I have mixed feelings about Noor. I loved the world-building to bits! Okorafor did such a fantastic job developing everything about AO’s augmentations and how they worked as well as the presence Ultimate Corp throughout and their influence over everything and everyone. The social commentary regarding that was excellent and I loved how it was done and all of the twists exposing who they really were and what they were capable of.

The rest of it, though? I had a few issues with how stiff the dialogues felt at times and how underdeveloped the characters were in terms of personality–backstories they all had and they were pretty complex and intriguing.

I also wasn’t a fan of how the plot abruptly jumped around a bit when it came to action or big reveals. It felt like we were going somewhere and then everything took a very sharp turn to some other place within a few lines. It was very jarring during some chapters and it took me out of the story.

Regarding AO’s character, I was at times uncomfortable with the way disability was addressed? I understood that the basic premise was AO having a bunch of necessary body augmentations, but I didn’t think it was necessary for her character to refer to and frame her own disabilities as if she were a monster and/or less and inferior because of them. The word “crippled” was also thrown around. It just rubbed me the wrong way.

Synopsis: This very short novel is set in a near-future Nigeria, governed by an overreaching government under the influence of a highly innovative mega-corporation "Ultima Corp" which clearly resembles Amazon, just shying away from naming it. 

The narration follows main protagonist AO, short for Anwuli Okwudili or in her own words "Artificial Organism". AO is a cyborg who was born disabled, later on injured in a car accident, and has now large parts of her body replaced by mechanical parts and enhanced with lots of AI augmentations. Others call her a freak, her own parents don't like her transformation, but she embraces it all. 

When she goes to a local market in Abuja, a couple of men attack her, demonizing her cybernetical implants. Defending herself, she kills them inadvertently and has been on the run since then. She goes completely offline and tries to escape across the deserts of Northern Nigeria.

She teams up with a Fulani herdsname calling himself "DNA" who is wrongfully accused of terrorism but only wants to protect his last two remaining cows. He knows a lot about the devastating huge cyclone called "Red Eye" in the desert where they hope to find a safe haven. 

AO develops some superhero forces enabling her to control devices and AIs. Suddenly, her flight doesn't seem as hopeless as before.

Review:  Okorafor is a well-renowned author, always writing about the African continent, the people and the culture there. Africanfuturism is her topic, and I really liked her novella Binti (review) with a follow-up novelette Binti: Sacred Fire (review). 

In Noor, she did it again, this time embracing the Cyberpunk subgenre to its fullest. It's easy to see that mega-corporations like Amazon will go to subvert states by blackmailing them with huge amounts of money. I always thought about the dangers for countries like the U.S. or Western European states, but this novel focuses on Nigeria. Rich with natural resources and projected to become one of the most densely populated countries in the world, it is also bothered by one of the most corrupt governments in the world misusing power and most of the population lives below poverty level. Average life  expectancy at just 53 years is one of the lowest in the world. Enough room to project a cyberpunkish near future.

The author ticks off all the Cypberpunk checkbox tropes. Most of them have been featured elsewhere, and maybe better. One is new, and that's where the author shines and is absolutely worth reading: the combination with Africanfuturism.  

The novel started slow with several interleaving stories-within-stories exposing the setting. I didn't buy into the technological projections like wireless energy transfer over large distances or the superhuman interactions with those AIs. They gave the novel a touch of Fantasy, so don't expect Hard SF here. Similarly, the Red Eye cyclone is more a fairy tale than dystopian CliFi. We have to give the author a lot of room to draw her setting. 

Then, the action starts off and speeds up to a feverish pace. 

I didn't like the main protagonist much. Her tendency to suicide put me off, as did some other of her (non-) reactions. Add to that many wooden dialogs and sometimes confusing narrative structure. 

In the end, it was a lukewarm reading experience. I liked parts of the setting a lot, but the author failed to reach me with a lot of unbelievable elements which felt too artificially constructed.

Mark your calendars for November 16th! Nnedi Okorafor has written another winner! Noor is a brutal yet hopeful tale about the strength of Africa and its people pushing back against capitalist powers that wish to exploit them.

