Death of the Author is a novel in two parts. For the majority of the book, we follow Zelu, a Nigerian-American paraplegic author navigating her way through a series of chaotic life events. Interspersed throughout Zelu’s story are chapters from Ankara’s perspective in Rusted Robot, a post-human extinction novel where androids and AI have full autonomy.

This was my first Nnedi Okorafor novel, and I’m so excited to read more of her work. I often struggle with books that switch between two different stories, but my goodness, Okorafor truly pulled it off here. The back-and-forth structure of the novel perfectly enhanced the suspense, creating a sense of building toward an unknown but significant culmination.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Zelu, Ankara, and the rest of the cast of characters, both human and robot. Whilst the overarching story arc and the unique path to the ending were engaging, I found the pacing in the final quarter of the book slightly uneven, leaving me with a hint of dissatisfaction. However, I really appreciated having a fellow reader to discuss the events leading up to the conclusion. This book makes for a perfect buddy read or book club pick!

The novel’s greatest strength lies in the range and depth of the themes it explores. Through following Zelu and Ankara, we are invited to reflect on identity and ‘humanity’, particularly through the lens of Zelu’s disability and her newfound public recognition. The chapters from Rusted Robot and Zelu’s commentary on her writing process prompt thinking about the power and risks of AI in a rapidly evolving world. Additionally, the portrayal of Zelu’s family relationships encourages us as readers to consider family dynamics and individual identity within those connections.

Death of the Author offers a beautiful illustration of, and commentary on, the power of art, technology, and the human condition in an increasingly scary and uncertain world. I’m excited for more people to read it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Gollancz for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

TWs/CWs:
Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Blood

This was an interesting one, and in the best possible way. It's more about science fiction than it is science fiction in its own right, though it does contain substantial 'extracts' from Zelu's novel, which it switches to throughout. The book switches between interviews with Zelu's family, narration of her life and chapters of her book, Rusting Robots. They all give the sense of leading up to something, especially the interviews, leaving the reader to try to speculate what. I guessed entirely wrongly, and was pleasantly surprised to see what actually happened instead.

I loved Zelu as a character. She was stubborn to a fault, and I found it particularly interesting how the book explored how she responded to her status as a best-selling writer enabling her to open doors that she had previously believed closed for good. It was also fascinating to see how she handled the possibility and reality that some things would seemingly never be available to her, no matter how much technology advanced. A lot of the book was about Zelu and her autonomy - how she accessed it, how she lost it, and how she fought for it - which was so well laid out in the story that decisions I would never make myself made perfect sense within the story. Altogether, the way her character developed and changed, and how others changed around her, cemented this book as one with perhaps some of the best-written characters I've read in a while.

The science fiction aspect that did exist in the 'real world' part felt very grounded, as if it could very well be the reality of next year, or perhaps ten years down the line. It profoundly shaped the narrative, but also fit so well into it that it just made sense, with hardly the need to suspend one's disbelief. The book imagined the best of technology and, where modern innovation couldn't quite make the leap, it only seemed natural to imagine that technology had advanced a little further than previously thought. I really liked how technology was treated in the book, I think a lot of science fiction in modern-ish settings focus on the consequences of making sci-fi concepts a reality - this book explored the potential.

Overall, I am lacking the words to express anything much more profound than that I really, really liked this book. I don't have any good points of comparison for it, I can't tell you that if you liked a particular book or a particular subgenre then this will be your thing: Death of the Author is, I think, an entirely unique novel for which no comparison can do justice. If it sounds interesting to you, though, do check it out, it is well worth the read.

That was a ride! All up and downs and turns made this book a great experience. this book really has it all and I am still thinking about it. It was such a great language experience to read it and I really liked the story within the story, the mix of the genres and the ending! It was such a great book giving many possibilities to learn, to think about and surprise oneself. I really liked the main characters, even though they are not always loveable and I sometimes couldn’t understand their behaviour. This book will certainly be one of the books of the year for me and I will recommend it everywhere.

