Who Fears Death by American-Nigerian author Nnedi Okorafor sizzles with dark magic and genocide. It is a fresh and enchanting journey into a future Africa where ethnic cleansing and rape mix with shamanistic transformations and bleak juju.

One of the fascinating things about Who Fears Death is that while it touches on many ongoing issues, like Female Genital Mutilation and ethnic conflicts, it never feels like it’s a book which was simply a vehicle for those issues. It draws out many of complexities of FGM and rape as a weapon of war that goes well beyond liberal pieties or simple hand wringing, where victims and perpetrators alike are active agents in their own lives.

Set in an interesting grey area of past and future the book explores the friendship of a group of young people and a girl who wrestles with her destiny while contending with the barriers placed in her way because of her gender.

I thought the first part of the book is possibly a little stronger than the second half where the scene has been set and the story proper is unfolding. However I read so few books that have camels or come from an African influenced perspective any perceived flaws are by far out weighed by the satisfying oddness of the book.

It would be difficult to say more without giving away crucial elements to the book so I shall simply finish by saying that Who Fears Death is exactly what speculative fiction should be all about that swirls and dreams about a future that has its roots firmly in the darkness of the present.