Style-wise, Noor is easy to read. It feels more like her Binti quartet than Remote Control in the best of ways. You can hear the beautiful cadence of African voices each time her characters speak and the entire book is a celebration of desperate and often clashing cultures within Nigeria.

In Noor, we follow AO, a girl born crippled and then later disabled further by a freak car accident who has taken back control of her life and her body by getting extensive cybernetic implants including a metal legs that allow her to walk and artificial lungs that allow her to breathe, and DNA, a traditional Fulani herdsman who lives a life outside of technological society. In one day, both AO and DNA are victims of horrendous acts of violence that drive them together in a against time for their very lives and, as they learn, for the very heart of their country.

This book is a beautiful condemnation of surveillance culture and all-controlling capitalism and a celebration of uniquely African culture, genius, geography, and willpower in the face of these seemingly all-consuming forces. I can't think of anything better that AfricanFuturism should be.

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy Afrofuturism novels mainly for the grand scope of differences it offers us readers, subverting expectations and combining very different idea-points. In other words, a lot of them give us some great worldbuilding.

Disability, redefining yourself, transhumanism, and becoming a cyborg in a culture, or at least surrounding culture, that goes all superstitious and crappy on you? Check. Being a victim of circumstance but not willing to bow down to your culture's expectations? Check.

Give us some wonderful energy-tech, an adventure, and a light-touch romance between a herder and a cyborg girl, and the novel ran pretty smoothly for me. The subtext is, of course, quite easy to follow. It's not just being wired differently from your people, but having to deal with a mash of conflicting worlds, too. Read into it whatever you like, but it's pretty universal.

I'm glad I got to read this.

One of my favorite elements of Noor has to be the world building. Okorafor always has a great world building seed. That kernel of an idea which the entire book revolves around and only expands throughout the story. For Noor I loved how in this high tech world her body modifications make others see her as a 'demon'. That there's this line of 'too much'. And where does that line for us, for society, for our family? But aside from the fantastic and thought provoking world building (especially all the corporation politics!!) I loved the characters.

I knew I was going to love AO. I love how fiery she is, how strong, but also how much she is shaped by her past. By the treatment of her family, by the circumstances of her accident, and by the world's scorn. At the same time, I found DNA's character fascinating. The ways their positions seem so different on paper, but how they are united by their places as "outsiders". All of their interactions made for a gripping character dynamic. And finally, what I loved in Noor were the twists and turns.

I liked the themes of the story, and the world-building was nicely done. But the pacing just felt ....off. Almost as though entire chapters had been left out, or maybe compressed into one or two paragraphs. More than once I assumed I'd accidentally skipped a page, but that never turned out to be the culprit. Additionally, the ending was rather abrupt; I would have loved an epilogue.

Nnedi Okorafor always brings it, and Noor is no exception. The title refers to huge wind turbines that have been installed across African deserts to harness wind energy in the name of an ominous capitalist entity called "Ultimate Corp." I was reading Ultimate Corp as basically a next-level Amazon, a huge corporation that takes over the entire economy, has drones, and works very closely with governments and their agents. Our main character, AO (who has a birth name refers to herself as an Artificial Organism when asked to explain the AO), was born with a number of birth defects, from missing limbs to a missing lung and colon. As a result, she gets some prosthetics and some artificial organs, courtesy of Ultimate corp. When she's a young teen, she is in a terrible car accident and has to get more "enhancements," which ultimately make her about half human, half machine. That doesn't make her popular with the locals in the town where she's living, and early in the novel she has an altercation during which she is brutally beaten and, in the process of defending herself, kills several men in the town market. She flees, coming across another traveler on the run, who goes by DNA, who was also forced into a terrible and violent confrontation when he and his friends were mistaken for terrorists and all of his friends and most of their cattle were murdered by an angry mob. He survived, somehow, and the two of them start traveling together, first to his village and then into the Red Eye, a natural disaster that is basically the most intense dust storm imaginable. When they make it through, they find themselves in a place called the Hour Glass, a kind of utopian community in the middle of the Red Eye. During this time, AO realizes that she can control much of the technology owned by Ultimate Corp and associated governments, which she uses to do some pretty amazing, revolutionary things. A great book that considers the impacts of capitalism, colonialism, climate change, along with what it means to be human.

