3.75 stars - the story was very character driven which I don't normally enjoy as much but after finishing I don't think the book was ever intended for a heavy plot. The characters, their relationships and dynamics were the heart of the book and is what pushed the narrative forwards with the format of the interviews, Zelu's novel and Zelu's reality leading the reader to come to many conclusions about the ending. Overall I did enjoy this book and enjoyed following Zelu's journey but there was something missing for me

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor is a bold and inventive exploration of identity, creativity, and the power of storytelling. The story follows Zelu, a paraplegic literary professor who finds herself at a crossroads after losing her job and seeing her latest book rejected. Amid her sister’s wedding, she decides to take a radical step and writes a science fiction novel about androids and AI following the extinction of humanity. This decision sets in motion a series of events that blur the lines between fiction and reality, challenging Zelu's life in ways she never anticipated.

The book is structured as a fascinating book-within-a-book, with Zelu's science fiction novel woven seamlessly into the narrative. This approach makes it challenging to judge objectively, but that’s part of what makes the book so compelling. Okorafor succeeds in writing both literary fiction and science fiction with distinct voices, styles, and internal logic. The science fiction aspect boasts intricate world-building but occasionally features simpler prose, which serves to ground the story in accessibility. Meanwhile, the literary fiction side of the narrative shines with complex characterisation and themes that dig deep into personal growth, cultural identity, and familial relationships.

Set against the backdrop of Nigerian culture and mythology, Death of the Author excels in Africa, blending speculative elements with rich cultural exploration. Okorafor tackles a complex, ambitious project with impressive skill, creating a story that is thought-provoking, layered, and uniquely captivating.

This book is a must-read for fans of both literary fiction and science fiction, offering a fresh perspective on how stories can shape our world.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review

What is it about? What genre is it?

Death of the Author is listed as science fiction, but it is actually lit fic. It has some sci-fi elements, and it’s a bit like magical realism, but with sci-fi instead of fantasy. As a lit fic book, it is really good. As a Nnedi Okorafor book, it’s fantastic and it still feels like Okorafor for those diehard fans who were worried about her lit fic venture.

What did I like about it?

I liked the main character. I liked that she was different and sort of unlikeable. It was refreshing to read a main character you don’t automatically just like. She was more of a difficult character to read about, especially at first, but it really worked for me.

I loved it as a lit fic, but I’m someone who does enjoy the odd lit fic. I’m not sure how I’d feel about it if I wasn’t.

I loved the take on disability, and the fact that the book included dating and sex of a disabled character was amazing. We need more books like this, that represent someone with disabilities as a human being that dates, has a sex life, and everything else. I am deaf/hard-of-hearing, and I sometimes feel like people forget I’m a person, and just because I’m deaf doesn’t mean I don’t do the same things everyone else does. Death of the Author is #ownvoices for race and disability.

What didn’t I like about it?

I didn’t like the Rusted Robots story as much as the rest of the book. (Rusted Robots is the novel the main character wrote.) I don’t know whether it’s me or whether it was the book. Psychosis sometimes makes understanding things hard and I lose bits of what I’m reading sometimes too. So Rusted Robots, I liked it but I found it confusing keeping track of the characters and it felt a bit unnecessary sometimes. It was still good though.

Did I enjoy it?

Yes! I was so worried I wouldn’t like it because I am a massive Binti and Akata Witch fan, but I really enjoyed it. I gave it 4.25 stars.

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https://www.tiktok.com/@melaniewriter778/video/7479410364036304150

Death of the Author follows Zelu, a second generation Nigerian immigrant born and raised in the US. We meed Zelu at one of the worst times in her life, the novel she's been writing for ten years has been rejected by another publisher, and she's just lost her teaching job at the university. After a family wedding she sits down and begins to write something completely new to her, a science fiction novel based on robots set in Africa. After pouring her soul into the novel it meets immediate success and Zelu is thrust into instant wealth and fame. With this her life begins to drastically change, bringing once in a lifetime opportunities that most ordinary people would only read about in a Sci-fi novel.

