Nnedi Okorafor’s Death of the Author skillfully merges literary fiction with Afro-futurism, exploring complex themes of identity, disability, and societal expectations. The novel follows Zelu, a 32-year-old paraplegic woman navigating professional and personal challenges. Fired from her adjunct teaching position and struggling to sell a previous novel, Zelu’s creative breakthrough comes during her sister’s wedding, leading to her rise as a sci-fi sensation.

The book’s structure is notable, alternating between Zelu’s personal narrative, excerpts from her in-universe novel Rusted Robots, and interviews with her family and friends. This metafictional approach enhances the novel’s thematic exploration, particularly around issues of bodily autonomy, ableism, and technology’s potential impact on disabled individuals. Okorafor’s depiction of Zelu is nuanced and compelling, providing readers with a deeply human protagonist who is relatable despite, or perhaps because of, her flaws. The novel’s exploration of these layered dynamics offers a rich, thought-provoking reading experience.

Nnedi Okorafor always does a fantastic job in writing a interesting and unique concept and world. I thought the use of drama about art worked with what I’ve come to expect from the author. The characters in this worked well and were beautifully done with the story, I thought the use of metafiction worked overall and glad it continued to had that element that I was expecting. I’m glad I got to read this and left me wanting more from Nnedi Okorafor.

This book has so many interesting elements to it: a larger-than-life main character, fascinating cultural insights, near-future scifi technology, a book-within-a-book storyline, and more. I felt the ending was a bit inconclusive, particularly since I felt the interviews with Zelu's family/friends throughout seemed to be building up to a final climactic ending, so to not have it be clear was a bit of a let-down and made me rate this as a 4 instead of the 5 star read I thought the story was building up to. Definitely a book I will be recommending to others (including my creative writing students).

I love Nnedi Okorafor and when I saw she was writing a lit fic with both an Afro-futurism plot AND contemporary plot following the author, I knew it would be amazing.

This was great!! I loved all the characters, especially Zelu. Zelu's family, ethnicities, life experiences, and disability all contribute to her personality, and this book does a wonderful job depicting such a complex, interesting character. The novel depicts sexism, ableism, and racism showing up in job discrimination, condescension, judging personal choices, and much more. I understood why Zelu made all the choices she did. Feeling overprotected pushed her already brilliant, adventurous personality to prove herself repeatedly. In a well-constructed novel like this, choices need not be inevitable to suit the character perfectly.

With metafiction, I sometimes get bored with the story within a story, but not in this case. Zelu's narrative is interspersed with her novel, Rusted Robots, and I loved even the robot characters by the end. All the best scifi has fascinating themes and ideas. Here, these include bodily autonomy, technology helping or hurting disabled people, whether AI will ever create its own stories, and much more. This is a great balance of character, plot, and ideas. Although mostly serious, some characters have realistic senses of humor. The novel has allusions to Doctor Who, Douglas Adams, and Roland Barthes. At least, those were some that I picked up on.

Loved everything about this book it is a must read just like every other book by this author. I can’t wait for her next book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was such a compelling read that I read the entire book in one sitting. At its most basic, the MC is trying to find out where she fits - in her family and society at large. She isn't always likeable but is completely relateable.

I found the story within a story added another layer of complexity and interest to an already fascinating book.

I highly recommend this book

Zelu is a 32 year old paraplegic woman with an MFA in creative writing, a novel she wrote six years ago she can't sell, and has just been fired from her adjunct teaching position. At her sister's destination wedding inspiration for a sci-fi novel hits and she writes a breakout hit, but what will change as she rockets to fame?

I would describe this book as literary fiction joined alongside Afro futurism sci-fi, as there are two works alongside each other. You get the unfolding story from Zelu's perspective, chapters of Rusted Robots, and chapters of interview snippets with Zelu's family and friends. I think if you enjoyed Yellowfave by R. F. Kuang, you will likely enjoy this; there are some similar themes even though the protagonists and genres are very different.

Thank you to William Morrow Books for an ARC on NetGalley. All opinions are my own. This book is due to be published 1/14/25.