32 | New Scientist | 23 January 2021
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Book
Remote Control
Nnedi Okorafor
Tor.comWHAT if you could become
invincible, resistant to everything
from bullets to disease? Nnedi
Okorafor explores this idea in her
novella Remote Control, but with
a dark twist: her protagonist’s
invincibility comes at the cost
of other human lives.
The story follows a child in
Wulugu, a town in northern
Ghana, whose life takes a drastic
turn after she discovers a strange,
green, glowing object that falls
from the sky during a meteor
shower. Fatima, once a sickly
child who experienced regular
bouts of malaria, is transformed
into Sankofa – a girl who will soon
become notorious far beyond
her home town for her terrifying
ability to evade death and take life.
As Sankofa starts discovering
her power, the story temporarily
feels light and playful. We are
reminded that she is just a child
and has no idea what she is
wielding, like Peter Parker after
he is bitten by a radioactive spider
in the Spider-Man films. But
Sankofa is soon perceived as
more of a villain than a superhero.
Her first casualties are insects,
like malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
Her skin glows green and they die
before they can bite her. Then
she kills a wasp, egged-on by her
brother. Their games soon reveal
the terrible consequences of
her power, leading Sankofa on a
journey away from Wulugu as she
tries to understand her unique
ability and to gain control of it.
In the process, she faces
profound loneliness, because
people avoid her out of fear. We see
Sankofa grow up and start to useare made in Twi, a group of
dialects that is widely spoken in
parts of Ghana, and mysterious,
beetle-like drones hover overhead.
Sankofa soon realises that the
drones are watching her. She starts
to suspect it has something to do
with her power, and with a US
corporation called LifeGen that
recently set up in Ghana. She and
the reader soon learn she is part
of something larger than herself.
To me, Remote Control felt like
a combination of West African
folklore and a sci-fi thriller. The
colourful imagery of Ghana and
the somewhat cautionary tale
of Sankofa reminded me of the
Anansi stories – Ghanaian folk
tales about a trickster that could
take the shape of a spider, which
I recall from my childhood – but
with a tantalising sci-fi mystery
woven through it.“ Remote Control
is thrilling and
surprising. There is
definitely room for
the story to continue”Sankofa is a Twi word that
translates as “go back and get
it”, which refers to learning
from the past. That idea is
also symbolised by a bird with
its head turned backwards. In
Remote Control, Sankofa must
eventually return to her home
town to find out more about
her power and ultimately use
her strength to try to save
the world from destruction.
I love a good mystery and
Remote Control is thrilling and
surprising all the way through.
Even the book’s ending comes
suddenly and unexpectedly.
I think there is definitely room
for the story to continue and
I very much hope it does. ❚PE
TERFINCH
/GETT
Y^ IMAGESIn Remote Control, deadly
mosquitoes fall victim to
Sankofa’s lethal powerher abilities to try to help people,
as well as in self-defence. “I only
take life when people ask me to,
when people are sick and in too
much pain to live. The word is
euthanasia... or when people
threaten my life,” she explains.Okorafor imagines a futuristic
Ghana, which Sankofa travels
through as she comes to terms
with herself and her power.
In one part of the story, she
passes through RoboTown,
a place where intelligent robots
called “robocops” guide traffic
on the roads. AnnouncementsPlaying with death
Remote Control tells the story of Fatima, a sickly Ghanaian girl who gains a terrifying
superpower. It is a tale that mixes folklore with a thriller, says Layal Liverpool