Young Najeeba is coming of age on the Salt Roads and experiencing all the power, powerlessness, and confusion adolescence can instill. Sweeping vistas and intimate village life are described in exquisite detail as we follow Najeeba on a journey to understand the magic awakening inside her. This wonderful novella is a fast and engaging read, captivating and thoughtful. I was utterly absorbed. I look forward to the rest of the series.

An excellent novella with a strong voice and fascinating world. The only small flaw is that the ending felt a bit rushed, but I still had a great time reading it and I heartily recommend it.

I loved Okorafor's Binti collection, and I was excited to get an ARC of this from NetGalley and DAW books, in exchange for my honest review!

This novella is a delight to read, and I love the harsh imagined world that has almost a steampunk vibe at times. I know this is the second in a series, and I didn't find that I missed anything by not reading "Who Fears Death" first. I will however be going back and reading that myself. I'll miss Najeeba if she isn't the main character, but I am excited to dive back into this world!

This novella is the back story of one of the characters from Who Fears Death. I haven’t read it, but She Who Knows stands perfectly well on its own.

The world is post-apocalyptic, afro-futuristic and fascinating. There is technology, but also strange spirits, strange creatures and things that feel like magic. The vibes are reminiscent of Binti, but the story is less emotionally wrenching (it’s not a criticism, I just mean that it has a calmer feel).

Najeeba is of the Osu-nu, the “untouchables” of the Okeke peoples. Osu-nu harvest salt, and their salt caravans travel on paths forbidden to anyone else. People Know when to go on the salt path. It’s the men who do this (because tradition!), but then the girl Najeeba Knows as well. This is the path that will lead her towards other strange talents.

The writing sparkles with sunshine, salt crystals, and mystery. Nnedi Okorafor, thank you for yet another good story.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-book!

ARC review.
A post apocalyptic planet based heavily in African culture was such a fascinating and engaging concept! The world building was laid out quickly and easily, even for someone who has not read the series this prequel is for.
It felt like the story took a while to get into the swing of things writing wise and plot wise, but once it did I very much enjoyed it!

Firespitter is the first novella in the She Who Knows triology. This book is the prequel to Who Fears Death. We follow Najeeba who receives the call and joins her brothers and her dad to salt roads. Nnedi Okorafor's writing skills are exceptional and she creates incredible worlds. This novella is a little bit of an introduction or beginning to what's going to happen so it is a little bit of slow-paced. I haven't read Who Fears Death but it is on my immediate read list now. I am particularly excited about the next novella in the series, which is set after the events of Who Fears Death. I can't wait to read more about Najeeba. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a good well-written story that really sucks you in. The main character makes you like her almost instantly, and the world building was very well done and really sucked you in! Would highly recommend.

This book was very cool and unique combining African culture with aspects that both seemed futuristic and ancient.

I really like hearing the family’s background but wish I got more of it… the book felt very rushed and the copy I received seemed like it was maybe missing a good chunk especially at the end so I really don’t completely understand how it ended.

If Nnedi Okorafor adds some more details existing upon the family’s history and adventures (showing more rather than quickly telling) and transitions smoother to the ending, I think I would’ve enjoyed this more. I also read this without reading any of her other books. I know this book relates to another book of hers, so it’s possible that if I read that, this would flow better for me but I read this under the impression that it could be read as a standalone. Regardless this was a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Nnedi Okorafor for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

She Who Knows by Nnedi Okoroafor is a prequel to Who Fears Death. I read the latter a while ago and this was a good reminder and also provided some perspective to Who Fears Death. Quite intriguing. Now, I feel like rereading Who Fears Death.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Netgalley

This was my first read by Nnedi Okorafor and I really enjoyed it. It's a novella about a 13 year old girl, Najeeba, who receives the Call and decides to follow it, joining her father and older brothers along the salt road. By doing this, she challenges gender norms and cultural norms, however, Naj is willing to take that risk. The book has such great world-building and although I did not read the first book, I understand in this world, the characters are living in a desert land, where salt is life. Along her journey, Naj comes into her power and faces great challenges.
I enjoyed this novella a lot, however I do wish it were longer.

Thank you NetGalley, DAW, and Nnedi Okorafor for a wonderful read!

What a brilliant novella, and a brilliant fantasy/sci fi novella is hard to come by!

This book has a great strength of immersive world building, while also being short and concise. A great read for getting into fantasy, or when you don’t feel like being in a fantasy world for too long, a palette cleansing fantasy, if you will. But I don’t mean that the book is boring… It was incredibly interesting and rich with culture. I look forward to reading more of Okorafor’s work!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an eArc.

