Death of the Algorithm

Over the past decade, Nnedi Okorafor has earned a reputation for challenging and culturally nuanced works of science fiction. Along the way, she’s been shortlisted for five Hugo Awards and won two, earned two Lodestars, and taken home a Nebula trophy. With Death of the Author, she has penned her most ambitious work yet.Cover of Death of the Author(Image via Goodreads)The book explores the enduring power of stories that provide threads of hope across generations. By weaving interlocking narratives and switching back and forth between protagonist, Nigerian American academic author Zelu Onyenezi-Oyedele, and a humanoid robot (a Hume) named Ankara, the reader is offered an evolving, existential meditation about survival. In Okorafor’s vision, even sentient robots will carry these stories forward long after humanity is gone, dancing in the narrative footsteps of the humans who created them.As the novel opens, Zelu is precariously employed and struggling when she finds success in her first…