I vowed in April (or maybe May) to read five of the top ten obscure S.F. works that deserve more attention
as selected by Feminist SF. Well, they took their time getting the list out, but they did and I’ve got five of them in hand. I won’t be reading them all in a row. Instead my plan is to alternate them with other books. The first was Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu’s young adult fantasy Zahrah the Windseeker.
I thought Zahrah the Windseeker was a beautifully imagined fantasy world that has one huge drawback. On the positive and even recommended side overall, but man is that drawback prominent. So let me get it out of the way. The plot is utterly unoriginal and predictable in the worst way.
Zahrah Tsami was born dada
, which means primarily she has funky hair and people think she will be a witch or rebellious at least. Turns out it means she can fly as she finds out when she floats up from bed a few times. She and her best friend Dari sneak a little ways into the Forbidden Greeny Jungle which surrounds the Ooni Kingdom so that Zahrah can practice flying. There Dari is bit by an exotic animal and falls into a coma. Before recriminations can go too far, Zahrah sneaks back into the jungle on a quest for an unfertilized elgort egg, said to be the only thing with the properties that can save her friend Dari.
On the other hand, the setting is done incredibly well and originally. The Ooni Kingdom is mostly plant based; computers and mirrors and other gadgets are grown from plants. The plant and animals that inhabit the Kingdom and the Greeny Jungle are a good combination of real world (like the baobab tree) and fantastic (pink frogs that know the future). My favorite of course was the giant venus flytrap like plant that ate a deer in front of Zahrah. I need to get me a venus flytrap for my place. The idea of plants turning the tables on animals thrills me (as long as it’s not me).
I also loved the Zahrah and Dari characters. Neither were pig-headed in a way that adults often write teens. I can’t think of an example that compares to these two characters, but what comes to mind is how bullies are often written, as if they have nothing better to do than torment others. The couple of female bullies that make an appearance in the book act more with disdain than with purpose. Other than Dari being the popular kid befriending the unpopular one, I think the author did her teens well.
And lastly, Zahrah the Windseeker does a much better job at pushing nature than some other attempts I’ve read recently (I’m calling you out Isabel Allende). Rather than a force for good, it’s described more as something that simply is. A very powerful something. But something that has both good and bad faces, while civilization also has good and bad aspects. One doesn’t simply jut go out into the jungle and live happily ever after. Things in the jungle are used (particularly by medicine) to good effect. Gorillas in the jungle have their own civilization. They don’t just commune with nature, they build towns. In other words, everything flows well and you don’t get beat over the head with nature good
.
If only the plot was less predictable, this would be my favorite young adult fantasy.
Title: Zahrah the Windseeker
Author: Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Cover creator: Sheila Smallwood; Carol Chu (designers)
Imprint / publisher: Graphia Books / Houghton Mifflin
Format: Paperback
Length: 308 p.
Publication date: 2005
ISBN-10: 0-547-02028-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02028-0
Subject: Adventures and adventurers — Fiction
Subject: Coming of age — Fiction
Subject: Flight — Fiction
Subject: Best friends — Fiction
Subject: Jungles — Fiction
Subject: Fantasy
LC classification: PZ7.O4157Zah 2005