As we progress through Zelu's story we also get chapters written about Zelu from other characters who are close to her, and also chapters following the robots in the Sci-fi novel. This allowed us to see more into Zelu and her character. Was Zelu the most likeable character to have read? Well, no; but she felt so real. I love a character who can say 'no' when necessary and voice their opinions even to the detriment of keeping relationships strong, whether those relationships are familial, friendships, or with romantic partners. The characters controversial decisions that might frustrate some readers, made me like her even more. There is so much more I want to talk about with this book, but the more I say the more it will spoil it for other readers.

From the beginning I knew that I would rate this book well, but the ending was so satisfying that I yelped like a small giddy child. The book started okay, but there are a lot of moments where I had to suspend my disbelief. I had to remind myself that even though this reads very much like a literary fiction, it is a Sci-fi novel at it's core. With this in mind every chapter got exponentially better. By the last third I was hooked. This book is a work of art, which I cannot stop thinking about.

I don't think this book will be for everyone, but if you like both genres (Sci-fi and Literary fiction) then this book will be for you.

It's a fine book, I enjoyed most of it.

I loved learning about Nigeria, I always like to learn about countries through books. I liked the part with Ankara a lot, it was a very very interesting story. I almost wish whole book was just that.

I enjoyed the first third of the book a lot, the story was interesting, and kept you wanting more.

Second third was decent, my interest started to drop, it had very good parts and I loved Ankara parts.

Last third was very weak, it felt very rushed and I started to dislike Zelu. I never really liked her, I always found her too self-absorbed and feeling too sorry for her self, but it was fine and for most I understood why she is that way. But as her life improved, she still treated most people around her badly and still stayed too angry at the world. What kept me going were Ankara parts and they were still very interesting.

The end is very odd, very rushed and very open-ended. <SPOILER>The whole space part and a child felt very rushed in there. Much nicer wrap up would have been all staying the same without the space part. She gets pregnant and has inspiration for the next book. I did like that Zulu's story ended up being a book Ankara wrote, instead of other way around how it felt through most of the book. That I didn't expect.</SPOILER>

Based on info I can gather this is supposed to be a standalone, but the end really leaves it with possibility of sequel, in both stories. I would read it if there is one.

I loved the blurb and concept. That there is a African American main character that's also disabled. Which we are starting to see more representation for these book points.
I liked the start with the rusty robot snippets but over time, I lost interest at first it did seem to match up with Zelu but then it went very different. I also felt the character growth ungrew for me especially with the ending she became far to selfish. The ending also felt rushed and just didn't fit with the rest of the book.

Given all the high reviews this clearly isn't a book for me. I'd rather the rusty robot story of zelu story as I really started to get feed up with her story parts of the book and they almost led my to DNFing.

I really enjoyed the main character of this book. She’s bold, adventurous and impulsive and to top it off, she’s paraplegic. Her family is of Nigerian origin and they are not always supportive of her choices. Zelu is an author, not a very popular one, but a sci-fi book she writes blows up globally and her life is forever changed. Her family is riding along until it seems as though Zelu decides that she wants to become like the robots she’s written about. I enjoyed this book and I didn’t enjoy this book. I’m not a huge fan of Sanofi and I felt that if the large sections of Zelu’s book were left out, I’d have enjoyed the book more. Zelu as a character was amazing and I enjoyed sharing her ups and downs and huge decisions. I admired her courage and determination and raged against her family with her when they put her down. I recommend the book purely for Zelu. I skimmed the book sections eventually towards the end, but I don’t feel as though I missed out on much.

I've been loving books with characters that are not necessarily likeable and maybe a little unhinged and so I knew I was going to like this! It's also a really good blend of lit fic and sci-fi. Speculative fiction is my fave and this book is exactly why I love it so much. It covers so much too. I'm still letting everything sink in, so no doubt I will have a lot more to say once I have thought about it a bit more. But all in all, can recommend!

