''Akata Woman'' is a 2022

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novel by

Nigerian American Nigerian Americans (; ; ) are Americans who are of Nigerians, Nigerian ancestry. The number of Nigerian immigrants residing in the United States is rapidly growing, expanding from a small 1980 population of 25,000. The 2022 American Community S ...

author

Nnedi Okorafor Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her ''Binti Series'' and her novels '' Who Fears ...

. It is the sequel to ''

Akata Witch ''Akata Witch'' (retitled ''What Sunny Saw in the Flames'' in Nigeria and the UK) is a 2011 young adult fantasy novel written by Nigerian American author Nnedi Okorafor. It was nominated for the Andre Norton Award and it is the first novel in he ...

'' and ''

Akata Warrior ''Akata Warrior'' (retitled ''Sunny and the Mystery of Osisi'' in Nigeria and the UK) is a 2017 young adult fantasy novel by Nigerian American writer Nnedi Okorafor. It is a sequel to '' Akata Witch'' (2011) and the second book in her ''The'' ' ...

'' and the third book in her ''The Nsibidi Script'' series. It debuted on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list following its release in January 2022.

Plot

Set after the events of the second book, Sunny Nwazue, who discovered that she is a member of the all female Nimm Warriors, is tasked by Udide, a giant talking spider, to find and return a ghazal stolen by Chichi's mother. If she doesn't, she'll face terrible consequences. Sunny, Orlu, Chichi, and Sasha will have to travel across various settings—the spirit realm, Nimm village, and a parallel universe of plant-based technology—to stop Udide from wreaking havoc on the Nimm women.

Reception

The book was ranked as one of the most anticipated book of January 2022 by several magazines and literary websites including ''

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'', ''

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'', ''Book Riot'' and ''

Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...

''. It received several positive receptions from reviewers upon release. In a starred review, ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' called the novel "An engrossing addition to a thoughtful coming-of-age series". Murad Mahvesh in a review for ''Tor.com'' noted that "The story zips along with plenty of fun twists and turns, scares and surprise, and as usual, Okorafor pulls no punches with current social commentary".

References

{{Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book Nigerian fantasy novels American fantasy novels 2022 fantasy novels 2022 American novels American young adult novels Young adult fantasy novels Novels set in Nigeria Novels by Nnedi Okorafor 2022 Nigerian novels Viking Press books