As expected from Nnedi, this was well written with depth to the story and immersive, top- notch world building. My only gripe is that I wish it was longer- it started a tad bit slow but felt rushed especially towards the end and I wanted more. But overall this was an interesting read and made me put "Who Fears Death" on my tbr.

This book was an interesting read since I had absolutely no idea what the heck was going on, lol. Yet, I was intrigued.

This book seems to be a prequel to another book that gives us a better sense of the world that our main character lives in, and I could tell with how the book was written, that it has a lot of Easter eggs for those who have read the first book.

I love how this book was written and I am interested in reading the <i>Who Fears Death, Firespitter<i> series someday.

The only thing I did not like was the overflowing misogyny in the book. The history of their people was that two WOMEN found the salt lake, yet when our main character got the calling so many people were telling her not to because she was a girl.

No one said that it was too dangerous, or that no one would want to barter with her in the market, it was just, you're a girl so you're not supposed to do it and that never sat right with me. Also, what it this salt, lol.

🐪 nnedi okorafor has transformed the sci-fi experience for me. after reading her africanfuturist sci-fi series, binti, i couldn’t hit the “request” button sooner when i saw she who knows on netgalley.
🧂 this novella plopped me right into another version of this earth. a dusty, salt-filled, spiritual place. najeeba, the main character, is one of a kind and her story is one of strength and curiosity, uncertainty, and sheer will. she experiences much along the way and learns even more about herself and her abilities.
☀️ najeeba faces scrutiny (and violence) for going against tradition and taking part in an annual journey with her father and brothers—a journey fit for only men. the risk is high but najeeba soars higher and won’t be stopped. for her, just because girls don’t, doesn’t mean they can’t. after years of attending, she inspires other women and girls to do the same.
🌪️ this book can be read as a stand-alone or after who fears death, which i’ll absolutely be reading soon to better understand the okeke and nuru people.

3.5 I was a bit lost in the beginning of this novella. I guess this is more of a prequel to one of the author’s other works which I think I will plan to read that book which is called ‘Who Fears Death’. There is an author’s note at the beginning that briefly explains it. Then when I did start getting into the story more, it was over quickly. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed and I wish we got to see more of Najeeba’s development. I wanted to know more about Idris as well. It had the feeling of a prologue more than anything and I’m not sure how I feel about that. It was a good read still. I always enjoy reading stories that infuse cultures I’m not familiar with. It was an interesting story that had a nice coming of age/finding out who you are theme and struggling with gender norms/gender roles in this future society the author created.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nnedi Okorafor is the QUEEN of sci-fi Novellas and I don't think anyone will be taking her spot anytime soon.

This book was so easy to read. The descriptions were full and vibrant. Not a word wasted.

Such an amazing origin story for Najeeba.

I can't wait to go back and read who fears death but also can't wait to see what remains of Najeeba's story.

I got this as an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

She Who Knows is about Najeeba and her life before she gives birth to Onyesonwu from Who Fears Death.

Salt is the resource that makes the village Adoro 5 thrive, and every year families in town go to the salt lake to collect salt and sell it. Okeke people and Nuru people can't go to the lakes, and are dependent on the Osu'nu to collect the salt. Najeeba is 13 and going on the salt roads for the first time with her dad and brothers - but this trip changes her. It's the start of her new life, but the second trip when she is 14 is even stranger. Once she turns 16, everything has changed.

My only complaint is that it should've been a longer book - I want more of Najeebas story!

I love Nnedi Okorafors storytelling and writing style, and She Who Knows is pretty similiar to her earlier books in that way. The plot isn't complicated or intricate, but interesting enough to make you want more.
I feel like this book has a focus on Najeeba as a character and how she evolves, not necessarily a plot in the traditional sense where you fight evil or have a goal. This will definitely make She Who Knows a book that is not to everyones liking, but I enjoyed it so much!

She Who Knows is a prequel, but I feel like you don't have to read it before Who Fears Death unless you want to. You read it in the order you want to, which is great.

As a 13 year old girl, Najeeba feels the Call (or a 'knowing" that it is time to go, only felt by men) to join her father and older brothers on the salt roads, journeying from their village to a long-dead lake to collect the rarest cubes of salt they can find to sell. In this future Earth, salt is life and Najeeba's people, the Osu-nu, believe that the salt roads are for men only. Despite disapproval from all but her parents, she becomes the first girl ever heard of to go. Early in the journey, an encounter with a "witch" (described like a kind of supernatural dust devil) reveals to Najeeba an innate power that exists within herself that changes everything.