Death of the Author is three things in one: a barely-in-the-future sci fi with the Zelu arc, an epistolary with the interviews and a sci fi with Ankara and Ijele's story.

The book does raise a lot of interesting topics such as disability and ableism, colonialism, patriarchy, capitalism, family, tradition, disapora and cultural identity, transhumanism, and eschatology. Among others - there is a lot going on here!

I feel like the human characters have a lot of room for interpretation. Most of them come across as slightly unhinged and mostly not likeable, but considering that Zelu is the most unlikeable of all, and we experience most of the characters through the lens of their interactions with her, maybe they're all just sick of her nonsense? But then again maybe Zelu is the way she is _because_ of her unhinged family. Maybe the family are the way _they_ are because of their history? I have to mention Wind too, she felt like a breath of fresh air in amongst all of the hotheadedness and I yearned for more of her when everyone was being unreasonable.

The interview sections seem to be implying that something huge involving Zelu is coming by the end of the book, but it's never really made clear what, which feels like a wasted opportunity. The interviews do give some context and back story but I thought it would have been really nice if all three threads built up to one conclusion. Also the mum says "when you talk to Secret" but then in next chapter Secret dies so if the interviews are happening after the event, he would already have been dead by then? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding but it stuck out as a confusing point to me.

The Ankara arc was by far my favourite, I could probably just read "Rusted Robots" on its own. I loved the different groups and how they evolved, and the overall concept of a post-humanity Earth. The ending though, I just don't see how it could have panned out like that, given the issues I've already talked about. If anything I think that final hail mary would have the opposite effect on me, but perhaps this book is suffering from being released during another nadir in recent history and I'm feeling more misanthropic than usual. I could really have done with a more sympathetic lead character and I think the ending would have been more believable with one.

I do feel like although this is being marketed as an adult book, it reads quite YA to me. Zelu is in her thirties but comes across much younger to me. Certain sections read very much "too good to be true" - for example the instant multi-million book and movie deals, or the gun range where she got a bullseye on her very first time ever shooting a gun and never missed the centre circle. Obviously, after reading the ending you could put that down to Ankara's lack of experience, but on first read I think it needlessly risks putting people off carrying on.

Overall, it's really hard to put a rating on this book. There were aspects I loved but I think for me it sets out to do a lot and doesn't quite make it. Perhaps I'm just not the target market, which is fine, but the marketing and hype strongly led me to believe that I was, which is an issue. I can see why people love it, and maybe I'll give it another try when the world is not currently on fire, but here and now this type of work just isn't for me. That said there is some great writing here and a lot to think about.

Many thanks to Gollancz and Netgalley for the eARC. I was not required to leave a review nor influenced as to its contents.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

What a story/stories! Nnedi Okorafor created two amazing stories, and in addition gifted us with my favourite main character type: loving, messy and striving to do best. I adored how the interviews gave the readers more insight in Zelus life, but her POV was unmatched. Truly a great recommendation for all sci-fi lovers!

4,5 stars

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advanced readers copy of this via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve never read ANYTHING like this - I say that as a fan of speculative fiction! I loved it.

I didn’t know where we were going at any point in the entire book, I didn’t even find the characters particularly likeable, but I really really enjoyed the journey I was on with Zelu, Akara and Ijele.

I really enjoyed this as a perfect balance of literary fiction and sci-fi, with so many complex themes woven throughout;
- Nigerian/Niajamerican diaspora culture clashes
- Disability/our relationships with our bodies
- AI’s relationship with humanity and vice versa
- Different familial dynamics / chosen family
- The double edged sword of success, fame and growth
There’s probably many more I’ve forgotten to list here.
As I mentioned, I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable (usually a turn-off for me) but they were all extremely complex and multi-faceted. Even if it took a while for us to understand more about them and their motivations. I think this is a key component in how Nnedi Okorafor was able to deftly weave in so many massively complicated themes throughout an already winding complex plot.
From the second I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down, and I know this story will stay with me for a long time.

