Friday Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader and the Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.

So Friday Book Beginnings you choose the book you are currently reading or the one that is closest to you and share the first few sentences. For the Friday 56 you simply turn to page 56 or 56% on your e-reader and share a sentence or two that you enjoy. Then just add maybe a synopsis about the book in case others are interested. That’s it!

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Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

Published on: June 1st, 2010

Goodreads | Amazon

Summary (from Goodreads): An award-winning literary author presents her first foray into supernatural fantasy with a novel of post-apocalyptic Africa. 

In a far future, post-nuclear-holocaust Africa, genocide plagues one region. The aggressors, the Nuru, have decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke. But when the only surviving member of a slain Okeke village is brutally raped, she manages to escape, wandering farther into the desert. She gives birth to a baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand and instinctively knows that her daughter is different. She names her daughter Onyesonwu, which means “Who Fears Death?” in an ancient African tongue.

Reared under the tutelage of a mysterious and traditional shaman, Onyesonwu discovers her magical destiny–to end the genocide of her people. The journey to fulfill her destiny will force her to grapple with nature, tradition, history, true love, the spiritual mysteries of her culture-and eventually death itself.

Book Beginning: “Dear friends, are you afraid of death?” – Patrice Lumumba, first and only elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo

My life fell apart when I was sixteen. Papa died. He had such a strong heart, yet he died. Was it the heat and smoke from his blacksmithing shop? It’s true that nothing could take him from his work, his art. He loved to make metal bend, to obey him. But his work only seemed to strengthen him; he was so happy in his shop. So what was it that killed him? To this day I can’t be sure. I hope it had nothing to do with me or what I did back then.

Page 56: “Onye.” Binta suddenly said. “I’m so so sorry. We shouldn’t have been there.” She threw herself on me, knocking me over. “You shouldn’t have been there!”

Thoughts: I picked up this book because I saw a tweet that said that George R.R. Martin has decided to turn this book into a TV series (or movie, correct me if I’m wrong). While looking at the book on Goodreads I also noticed that she created the graphic novel Binti that I’ve been wanting to read for a while. I am only 10% through this so far but I have to say the subject matter so far is quite rough. I am curious to see where this goes.

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