenix finally begins to realize that her home is really her prison, and she becomes desperate to escape.
But Phoenix’s escape, and her destruction of Tower 7, is just the beginning of her story. Before her story ends, Phoenix will travel from the United States to Africa and back, changing the entire course of humanity’s future.
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Who Fears Death
10 books in catalog
Speculative fiction rooted in African culture and mythology defines the speculative fiction landscape through subgenres coined as Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism. Nnedi Okorafor is a New York Times bestselling author of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults whose work bridges African heritage with futuristic and magical narratives. Her award-winning novella Binti and her post-apocalyptic novel Who Fears Death demonstrate her distinct approach to combining indigenous African traditions with advanced technology and fantasy elements.
Through her expansive bibliography of novels, novellas, graphic novels, and children's books, Okorafor has redefined contemporary science fiction by centering African perspectives and complex Black female protagonists.
Born Nnedimma Nkemdili Okorafor on April 8, 1974, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Igbo Nigerian immigrant parents who came to the United States in the late 1960s, she grew up primarily in the southern suburbs of Chicago while taking frequent trips to Nigeria to visit family. These visits deeply shaped her creative vision and grounded her understanding of her cultural roots. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in rhetoric from the University of Illinois, a Master of Arts in journalism from Michigan State University, an MA in English from the University of Chicago, and completed a PhD in literature in 2007. An alumna of the Clarion science fiction and fantasy writers' workshop, she began publishing acclaimed fiction across multiple age categories.
Okorafor's debut novel, Zahrah the Windseeker, won the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature, while her children's book Long Juju Man received the Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa. Her novel Who Fears Death won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and was placed in development at HBO for a television series adaptation. She continued to expand her bibliography with The Book of Phoenix, the Binti novella trilogy—which won both Hugo and Nebula awards and was optioned for television by Media Res—and the Nsibidi Scripts series, which includes Akata Warrior and Akata Woman. She has also authored graphic novels such as LaGuardia, which won Hugo and Eisner awards, written comic series for Marvel including Shuri and Wakanda Forever, published the novellas Remote Control and One Way Witch, and released novels such as She Who Knows and Death of the Author. She resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with her daughter, Anyaugo.
Okorafor explicitly differentiates her writing from traditional Western Afrofuturism through her custom definitions of Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism. Africanfuturism is science fiction directly rooted in African culture, history, mythology, and perspectives on the African continent rather than from a Western diaspora standpoint. Africanjujuism, conversely, refers to fantasy that weaves seamless magic into contemporary or historic African life, drawing upon traditional spiritual belief systems and folklore.
Her stories regularly explore themes of racial inequality, gender, identity, sexual violence, social justice, and ecological consciousness. She frequently features young Black female protagonists who navigate alien technology, mystical abilities, and societal expectations. By drawing inspiration from everyday African life, environmental phenomena, and rich oral traditions, Okorafor constructs intricate worlds that highlight African agency and cultural continuity in future and magical settings.
