The narrator was good and the story was fine. I didn't enjoy the story as much as I have some of Okorafor's other stories, but it was decent. As usual, a very interesting concept and look at a future world and consequences of human actions.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced copy of this book to listen to.

I really enjoyed this one a lot. I guess that's no surprise since I've enjoyed everything I've read from this author.

This was such a fascinating sci-fi. While short, this story packed a punch that had me begging for more stories in this world. Nnedi Okorafor has definitely proven to be an author I need to keep an eye out for future releases, especially for a full-length book.

Characters 5/5
Plot 3.5/5
Storytelling 4/5
Enjoyment 4/5
Atmosphere 4/5

In recent years, I've been afflicted with a case of Nnedi Okorafor mania. Excellent tales from around the world, each one brimming with viewpoints and details that are new to me. When I read, I made sure to take my time and enjoy every word. Noor enriches her previous works with fresh ideas and viewpoints. Thank you for enlightening me to the richness of the world's different civilizations and the stories they tell.

Okorafor's stories always look at the ways in which differences cause tension and mistrust/distrust, alienation and violence and she always sets them in landscapes that already have a pattern for segregation.

Noor is one such individual who because of genetics and a later vehicular accident is further cast out from what is accepted humanity. This tracks with her own experience with paralysis and the fight to get back to a place she wanted to be.

As with all of Okorafor's works, her MCs face challenges that reflect many of societies shortcomings, find support and solace in friends and fight for their freedom.

I read this book in March. It was ok. It wasn’t my favorite book by Nnedi Okorafor, but I will continue to read everything she puts out. I gave this book and average 3 stars.

For fans of Nnedi Okorafor's Binti series, this book, much like that trilogy, plays with the afrofuturist setting with a soft magic system that is never explained. The book follows both physical and emotional changes the lead character undergoes while critiquing the ableist society.
These themes didn't come together for me, and I found the story interesting but forgettable.

Noor is such a well written, engaging Afrofururist story. I was fully engrossed in the story and lost in the world, I didn't want to put it down.

The world creation is just fantastic, Okorafor seamlessly transports the reader to a future Nigeria that feels so real. I appreciated the time taken to really flesh out the world. The action really picks up towards the end.

So far, I've enjoyed everything i've read from this author and this is no exception. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend Noor to sci-fi lovers.

The audiobook was fantastic. Délé Ogundiran delivered a great performance and was the perfect voice.

“I threw myself into the arms of my fate, as I have been doing for decades. And this time I didn’t look back.”

NOOR is an imaginative Afrofuturist novel about a young woman who unlocks her full power and the people she inspires. Anwuli Okwudili goes by the name AO, which for her means Artificial Organism. She is disabled, from both conditions she was born with and a car accident in her teens. Despite predictions, she has survived due to augmentations provided by the powerful Ultimate Corp (think Amazon meets Exxon, but even more huge and evil). One day, she’s attacked at a local market; in the aftermath of this violence, she flees to the desert in the north where the infamous Red Eye dwells, a never-ending storm used to harness energy with the Noor (massive wind turbines). This journey sets her on a collision course with a Fulani herdsman, a meeting that feels as unpredictable as it does inevitable, with implications that will echo across the globe.

This is such an insightful and thought-provoking novel. Set in a near-future Nigeria, the world Okorafor creates feels like a realistic extension of our present - ruled by corporations, dependent on energy sources that come at a cost, fixated on social media and technology, filled with wealth and technological potential that disproportionately benefits the privileged few. AO is an incredible character and I loved how Okorafor incorporates her disability into her character arc, with her cybernetic body parts becoming not just life-saving but a source of strength and inconceivable potential. The novel starts more slowly, with several chapters dedicated to storytelling that fills out the world-building, while the ending is action-packed. There’s a lot of themes to explore here: environmentalism, tradition, technology, surveillance, capitalism, neocolonialism, and more. I liked the sweet romance and the smart, friendly cow pals. Some aspects of this book could have been more fully fleshed out, especially the side characters, but overall I really enjoyed it. Thank you Daw Books & Libro.fm for the ALC!

Content warnings: ableism, violence/murder, medical experimentation, suicidal ideation, animal death

3.5 stars

This was my first time reading an Africanfuturist story, and it was very intriguing. This short story spans a wide range of topics including race, class, ableism, AI/technology advancements, government control, monopolies, and climate change. I found AO's story particularly interesting because of the discussion surrounding her choice to change/augment her body and how that was viewed in society.

Délé Ogundiran did a great job with the narration, and look forward to hearing more from her.

Even though I felt a bit lost at times with the storytelling in NOOR this was a great intro to the genre. I'm very interested in reading more from Nnedi Okorafor since I've heard wonderful things about her other books.

