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A review by bigenk
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
AO, or Artificial Organism, is a cybernetic enhanced woman in a future version of Nigeria who is forced to flee her troubled past after killing a group of men who beat and attempted to rape her. On her travels she encounters DNA, a Fulnai herdsman, and his two remaining cows, who is another outcast on the run for his perceived role in acts of terrorism. Over the course of an intense seven days that see them traveling into the "Red Eye', a massive storm of dust that hovers over the northern part of Nigeria, the pair attempts to not only clear their names of wrongdoing but also bring down the evil Ultimate Corp, a company that has infiltrated every facet of life in Nigeria.
There are many problem with Noor, but the messages themselves aren't one of them. This is a decidedly anti-capitalist, anti-consumerism, pro-personal liberty novel that makes its opinions clear from the very beginning. Whether or not you agree with all of Okorafor's opinions, it's always nice to see a book take such a direct approach with stating its values upfront. Say what you will about the rest of the book, but at least Okorafor isn't timid in that.
Although it pains me to give such a low score to a book that clearly has its heart in the right place, nearly everything else about Noor I found to be terrible. Characters that are ill-defined and prone to erratic behavior, world-building that revolves solely around one or two technologies, and pacing that's similar to a large billboard where the final letters have been crammed in due to lack of proper spacing. Besides these points, one of my biggest complaints is with the aforementioned 'Ultimate Corp', and the entire good vs evil theme of the book as a whole. It's so overly simplified that I can't help but feel that this book is intended for a much younger audience than the marketing implies. Ultimate corp is stereotypical bad with no redeeming quality, and it utterly devoid of anything remarkable that would set it apart from other depictions of corporate evil. The entire plot is undeveloped to the point of hilarity. I simply don't understand how something this lackluster passed through an editor and a publisher.
However, the true mortal sin of Noor is the writing itself. It reminds me of a fantasy adventure novel written by an overambitious 7th grader who has a big idea in their head and tries to put it to the page, but doesn't have any of the tools with which to make that story come alive. The writing is sloppy, muddled, confusing, and devoid of any style or character. It's past the point of boring, it's simply bad. Perhaps one of the best examples of this is the extensive use of all caps and italics. It's as if Okorafor doesn't trust herself that she can get the correct tone or emphasis across to the reading, using these as crutches to do the work for her. Particularly confusing is the full chapter of italicizes text, which is a text transcription of a podcast that the main character listens to. Why do you need to italicize it? It's separated from everything else in its own chapter. It's clear that it's not a present conversation between characters. Baffling.
Noor is a clunky novel that feels as if it was written in the course of plane ride and rushed into publication with minimal edits. I think given more time, the story in Noor could've been a good read, but in its current form I can't even come close to recommending it.
There are many problem with Noor, but the messages themselves aren't one of them. This is a decidedly anti-capitalist, anti-consumerism, pro-personal liberty novel that makes its opinions clear from the very beginning. Whether or not you agree with all of Okorafor's opinions, it's always nice to see a book take such a direct approach with stating its values upfront. Say what you will about the rest of the book, but at least Okorafor isn't timid in that.
Although it pains me to give such a low score to a book that clearly has its heart in the right place, nearly everything else about Noor I found to be terrible. Characters that are ill-defined and prone to erratic behavior, world-building that revolves solely around one or two technologies, and pacing that's similar to a large billboard where the final letters have been crammed in due to lack of proper spacing. Besides these points, one of my biggest complaints is with the aforementioned 'Ultimate Corp', and the entire good vs evil theme of the book as a whole. It's so overly simplified that I can't help but feel that this book is intended for a much younger audience than the marketing implies. Ultimate corp is stereotypical bad with no redeeming quality, and it utterly devoid of anything remarkable that would set it apart from other depictions of corporate evil. The entire plot is undeveloped to the point of hilarity. I simply don't understand how something this lackluster passed through an editor and a publisher.
However, the true mortal sin of Noor is the writing itself. It reminds me of a fantasy adventure novel written by an overambitious 7th grader who has a big idea in their head and tries to put it to the page, but doesn't have any of the tools with which to make that story come alive. The writing is sloppy, muddled, confusing, and devoid of any style or character. It's past the point of boring, it's simply bad. Perhaps one of the best examples of this is the extensive use of all caps and italics. It's as if Okorafor doesn't trust herself that she can get the correct tone or emphasis across to the reading, using these as crutches to do the work for her. Particularly confusing is the full chapter of italicizes text, which is a text transcription of a podcast that the main character listens to. Why do you need to italicize it? It's separated from everything else in its own chapter. It's clear that it's not a present conversation between characters. Baffling.
Noor is a clunky novel that feels as if it was written in the course of plane ride and rushed into publication with minimal edits. I think given more time, the story in Noor could've been a good read, but in its current form I can't even come close to recommending it.