An interesting novella, and Najeeba is a proactive, vocal protagonist. Fantastic worldbuilding, and certainly a setting I would like to see more of. My biggest issue was this really feels like the prologue of a bigger novel. Whilst there is a satisfying conclusion to the events within the novella, there is a much bigger story left hanging.

Once more we are back to the world of Who Fears Death, though now we are focused on Najeeba, a character first seen in the original books. Still, now we have more details of her life before we first meet her in the other books.

Najeeba is the youngest child of her parents, and like her older Brothers and her Father, she has felt the call to travel the Salt Road. But the problem is, she is a girl, and girls are not allowed. But she goes, dressed as a boy, and she learns so much about herself that she had not known before. Follow her story and see how it makes her the woman she will become.

This was another wonderful story from Nnedi Okorafor, set in her Africanfuturist land, and the wonderful mix of myths, and legends that made the other books so wonderful. A must-read.

This novella is a sequel to She Who Fears Death and is the second book in the trilogy. The story is set in an earth that is basically now a desert and inhabitable, forcing humans to adapt to desert life. I haven’t read the first book yet, but was able to understand and follow the events in this book. I plan to read the first book next since enjoyed this so much.

Things I absolutely loved:
It was easy to follow along with and the world Nnedi created set the tone for the story beautifully. I can’t wait to read the third book already 😩

Things I didn’t love as much:
I want more 😭. I wish I got to see more of Idris how things played out once he was introduced in the book. Perhaps I feel like this because I haven’t read the first one yet so we’ll see if my feelings change after that.

In all, I enjoyed reading this and can’t wait to read the other books in the series.

Oh wow. This was such an unexpected gem. I haven’t read the first series, yet oriented myself in here instantly, and now I feel like I have to read the first series, just to marinate in this world some more.
This west african sci-fantasy felt like a warm caress. Its more laid back story, a character exploration and a coming of age journey. Everything felt so vivid, as if I was standing right there. It brought a sense of nostalgia, those transportative stories I grew up on.
I do not know what else to say, go read it for yourself

“There is no feeling like sitting in the dirt watching an entire market of men, fleeing from you. I felt like an abomination. I was an abomination. But, oh Ani, I was so powerful.”

She Who Knows: Firespitter is my first time reading anything by Nnedi Okorafor. A prequel to “Who Fears Death”, I found this to be a fine introduction to Okorafor’s style, which she describes as africanfuturism . The mix of West African culture, a post apocalyptic world and some lightly used science fiction detail work really well together. The mix makes the world in which Najeeba (our protagonist) inhabits unique.

It’s difficult to introduce a reader to a new world in a novella. However I found Okaorafor also did this well - there was a little too much exposition towards the end, however in the main I felt the scale of the story being told, in under 200 pages, fit well with the room needed to give a flavour of the environment and culture of the people of Adoro 5.

There are also strong elements of feminism throughout which I enjoyed. Najeeba is outside the norm and she embraces it for the majority of the book, refusing to cower from her growing gifts but instead pushing to utilise them.

Overall this was a really enjoyable introduction to Nnedi Okorafor, and has definitely put “Who Fears Death” on my tbr.

I’ve read Okorafor’s work before, and her writing style absolutely shines in this one. I think this will be a solid four to five stars for her fans. I did stop after chapter 1.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for the ARC.

Nnedi Okorafor has been on my radar/tbr for years, and after reading this I am truly disappointed I didn't start reading sooner. Absolutely gorgeous writing, vivid imagery, and characters I fell in love with. I can't wait to read the other books in this universe - it stood on its own, but it made me so hungry for more.

I quite enjoyed Firespitter - although I didn't realize until the intro that its a sort of prequel to Who Fears Death, and in some respects a strange prequel as its the MC's Mother's origin story!

And its not filled with references or missing introductions or anything, I just had a sense that readers of Who Fears Death might have got MORE from this story.

Firesplitter reads as a sort of biographical folklore (which is what its supposed to be so, yeah) but just a caution that its not really a 3 act structure raising of the stakes work of fiction - though it does have some full on scenes and what I really enjoyed is the Culture of the world really showed through, reading this you have a strong sense of who people are and how they do things (and where the dangers lie).

This does create a strange sense while reading however, where you're not too sure what to cling to in the story, a bit like the opposite of Chekov's Gun, where there are quite a few things going on around the place and these are all vivid and interesting moments but because its more of a character biography - there is some 'payoff' but again I think the real payoff is fans of the OG books getting more material in this fascinating world.

This book really does give us African fantasy vibes, if you liked the Wakanda movies you will definetly love this book full of strong African culture

Nnedi Okorafor does it again!

As someone who loves all of Nnedi's work, I immediately requested this as soon as I possibly could. There are no words to describe the wonder of the world building, the absolute mastery of the storytelling. In this novella we are told the story of Najeeba, a (then) 13 year old girl who receives the "Call" to go and gather salt. In this world, salt is life. Najeeba experiences a series of incredible events that culminate in the discovery of who she is, and who she will yet become. This is a story of growing into who you really are, of discovering what it means to go beyond society's boundaries, and most of all, the power that a woman holds.

I cannot recommend this novella enough, and I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy! As always, all my thanks to both Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

This novella is well-written, and the imagery is fantastic. It’s a nice, quick read introducing you to the way of life on Earth in the future. There are mentions of ancient tech that is found and sold at markets, and people of African descent and those of Arab descent. The world described seems to be very desolate and harsh, but humans have adapted to the desert and travel long days and weeks to make their living. The novella starts when the main character is 13 years old, and she is only beginning to realize what society’s strict gender norms will mean for her personally. Cue mysticism, juju and redefining what it means to be female in a patriarchal world. I am team Najeeba, all the way, always.

It is possible to read this without having read the earlier book, “Who Fears Death”, but both stories are set in the same world, and there does seem to be a vague-ish spoiler right at the end. Just an FYI. I’m sure I will have forgotten it whenever I get around to reading about Najeeba’s daughter in said book, knowing my brain. 😁

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for my honest feedback. I look forward to diving into more of Okorafor’s work!