Najeeba's nascent understanding of what it means to be a woman in this world sparks upon her return home, when her male relatives are treated to a hero's welcome and she is invisible to the people of her village for no other reason than her gender.

"To grow so much and then contract, to step onto your path, and then to suddenly shrink yourself... it hurt."

Najeeba is different and not understood by the people around her. As she grows into a young woman, she's in many ways on her own and without a true sense belonging, despite the acceptance and unconditional love of her family. This is the story of Najeeba's discovery of herself, her power, what it means to be Osu-nu ("outcasts from the enslaved"), and what it means to be a woman in the world in which she lives.

"I felt like an abomination. I was an abomination. But, oh Ani, I was so powerful."

One of my favourite aspects was the relationship between Najeeba and her father and brothers. Their final journey together on the salt roads, where they're closer than they've ever been and the absolute trust she extends to Ger, was moving.

Author Nnedi Okorafor has been on my radar for some time, but this is the first of her work I've read and I can say with certainty that it won't be the last. I understand She Who Knows is a prequel novella to Who Fears Death, but I was able to easily read it without knowing anything about the world in advance. She Who Knows was brilliant and I can't wait to read more from the author.

'She Who Knows' by Nnedi Okorafor was a wonderfully exciting, mysterious, and thrilling read! This story is connected to a larger work by Okorafor called 'Who Fears Death', which I have yet to read, but this short story can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone.

I jumped straight into this story, not knowing its relation to a larger work or universe, getting sucked in, and adoring the work none the less!

One of the most impactful themes in this novel was the struggle between gendernorms and the role of women amongst men in this world. We followed our protagonist as she struggled to find herself in this world that orbits around men and their work.

I absolutely loved this story! It was written so beautifully, immersing the reader into this barren world with beautiful landscapes and the most well written characters! I can not express how wonderful this novel and the world building were.

I can't wait to read more of Okorafor's works, and I will be telling everyone to read 'She Who Knows'!!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
In far future Africa, the disregarded Osu-Nu people have a monopoloy on salt harvesting, but it's only boys and men who do that work. Teenage Najeeda nonetheless feels the call, and goes on her first harvest just as she's also finding her way in various kinds of magic.
Review
DAW doesn’t seem to have decided how to market this. The cover shows only She Who Knows, the title is listed as She Who Knows: Firespitter (suggesting Firespitter is the subtitle), and Firespitter is described as the first of the She Who Knows trilogy.
In fact, reading this, it feels very much like the first portion of a book. It’s largely setup and introduction, and there’s not much in the way of resolution. That is, there is some resolution, but not to the issues introduced at the start. My feeling is that Okorafor is either known for or comfortable with novellas, and DAW just said, “What the hell, let’s sell the first part on its own”). I strongly urge you to wait for the full set and then glue them together into one book. That’s largely how the Binti trilogy worked, after all. And the first book of the Desert Magician, for that matter. I’m all for doing something new, but splitting these books seems to be solving a problem that doesn’t exist.
I’d like to say, ‘all that aside’, but I can’t really set it aside, because that feeling of incompleteness pervades the final pages of the book. You feel you’ve started a journey, but not really gotten anywhere; you haven’t reached an inn so much as a makeshift riparian campground where you have to wait for the ferry to come carry you the rest of the way over.
What there is of the book is good. It’s at times frustratingly vague about magic and technology; it feels a bit like an Afrocentric magical realism, and the Afrocentric element is, as with Okorafor’s other books, refreshing. But I never felt I really had much grasp on the world. Maybe if I’d read the linked book Who Fears Death, I’d have felt more confident, but I have my doubts.
Protagonist Najeeba is engaging, though a bit distant from the other characters and her family, including the father she feels strongly about. I never felt quite drawn in to her character or situation, so much as somewhat clinically observing them. I was disappointed that (as with some of her other books), in this far future society, somehow traditional gender roles play out just the same as they do now and in our past. It’s certainly credible, but I come to SFF in part for something new. If you change a few elements here, this could as easily be set 100 years in the past as in the future. It’s also odd that while the society is dead set on girls and boys staying in their lanes, her parents are initially all for Najeeba doing ‘boys’ work’. They don’t blink an eye – for a while.
I think DAW is doing Okorafor a real disservice in constantly publishing her stories in dribs and drabs, and this one is no different. If you’re fine with reading the first third of a story and then stopping for a year – a sort of mini-serial – by all means pick this up. If you prefer complete stories, hold off until the whole trilogy is out, and buy the inevitable omnibus as a complete book. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.