***Thank you to RB Media for providing me with a copy of the audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.

I've loved almost everything I've read by Nnedi Okarafor up to this point. While this book was fine and worth reading, it felt slow moving, full of fits & starts, and a bit disjointed. That said, the descriptions of the separatist community & culture was rich and delightful to explore!

I really wanted to like this one and at times I did, but overall it didn't do enough to keep my attention. I can see it being a good read for a lot of people and would encourage anyone looking at this to give it a try. This might be a case of right book wrong time for me.

I am a biiiiig Okorafor fan, but this one missed the mark for me. It has a lot of interesting and important things to say about the violence that western corporations have done to African peoples and cultures. I just wasn’t as attached to the main characters–AO and DNA–as I have been to her past heroines like Binti, Onyesonwu, and Fatima/Sankofa­­.

The plot felt a bit predictable. There was an interesting twist about the origin of Noor’s earliest modifications, but I still struggled to stay engaged and interested in the narrative. I do wonder if my less-than-enthusiastic response was due in part to the fact that I listened to Noor as an audiobook. Perhaps I need the experience of words on a page to connect with Okorafor’s brilliance. That said, I enjoyed how the Nigerian accented narrator strengthened the African futurist setting.

While the plot didn’t hold my attention, there were some pieces of Noor that I nonetheless appreciated for their insight and craft. I loved the description of the resistance community that lives off the grid in harsh environmental conditions. I loved how AO navigates her outsider status and the superstitions and stigmatization directed at her based on her “unnatural” appearance. I loved the diverse representation of cultures, like the dichotomy between city people like AO and herders like DNA.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for giving me advance access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

A novel that is both contemplative and engrossing. After a violent encounter, AO, a Nigerian lady with robotic body parts, is compelled to flee. She flees to the desert to get away from her old life, and it is there that she meets DNA, a desert herdsman who is also on the run from something. Their adventure is exciting, risky, emotional, and strong as they must discover a means to defend themselves against all types of attacks. AO and DNA are intriguing characters, with AO being particularly well-developed. I became increasingly engaged in her fate as she progressed through the narrative. I would have liked to see more of DNA, as well as more of the tale, filled out.

I've been a fan of Nnedi Okorafor since I first read Binti, and I think Noor may have nearly lived up to the high marks I gave the Binti trilogy.

While it took me a while to get into Okorafor's latest Africanfuturist offering, the last third of this book really settled into it's storyline as a battle against the overreaching, corrupt giant corporation. In fact, I think Noor would be a great intro for newbie science fiction readers because Okorafor's world is immensely relatable without hard-to-understand concepts that might turn those potential readers away. Not to mention that it's a POC author writing about a future where Africa is a dominant world power and the book is populated with POC characters. It ticks a lot of boxes that could easily gain a lot of new readers from across genres.

As an aside, I think a great companion book to this is The Warehouse by Rob Hart.

I have loved the narrators for the Binti trilogy (Robin Miles should be a must-listen for any audiobook enthusiast) and Remote Control, I was less impressed with Délé Ogundiran's performance in Noor. She did not have any character voices, which made it very hard to distinguish between characters or between dialog and the storyline. It made it somewhat of a difficult listen.

You would think Noor is the main character's name but in fact, it is not. It is not a character at all. I can't even really remember what noor was, some sort of substance or something. Eesh. For it being the title, I should really remember what it is! What I remember is not finding out what it is until more than halfway through the book. And then it obviously didn't stick with me. What stuck with me was AO, a bionic human and DNA, a farmhand, and a government that is so totalitarian and far-reaching in a futuristic dystopian Africa. The science in this was incredibly complex and interesting and I really enjoyed the book. But I think I need to read it again, physically read it, in the future.

This was a very interesting science fiction novel with prominent elements of African Futurism. For me, the best part of this novel was easily the worldbuilding. Just like with the Binti novellas, this story weaves cultural traditions into a futuristic setting.

I also really appreciated how the story incorporated body augmentation as a way to address disability. As an ownvoices story, Noor explores the challenges and stigma surrounding those with disabilities living in an able bodied world.

Admittedly, I did not completely connect with the plot and characters which held me back from really loving this one. Yet, I still really appreciated what the story was doing and would certainly recommend it to anyone looking for a diverse, fresh science fiction story.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the audiobook from LibroFM for review.

Loved this story from start to finish. It was a quick and enjoyable read. I loved the world-building and the main character. Gorgeously told and the audio narrator was excellent. I loved the mix of futuristic tech and traditional lifestyles and the look into how one could effect the other.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read the ARC. Thank you to the author for writing such a great story.

Unfortunately, I did not get very far with this audio book. I had a pretty tough time following the narrator and decided that I will have to pick this book up via a physical copy. Nnedi Okorafor is one of my favorite authors so I have no doubt that I will become absolutely immersed in this story with the physical copy.