I really liked Nnedi Okorafor's last title, Remote Control. I LOVED Noor! This book is one of the best Sci-Fi titles I have read in years. I felt the characters were realistically developed, the science is not only possible, but likely. I felt that Nnedi brought the dust storm to life. Excellent book. If you like Sci-Fi, you will love this story!

After being born with life-threatening deformities, AO has a number of cybernetic implants and augmentations added to her body. One day, she's attacked in the market and kills her attackers using strength she didn't know she had. She goes on the run across Nigeria where she meets DNA, a herdsman running away from his own traumatic event. In this world, the government and an evil mega-corporation are almost one in the same and are after them both. AO discovers she has incredible powers that can take down the powers that be. For fans of environmental dystopias and afrofuturism.

My copy of Noor by Nnedi Okorafor was kindly provided by NetGalley and DAW publishing for a thoroughly honest review. Thanks!
Noor is, as of writing this, scheduled for release on November 16, 2021.
Noor is the story of AO, a young woman who, through circumstances of her birth and a car accident, is heavily augmented. One day, while shopping in the market, everything goes horribly wrong. Now she is on the run. Along the way, she meets a Fulani tribesman named DNA, who also finds himself on the run.
Since everything is streamed, the whole world has seen their crimes and is glued to their screens watching the chase play out. Now AO and DNA must flee from their pursuers across the unforgiving desert, with very little hope of survival.
I guess I should start off by saying that I really enjoyed Binti. I thought that book was really well done, so I hoped this book would be just as thought-provoking and entertaining as that one was. And I wasn't disappointed.
Noor was a fast-paced adventure story that also encourages you to stick it to the man. Or, at the very least, the very large corporation. It uses Africanfuturism (the author's preferred way of calling it) to tout the dangers of letting a corporation become too big.
The characters are wonderfully written. You really feel for AO and DNA's plight as they race through the unforgiving desert wasteland that makes up their only refuge. AO and DNA could not be more different and yet their dynamic is brilliantly done.
Speaking of the desert. Nope. Do not want to go there. Not even for a short visit. The desert in Nigeria has undergone a massive cataclysm that makes it inhospitable to human life, and it's there that our main characters must flee.
This book did not end the way I thought it would, which is a good thing. But I also think it was the only way it could have ended. I dislike predictable endings. Because when I say I really thought it was going to end a different way, I mean it.
But what do I rate it? I give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

A rocket-paced tech sci-fi novel set in a near-enough-future world that could almost be familiar, “Noor” takes place in Nigeria and stars Anwuli Okwutility, a feisty woman who has augmented her body wth so much advanced technology that she relabels her initials AO as “artificial organism.” When an ordinary day spins out of control, she finds herself on the run in the deserts with another cutely named fugitive, a herdsman called DNA. AO and DNA careen through their weird world of ubiquitous surveillance and social media, huge wind turbines, a controlling mega corporation, and blazing technology. The author is richly inventive, the plot sucks the reader in, and the unusual (for sci-fi) setting is superbly drawn. Whilst this reader found the storyline baroque to the extent of reducing character immersion, another reader might sink right in. Noor is an enjoyable rollercoaster worth checking out.

I'm a fan of Okorafor, so I was excited for this ARC. This story is set in future Nigeria and deals with artificial intelligence. AO was born disabled and chooses to alter herself with biotech modifications throughout her life, which she is looked down on because of. Per usual, I really enjoyed Okorafor's world building.

I believe the last time I was this taken with a Nnedi Okorafor book was when I picked up Binti and marveled at how much a truly great author can pack into such a little package. Noor is longer than a novella, but for a novel it’s still pretty slim. Don’t let that fool you into thinking it doesn’t have teeth, though. There is a lot to discover between its covers and I’m still reeling a bit. I also pre-ordered a hardback copy, just to give you an indication of how impressed I am.