I loved everything about this book! I am not a huge science fiction reader but this makes me want to explore the genre more. I also love reading books about books or books about authors writing books so the description caught my eye straight away. I was also impressed by how intricately woven literary fiction and science fiction were blended together.

This author is a very skilled writer who creates fantastic world-building, realistic characters, and a storyline that makes it hard to put down. It is one of the best books I have read so far this year!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an E-ARC of this book

4.5! As a writer as well as a reader, this hit really hard. A novel within a novel which also bounces between the boundaries of lit-fic and sci fi, this was a novel which really started to feel impactful once it had a chance to settle within me.

There were delightful parallels throughout each of our perspectives, between Zelu and Ankara’s timeline which acted as mirrors and foils for each other. This is a novel in deep discussion with creativity, the rising power of AI and automation, racism, prejudice, and the question of the human soul. What does it mean, to create? The hubris of humanity is explored through the lenses of robots long after humanity has existed, but we’re also within Zelu’s modern timeline, as the creator of the narrator within our Rusted Robots.

Everything is in conversation with itself, and I was deeply reminded of the lit theory that everything is text.

While I found that there were certainly points the pacing got a little bogged down, and there are areas for improvement - this is a read which delighted and resonated with me, as it will with everyone who loves stories, for different reasons. There are multitudes in the pages.

Zelu is a wild and selfish protagonist, and the agency of her life is largely taken out of her hands - which is indeed an interesting plot device for a book so centred around agency, control, and the needing to let go of it. But I found her vibrancy carried us on this journey of an author who’s work transcends herself, and where we see the pages of it carried out, and where you realise that what you thought was truth might be fiction, and then you realise that, the two are always more connected at their roots.

Ankara and Ijele where VITAL to this story, and where the heart of its sci fi aspects come from, as inhabitants of a post apocalyptic world where automation rules. I adored their connection, the deep relationship they built. I feel like this is where the heart of the novel lies, and which often had the moments that struck me deepest.

Not the novel I was expecting, but one I needed. As Zelu said, somethings it’s better to get what you needed rather than what you wanted.

I seem to be reading a lot of Nigerian books at the moment. This one has a large and lively family living in the US but, for most of them, regularly returning to Nigeria. Zelu is working at a university thanklessly teaching creative writing to horrible students when we meet her, though she's soon not there thanks to some pitiless feedback she deals out.

She's an uncompromising, selfish and spiky heroine who makes some very iffy decisions; but she's self-aware and funny, too, and her family is annoying but wonderful. Living with paraplegia and all the cultural issues that involves for her since she had a fall aged 12, Zelu suddenly becomes famous when she ditches her literary fiction mode to dip into science fiction - and in a book within a book, we get (I think) the whole of her novel within the text, with her main character, Ankara, getting the mended legs she'll never have - or will she? Entitled rich White men seem keen to offer her endless tech possibilities, but she runs the risk of appearing like a sell-out or even getting cancelled ...

Well, this book managed to get me reading stuff I don't normally read: the robot-based sci fi in the book-within-a-book and in fact near-future fiction, as aspects of the main novel have futuristic sides that don't yet exist right now. As well as the two novels, we have a set of interviewed with all the main characters, conducted by a journalist as he follows Zelu's progress, so it's a technically adept and clever book which covers a lot of topics as well as entertaining and it also fooled this reader into thinking the ending was going to be quite different to what actually ensued! Unputdownable.

Review on my blog published 24 Feb: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2025/02/24/two-reviews-lizzie-damilola-blackburns-the-re-write-and-nnedi-okorafors-death-of-the-author/

What a wonderfully written work of art. So timely and relevant.

As we learn about the main character Zelu, we are also reading the novel that Zelu writes; about robots existing in a world wjere all the humans have died.

