Shadow Speaker: The Desert Magician’s Duology: Book One

/Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor is an amazing book. It is the first book in a duology about the Dessert Magician. The story starts with a young girl named Ejji. Ejji is a feared female shadow speaker with a troubled past. Her father was a corrupt chief of her village who abused the power of the savior of Ejji’s town, the Red Lady, otherwise known as Jaa. When she was eight years old, her father was beheaded by Jaa right in front of her own eyes and her mother was made town council woman.

Ever since then, Ejji has been traumatized and submissive. Ejji has never been the same since that day. As Ejji matures, she hears the shadows getting louder and louder, telling her to explore outside of her village. When Ejji overhears the Red Lady asking her mother to allow her to take Ejji as her disciple, the voices become louder than ever. Determined to go with the Red Lady, Ejji sets out on a journey to look for her father’s killer and make a couple of new friends in unexpected places.

This book is amazing! It is not meant for young kids and I would not recommend it to anyone under the age of fourteen. It is super exciting and has an understandable but complex storyline and plot. I love the fact that this book gives details and info about the characters as well as their backstory. It would be great for fantasy and woman empowerment lovers due to its use of magic and all of its heroes being female. This author is truly amazing and I recommend that you read more of her books.