The Feminist Orchestra Bookclub discussion

This is our first piece of genre fiction for the book club so I'm intrigued to see the discussion that will arise as we read it! This is a fantastical dystopian novel as far as I am aware. Looking forward to learning more.

Note: some of the events in this book involve rape.

Given that this is a fiction novel I advise that we include spoiler html when discussing, well, spoilers. Before you type anything that requires plot spoilers please use the html described below which will hide your spoiler text from readers until they specifically click on the view spoiler link to open the text on the discussion. If you like indicate before you use the spoiler html where the reader will have had to read up to to read your comment if they don't need to have finished the book. Hope this helps and is clear :).

If your whole post is a spoiler (say a discussion of the entire book including ending) maybe just SPOILERS in big letters before the beginning of your post is adequate - I'm not sure what usual etiquette in these instances is so if you disagree with this just shout.

To insert a “view spoiler” into your text type in the word spoiler between a greater-than sign and a less-than sign < > and then type your desired hidden text. When finished, type in the word /spoiler between the greater-than and less-than signs < >

i.e. (view spoiler)[ this is a spoiler :p (hide spoiler)]

** Spoilers!!***

I thought the writing was beautiful, and the issues raised are difficult & important (FGM, rape, genocide), but the fantasy-plot just wasn't quite for me... The quest dragged out too long for my taste and the rewriting of the book as solution for the world's problems felt a bit flat. So, the 3*-rating is more a reflection of my personal taste than of the quality if the book.

Still, I am glad I read it. Thanx, Jean for picking something a bit different.

I have my copy but I have a couple of books I need to finish before getting to this - looking forward to it though as it will be something a bit different for me!

I'm about half way through and I like the story in general but I am finding the writing a bit unremarkable. I think it needs more focus. Is this a book about women's conditions or racism or genocide? I suppose it could be about all three but if that is the case, I don't think she has woven all these issues very smoothly into the story. Putting that bit of criticism aside, I am interested in the story and I am curious as to where she is going with it. Good pick.

Hard subject matter to read about, gave me chills. The novel tugged at my heart, provoke anger and tears flowed.

I found the writing beautiful, however, like Britta I felt the fantasy aspect lack luster. Though I love fantasy, I would have prefer a more metaphoric view.

I wanted the protagonist to come to her own realisation of self, rather than through the eyes of her partner and others, ie I felt like her moments should have been more aha, a self discovery arrived through her own ability to pull the parts of the picture together.

Oh my God ! I went through such an emotional journey reading that book. I feel like I've spent hours in an Africa mystical place yet at the same time dealing with heart-rendering topics...
It was a fantastic book and I wish I could jump back into the storyline.
The only objection I would raise is the qualification of dystopia that so many reviewers use to describe this book. It is more magical realism.
Anyway, thank you so much Jen for your recommendation !

I guess I'm in the minority when I say I really liked the magic/fantasy aspect of the story? I'm a sucker for this type of fantasy, and this book wasn't exception, haha.

I'm interested in what everyone thinks about the last chapter though, the rewriting.
(view spoiler)[Because I can see how many people may think it was the author pulling an easy solution to all the book's problems, a deus ex machina if you will, but I can also see how the author may have chosen to give her fictional world the conclusion she wished she could give the real world. A bit of wish fulfillment. And also the rewriting of Onye's death, it could've been the author denying - in-text - the "heroine sacrifices herself for the greater good" trope. (hide spoiler)]

Em wrote: "The only objection I would raise is the qualification of dystopia that so many reviewers use to describe this book. It is more magical realism."

Yeah, definitely not dystopia. I think people get confused between post-apocalypse and dystopia. It is post-apocalypse, but so far past that it is more like... "post-tech" than a specific disaster. The computers in the caves hint at it but it's really not a major element. If you go back and read The Book of Phoenix, it is more of the bridge between present day and the time period of Who Fears Death (and even that is disaster/apocalypse far more than dystopia.)

I must confess, I'm confused as to what people call beautiful writing when I find the prose itself lackluster. The strength of the writing lies in the characters and world-building, not in the quality of the prose (at least in my opinion).

This is a pretty dark book, but I can't stop reading it. I really enjoy Onyesonwu as a narrator and our protagonist.

Lyana wrote: "I must confess, I'm confused as to what people call beautiful writing when I find the prose itself lackluster. The strength of the writing lies in the characters and world-building, not in the qual..."

I also found the writing was not to my taste or at least what I normally appreciate as "beautiful writing".

I have a question...something I think I missed. What was the significance of the two friends that left with the camel? I'm sorry but I forget their names now. They were part of the story line and then they just left with the camel and were never heard of again. They just dropped out of the story. Did I miss something? I thought that was such a big plot hole.