Set in the not too distant future, going by some of the more advamced technology used, we meet Zelu; daughter of Nigerian parents who emigrated to America. We get to know her siblings and their connection to the homeland and their culture is essential to both stories within the book. I felt privileged to get an insight into the intraccies of Igbo and Yoruba heritage as it was portrayed in this novel.

Zelu had an accident when she was 12, leaving her without the use of her legs, relying on a wheelchair to move around the world. Her main character in Rusted Robots is Ankara, a scholar robot who collects stories left by the humans. We are constantly asked to consider where we are now in our world and where we may end up. Theres so much more to the novel; about identity, relationships, hopes, dreams, tradition, ableism, the use of technology.

In essence, I had a wonderful time and felt that I got to experience a world that is not mine, that deserves to be heard more often.

Do you like stories within other stories?

I think this is such a fascinating concept and it cannot be easy to make both equally compelling. But in “Death of the author” Nnedi Okorafor does this incredibly well.

Zelu is our main character and she is a disabled Nigerian American professor who has been going through a lot of hardships. She was fired from her job and her latest novel was rejected. On top of that she deals with family pressures and feelings of inadequacy.

After being fired she decides to write a book very unlike everything she wrote before, a Sci-Fi drama called “Rusted Robots “, and it becomes a major success. In her book she explores what it means to be human through the medium of robots and AI in an alternate world where humanity is extinct.

When Zelu started writing “Rusted Robots” I was enthralled, it was so good!😭I thought Sci-Fi wasn’t really my thing, but after reading this book I decided to look into it more. The fact that it was quite a literary book only added to the overall value of the story. I definitely must read more books by Nnedi Okorafor. 💕

Zelu’s life starts to change as a result of this success and we see the impact success can have on someone and those around them. This brings opportunities into her life she never thought possible, but also increases some of the strains in her relationships.

I though the writing was overall exceptional, however , towards the middle of the book I lost a bit of focus in the story and there were many POVs, but I am glad I persevered because it is indeed a beautiful book. It just took some dedication on my part to keep with the story.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and author for this e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

Death of the Author is a genre bending mix of sci-fi and literary fiction, with one side coming out more strongly at the end (the twist will show you which one).

It alternates between two narratives: one is Zelu, a paraplegic Nigerian American author struggling with her next book, until she writes something completely out of character - a dystopian science fiction about AI after the fall of humankind called Rusted Robots that makes her rich and famous overnight, and the other is Ankara, an emotionally advanced Hume robot from Zelu’s novel who is trying to prevent the destruction of earth from invaders, all whilst battling civil war with other AI beings and making friends with an interesting array of characters.

You get chapters from Rusted Robots - a novel within a novel - but you predominantly get Zelu’s life with her chaotic family (as one of five siblings and a large extended family in Nigeria). The novel travels between Chicago, Nigeria and even space - all propelled by the choices Zelu makes.

Zelu is a messy character, but she is always unapologetically herself. A large element of the book is Zelu’s disability and how she is moving ever closer to solutions that over step into the world of her novel.

I really enjoyed the different perspectives - all of the characters were well drawn, and the twist is a good one, making you reevaluate your initial interpretation of the novel. I also enjoyed the Nigeria centric aspect of the novel, even in Rusted Robots which is focused on Lagos as the epicentre of both the wars and the resistance.

Thematically Death of the Author is about identity, family, art, friendship, storytelling, creation and humanity. Big topics and it covers a lot of ground!

It came out in the UK this week, and I got to finish it whilst travelling in West Africa which was a bonus! Huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

“Death of the Author” by Nnedi Okorafoe is an intriguing blend of literary fiction and speculative fiction or scifi, based on your take on how the latter genres differ. The story is focused on Zelu, a disabled and recently unemployed woman who found sudden fame when the book she had written during her lowest times made it big. When her novel catapulted her into an unprecedented status on social media, Zelu had to navigate the consequences of life as a bestselling author, a daughter who never seems to be good enough, and a disabled POC who is always expected to represent a subset of her identity in one way or another. Interspersed between Zelu’s interpersonal drama are chapters from her scifi novel, Rusted Robots, which also plays a role in the narrative in unexpected ways.

