Remote Control is a 2021

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novella by Nigerian American

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 Okorafor's first novella after the Binti Trilogy and is set in the same universe as Okorafor's '' Who Fears Death'' and '' The Book of Phoenix''. It was a finalist for the 2021

Goodreads Choice Awards The Goodreads Choice Awards is a yearly award program, first launched on Goodreads in 2009. Winners are determined by crowdvoting, users voting on books that Goodreads has nominated or books of their choosing, released in the given year. Most boo ...

for Best Science Fiction and the

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll ...

Writing process

Okorafor wrote the book during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, stating in an interview that travel disruptions due to the pandemic made her focus her energy on writing and editing the book. The events in the book takes place before the events in ''The Book of Phoenix'' and ''Who Fears Death''.

Themes

The book has been noted as a coming-of-age story, exploring themes such as solitude, grief, and what it means to be normal. The book is an Africanfuturist novella.

Reception

Writing for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, Jason Heller described the novel as "a cumulative narrative, a slow burn that builds in emotional urgency even as the scope of Okorafor's worldbuilding bursts into something breathtakingly vast." Writing for ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'', Layal Liverpool stated that "''Remote Control'' is thrilling and surprising all the way through." Samantha Nelson of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'', however, stated that "Sankofa is a fascinating character, but one whose legend isn’t quite compelling enough to take hold in our world."

References

External links

* Nigerian science fiction novels 2021 science fiction novels Works by Nnedi Okorafor Novels set in Ghana 2021 Nigerian novels Africanfuturist novels Tor Books books Nigerian novellas {{Nigeria-novel-stub