AO just wants to live a quiet life without being judged on sight. She’s an auto mechanic in Abuja where people have come to know and accept her for who she is. She may not like that they call her “more machine than human” because that’s just not true, but at least she is accepted as a member of society and can go about her business like anyone else. Until, that is, shortly after her boyfriend had left her, she goes to market to buy some food and a handful of men decide that she is an abomination and must be punished. Well, it’s not smart attacking a woman with a bionic arm… A few heartbeats later, AO is looking at the result of the men’s violent attack and realizes she has to run. Police are never going to see her side and so she flees north into the Sahel desert and closer to the natural disaster known as the Red Eye, a huge sandstorm that only few managed to survive.

It is on her rather aimless journey that she meets a man who feels equally uprooted, who has lost what he considered his normal life as well and is being hunted as a terrorist. So AO joins this man, DNA, and his two steer GPS and Carpe Diem and they try to find a new purpose together, a reason to live, and a place to be accepted just the way they are.

I loved everything about this story, beginning with its incredible protagonist AO who probably has more than a little Nnedi Okorafor in her. If you’ve read her non-fiction TED book Broken Places & outer Spaces (which I highly recommend, btw) you’ll know that Okorafor lost the use of her legs at a young age and regained it only through hard work and a lot of pain. It’s not quite the same as her character AO but there pere parallels and certain descriptions that made me think it’s not all imagination but some of it was real, lived experience. When AO decides to replace her crushed legs with bionic ones, people aren’t exactly supportive and part of the reason for that is that you can only make those legs work if you withstand a lot of pain. AO sees the world through a red fog of pain for a long time before she can walk with ease.
I also adored DNA – short for Dangote Nuhu Adamu – the Fulani herdsman in the desert, who loves his steer dearly but who also has a nomadic family. Unfortunately, the Fulani are seen as little more than terrorists by other people when all DNA wants to do is live quietly with his steer, maybe a wife someday and some kids, with no ambitions for riches or glory. Much like AO, he is simply looking for acceptance in a world that refuses to see him as he truly is.

"I’d always had it coming. In the dark this was all clear. I emerged from the warm protective darkness of my mother’s womb poorly made. A mess. And then years later, fate had unmade me. How dare I embrace what I was and wasn’t, and build my self?"

Speaking of the world – Nnedi Okorafor packed so much world-building into this book, it’s hard to believe. Starting with the Red Eye, that eternal sandstorm that has changed the lives of people living nearby dramatically, to the constant presence of Ultimate Corp who harness the Red Eye’s wind power to send energy to other places around the world. The way technology, the internet, drones, and bionic limbs work in this world, was also highly interesting. It all goes together so well and paints the picture of a real, lived-in world, a believable portrait of the future with both good and not-so-good sides. Another thing I loved (even though we’re used to it from Okorafor’s fiction) is the focus on Africa, Nigeria and its surrounding countries in particular. Sure, you might say that’s the whole point of Africanfuturism, but it is still refreshing when the US or Europe are only mentioned in passing as places that exist but that are not the center of this story.

As much as Nnedi Okorafor has to say about making yourself into the person you want to be, about freedom, about big corporations getting rich on the backs of cultures they think worthless, about preserving a way of life, and finding friends and maybe even love in the most unlikely situations, what she also does is write a damn good action scene! Because although I haven’t mentioned it yet, Noor‘s plot kicks serious ass right from the start and with hardly any pauses. Whether it’s entering a deadly sandstorm, making crazy plans to save someone in need, being confronted with an army of drones, or surviving a physical attack – I held my breath many times while reading this book. And then came the twists which made me gasp out loud. Add to that the moments of emotional resonance, the quieter character-focused scenes, and you’ve got a novel that does pretty much everything right.

I already know I will nominate this book fo r a Hugo Award next year. It was so impressive on so many levels and mixes themes and subgenres in a way that only Okorafor does. If you like her writing already, go and buy yourself a copy right now. If you’re new to her fiction, this is a great starting point. In fact, if you even remotely like science fiction and fantasy, pick this up and join me in cheering for Nnedi Okorafor and the way she gets better and better over the years.

MY RATING: 9/10 – Close to perfection!