This book is an absolute whirlwind, and I mean that in the best way. Okorafor doesn’t shy away from the big stuff: life, disability, culture, immigration, AI, and even the space race—all packed into a deeply personal story about what it means to create. Zelu’s struggles with her identity and her art feel so raw and real, and the snippets of Rusted Robots are like a story within a story that mirrors her journey. It’s ambitious without ever feeling overwhelming, full of sharp insights, quiet moments, and a few laugh-out-loud surprises. Now that I’m done with the ARC, I cannot wait for my stunning Goldsboro GSFF special edition to arrive!

Edit: Actually, now that it's been a few days that I've finished the book and talked about it with some people, I changed my mind - I'm upping my rating to full 5 stars. It took me some time and conversations for it to finally click, and that has given me a whole new appreciation for the genius of the book, and a whole new interpretation of the ending.

I also finally understand where the whole "blurring line between fiction and reality" comes from, and, yeah, I totally see that now!! And it's done masterfully.

I also found a new appreciation for the writing style - it changes completely between Zelu's chapters, the Rusted Robot chapters, and the interviews, and all of them are extremly skillfully written and engaging in their own right.

What a stunning book!

Original review: 4 stars.
I greatly enjoyed this, and I'm really glad I went into this knowing a lot of people consider it more lit fic than SciFi.
While it has some SciFi elements, I too do not really consider this a SciFi novel - but I generally really don't enjoy lit fic, so I hesitate to call it that. Contemporary fiction, then, I guess?

The book followed Zelu, a Nigerian-American aspiring writer who, one day down on her luck, starts writing a SciFi novel about robots on an earth past humanity. A SciFi book that, then, takes off and brings her fame and virality.

At the center of the plot is Zelu's rise to fame and how she deals with it, as well as her relationship with her big family. Zelu is a complicated character, who has complicated relationships, and a not straightforward history. And her story utterly captivated me!

The other part of the book is chapters of the book Zelu writes, Rusted Robots. I expected to like these parts, because hell yes, robots! But I just found them fine. I certainly didn't think they lived up to the hype they were getting Zelu in the book - I have to say, that almost broke my suspension of disbelief. Still, it was a lovely story.

The marketing of the book makes a big deal about the line between reality and fiction blurring... to be honest, I got none of that. I guess there were some vague similarities between the robot main character and Zelu? And at one point Zelu gets some cool tech to help her walk again (she's paraplegic), leading to people calling her "robot".

Mentioning the cool tech, the SciFi elements of the book (aside from Rusted Robots) were some cool tech things in the background, though they never get much of a focus. Even Rusted Robots, while about robots, was very grounded in humanity and ultimately about human problems and feelings, in my opinion.

A subplot I enjoyed was the one about Zelu as an author. It was not in detail, and almost certainly not a real depiction of how publishing works. In a way, it reminded me a bit of Yellowface, though it was way less focussed on the publishing and social media drama and #cancelling aspect of it all. That said, after hearing that there are some interesting parallel's between the author's life and Zelu's, it made me think of Yellowface even more.

I also enjoyed the glimpses into Nigerian culture, though I have no concept to compare it to or really judge its authenticty, and I hear there is some criticism for it out there.
The family drama was sometimes frustrating to read, but also felt very real, and I still enjoyed Zelu's big family greatly.

My biggest complaint was the ending - not because I hated it, but because there were plenty of retrospective interviews interspered in the book, where Zelu's family and friends talk about her life and fame from the future. In these interviews there are constant hints to a big event that I felt like the book was leading up to, hints to what happenes to Zelu... all of which lead nowhere. When I finished the book I thought I had somehow got a faulty copy that was missing a chapter. That left me feeling robbed and dissatisfied at the end, which is never a feeling I want to end a book on. It also left me very confused. What did it all mean??? I also felt like some of the events towards the end were directly contradictory to the hints given in the interview. So I am unsure what to think.

Overall I had a great time with the book, somewhat unexpectedly due to it not being nearly as SciF as advertized.