I haven't finished yet so I don't think I'm there yet.

I enjoyed reading this as something different however I wasn't blown away by it. That may just be because it's not my sort of thing, although I did think that maybe the pacing was a bit off.

I agree with what people have said about the important and emotional issues it raises though. Lots of moments made me feel angry or sad and I liked the way she questioned people's morals. There were no simple 'good' characters, many of them were prejudiced in one way or another even if they were good and/or open-minded in other ways.

In terms of the magical/fantasy elements I loved a lot of the smaller bits of magic during Onye's childhood and journey. (view spoiler)[ But in terms of the over-arching plot and the ending I didn't like the way that magic was used. I thought it over-simplified things and was an unsatisfying end point. (hide spoiler)]

Interesting reading everyone's thought's above!! I'm hoping most people will have read this by now, BUT if not there will be SPOILERS in the following, so be warned.

It was refreshing to read Okorafor’s uncompromising and unapologetic handling of violent problems that we need to examine in our own society through the gaze of fantasy/sci-fi (though I would argue that there was not enough world building at all to make this fantasy or sci-fi – it’s loosely and vaguely mentioned, but for much of the first half of this book you’d be forgiven in thinking that this was magical realism set in the current world/time). And although she used traditional tropes from European fantasy - the female lead and the focus on female suppression through rape, mutilation, control of sexuality and archaic social conventions, made these tropes seem less well worn. These parts were excruciating to read, and her blunt style actually worked a lot better in these sections.

However, that being said, I had huge issues with her writing style and her narrative arc and the relationship/world building, between certain characters.

The prose is overly simplistic and obvious while the dialogue is sometimes almost painful to read. Every sentence ends in She/he said multiple times and she often repeats the same word in a sentence which really jarred to my reading sensibilities.

I had a huge issue with the entire middle part of the book – all that time in the desert about nothing.

As far as I can tell, the authors reason for her bringing Onye's "friends" along on the quest was to create drama and sexual tension for long months travelling across a barren desert. In fact most of the time they don’t even seem to like her that much (harbouring deep prejudices against Awu and also she’s pretty mean to them sometimes). They served no other purpose, and for the majority of these characters (Mwita excluded) she ends their storylines suddenly and with no purpose.

Mwita's resentment of Onye was really interesting. It’s the typical case as in most fantasy novels – the chosen one (in this case Onye) is far more talented naturally and does almost no work and receives all the power while the smart hardworking and diligent one is looked over because they are not the chosen one. Except here the genders are reversed which is interesting, as this resentment manifests itself through gender stereotypes. Mwita resents her because usually it’s the Male who is a sorcerer and only comes to terms with it because ‘it is written’.

Ultimately the majority of the narrative is spent on bad dialogue and character relationships and only a few chapters at the end are spent on actually finishing the quest in a fairly confusing series of events, that happen all too easily.

Reviewing this book has really come down to a content verse style and form argument for me. I feel that so much of the content was interesting, and the issues she is examining here need to turn up more in fiction. But, the prose and narrative structure, as well as world/character building weren’t up to snuff for me. That being said it’s had me thinking for a few days afterwards, and I think in terms of being chosen for this Book Club it was a fantastic choice, as it poses an opposite to traditional fantasy/sci-fi and is a good example of how these genres can do a really good job of tackling real world issues.

Also made a little video in true Booktuber style - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZpY_...

I can't believe I haven't finished a book within the month this month aha. I'm 50% of the way through for various reasons but wanted to check in and see how other people were finding it so I could compare my experience and share mine.
I've read most of the comments (apart from spoilers) and feel like I agree a little bit with everyone haha. In some ways I'm completely fascinated and intrigued by the book but in others I'm just not compelled by it.
I've got to admit I think there are two main reasons I haven't finished it. One is that June was such a stressful, devastating month and the themes in this book like rape and female circumcision were so difficult to read about (although I think they were handled really well) that I kept pausing my reading of the book.
I'm also listening to it on audiobook and I kind of wish I was literally 'reading' it - I listened to another book with the same narrator last year and her voice is so distinctive that I found it quite jarring and hard to get into at first. Used a credit on audible though so can't really justify buying it and it ain't in my library. Will probably finish it next week though.
All in all so far I love the main character, I think it deals with difficult topics really well although it is hard to read at some points, I also love the mix of 'post-tech' sci-fi genre(love that description that was used earlier) meets fantasy and find the world intriguing, the plot though I'm finding a slow unraveler and I actually wish there was a little more action. We'll have to see how I feel by the end though ^_^

Just finished this. It was completely addicting, definitely when I passed the first half, and I really liked it. So impressive and intense, so original and so beautiful. The last few chapters (especially he very last one) were confusing and surprising, and I'll definitely will need to think about these a bit more