Nnedi Okorafor always astounds me with her ability to do so much in so few pages. Though Noor is a relatively quick read, Okorafor effortless packs it with outstanding character development, world building, and explorations of capitalism, colonialism, government, technology, and self-will. The novel follows AO, a woman with several cybernetic implants and prosthetics, and DNA, a lone herdsman determined to hold on to his people’s roots and culture. The two meet after surviving horrific traumas in what were perceived to be a safe spaces, and each were blamed and persecuted for the incidents afterwards. As they are forced to go on the run, AO comes to see that both the ordeals she and DNA have been put through, as well as many systemic issues plaguing Nigeria, are all tied to an omnipresent and powerful corporation. The story takes several unpredictable and exciting turns there’s not much more to say about the story that won’t undermine the joy of watching it unfold for yourself. Noor is a compelling, thought-provoking novel that you’ll likely find yourself tearing through.

High Action and thought-provoking ideas in near future Nigeria
Okorafor’s latest novella features biotechnology, a big Corporation (with a capital C) and individuals trying to make do with the hands they’ve been dealt. Everything changes for AO, malformed in utero and further mangled in a freakish accident, she exists with the heavy aide of technology. While she does stand out, it’s usually not an issue but this time when she goes to the local market everything goes wrong. This is a fast and fascinating ride!

AO has had most of her body augmented with bionic parts after an accident that almost killed her. During a trip to the market a violent encounter brands her a terrorist forcing her to run. She heads into the desert and meets DNA a nomad herdsman with an axe to grind and together they set out into the violent desert winds. There are so many layers of messages here and themes of climate change, new ways to generate energy as well as the huge corporation who steals the land away from the nomadic tribes are all in play here. Add to that Nnedi Okorafor's melodic prose and a sci-fi Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid duo and you have another clever tale of warning. Perfect for her already numerous fans and those of Ray Bradbury and other apocalyptic authors with a distinctive African voice. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Thank you Netgalley for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting novella, another great example of Okorafor’s africanfuturism. I didn’t find it as interesting as Okorafor’s books involving aliens, but that’s my own personal taste. It follows an augmented human named AO and a Fulani herder named DNA. It deals a lot with the evils of big corporations and capitalism.

The premise and characters were fascinating, but I found the pacing to be a bit strange, and the ending felt a bit abrupt. There was also a portion of the book in the middle that was confusing.

Like everything else I've read by Nnedi Okorafor, this book was absolutely excellent. I am always so impressed how she is able to pack so much imaginative world building into such compact, fast-paced novels.

This book is about a woman named AO, short for autobionic organism, who faces constant mockery and judgment for the many technological implants and prosthesis she uses to survive. From the beginning of the story AO is proud of her body and its capabilities and the story sees her embrace herself and her power even further after she flees a violent attack and winds up on an incredible adventure with a tradition-loving herdsman named DNA.

I LOVED the character of AO in this story and there is also an incredibly imaginative and cool futuristic city that I won't share too much about to avoid spoilers. I highly recommend this book for fans of Okorafor's other work as well as any science fiction and africanfuturism fans!

Noor follows the story of a young woman who goes by AO. This is short for artificial organism, but that was not her original name and she is a human that was born and raised. However, she has been extensively outfitted with many artificial organs and limbs. She was born with many birth defects, but a car accident that prevents her from walking really pushes her to become a bit of a guinea pig and go through the painful surgeries to gain back her independence.

Her world is turned on its head when she makes a trip to the market and ends up on the run where she finds a herdsman by the name of DNA and his two remaining cattle. Together the two trek across the sands of Nigeria and learn a lot about themselves in the process. They also learn that things are not what they appear and that nothing will ever be the same.

This book is fun, exciting, and a quick read. However, it is very detailed so skimming is not a good idea. You can easily lose track of what is happening and which character is which because of the odd names.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was very fast paced and made me rethink my expectations when it comes to science fiction. There are many more areas of the world that are never talked about in sci-fi, luckily this book does that exceptionally well!

Fast-paced story of AO, a woman in future Nigeria who has augmented herself to compensate for birth defects and injuries. She is ostracized for these modifications - but also made powerful by them. As the story goes on we learn that her origin story and her powers are far more complicated than she knew. Excellent read.