Helpful Score: 1
Who Fears Death is about a young Ewu (biracial) girl in post-apocalyptic Africa. Onyesonwu is the product of a brutal rape in a struggle between two races, the Okeke and the Naru. The Naru are intent on enslaving and then killing the Okeke. Onyesonwu discovers that she has magical abilities and decides to try to become a sorceress so she can help the genocide of her mother's people. The characters in the book contend with many issues that are currently plaguing Africa - racism, genocide, treatment of women (and female circumcision), and children being forced to become soldiers. Onyesonwu's quest to stop the genocide is interesting and filled with fresh magic based on African religions and folklore. I liked Onyesonwu, she is a strong female character who has her flaws. She is not all powerful and relies on her friends to complete the quest. The quest is also realistic, it is not full of adventure and fun. The characters grate on each other and realize that hiking through the desert is not all fun and games. However, as much as I appreciated the fact that the trip was hard, I did begin to tire of the drama and whining of some of the characters. It seemed so unimportant in the context of their goals and I just wanted them to snap out of it. I also thought that the final confrontation was a bit of a let down after the long and drawn out trip. I felt like it was over too fast and too easy for all the build up. Overall I definitely recommend this book to those interested in Africa or unique fantasy. I will caution that the the author does not hold back in describing the brutal aspects of the story (rape, circumcision, genocide) and there is a lot of focus on sex in the book (although no descriptive sex scenes).