The litfic portion of the book reminded me a lot of Yellowface in how it examined the publishing & movie industries and how the two form a symbiotic (& sometimes parasitic) relationship with social media platforms and fandom. There is also plenty of family drama with Zelu being an almost antagonistic protagonist with some of her decisions; as a reader, I can empathize with Zelu’s frustrations, but I can also see the flipside of her abrasive personality (her decisions sometimes had me echoing her mother oohh). This is testament to Okorafor’s excellent character work, since Zelu and the side characters felt so familiar and true to life.

The scifi portion of the book felt a little less developed, though intentionally so when you consider the turn the story took towards the end. I won’t spoil it for you, but the twist catapulted this read into a 4-star rating for me. This book also managed to surprise me with how many issues it could pack into a story, though it does make the novel feel a little bit scattered. I feel like you’d appreciate this most if you’re a fan of literary fiction first & a scifi fan second, because at heart, this is really a book about storytelling and its importance in humankind’s existence.

Death of the Author is quite a unique sci-fi novel with a side of lit-fic and I really enjoyed reading it!

It has somewhat of a double plot, with the main one focusing on debut-author Zelu, her sudden rise to fame and her life thereafter, and the second one featuring parts of the MC's sci-fi novel. While the sci.fi part was intriguing, I found it less compelling than Zelu's life itself. Paraplegic due to an accident she had at 12 years of age, Zelu has to deal with her overbearing family, the difficulties of navigating society with such a disability and the way her Nigerian community sees disabled people. Suddenly put in the spotlight when her debut novel becomes an incredible success, her life becomes filled with a whirlwind of novelties, including some that somehow seem to reflect the futurism of her own book.

Zelu isn't a particularly amiable character - she's not the FMC that welcomes the world with open arms and lets others tell her what she should do or be without a fight. She has dreams, she has things she want, and she makes sure to go for them when the opportunity arises - even if it might hurt those around her. She grew on me throughout the book and had me really invested in her adventures!

The sections of the the book dedicated to Zelu's novel, Rusted Robots, read slower and I found myself reading even faster to get back to Zelu's life. I don't know that the ending given to that part of the plot satisfied me, because it felt a bit over-simplistic for such a complex storyline. It had some interesting sides to it, though.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this to readers who enjoy a blend of genres and dual plot-lines! Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

“What better time to listen to a story when the world is about to end?”

Death of the Author is one of these books I didn’t know if I loved or hated while I was reading them. Why? Because the book questions so much, on so many levels, that it makes the brain go everywhere, especially in uncomfortable places. That’s what makes it incredible in the end.
There is so much in this book about ecology, representation in books, cancelling culture, disability, stories’ power, not finding your roots, … and so much more. That said, as you could suspect by the title, the most central theme –or the one that made its nest most prominently in me– is about creation, but, mostly, what happens to the content, and to the creator, once the art (the book, here) in the hands of its public. I loved that most of the story occurs after the MC has released her book, and to read what whirls in her head –and all the feelings it triggers– while she, in some way, grieves her book/creation when her story “slips out of her hands to also belong to her reader. It was a truly powerful reading, and how Zelu acts in reaction to all that was a delight to witness.
I loved how “Rusty Robots”, her Sci-Fi story, mixed with the contemporary timeline, as much as I adored the twist that only made the story more breathtaking. In the end, that makes us question if we couldn’t be the ones living the dystopia (I have my very own opinion about that). Like the ivy in her room, everything clings, mixes, weaves in a fascinating blend that produces a book that will linger for a long time in my mind. Surely one I’ll want to reread in the future.

Thank you to the author and Gollancz for the eARC via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.