AKATA WARRIOR by NNEDI OKORAFOR

   You may remember me reviewing the prequel (AKATA WITCH) a while back and mentioning the existence of a sequel. Anyway, I laid my hands (went looking for it in literally) on the sequel named above and with the experience with the prequel, it wasn’t hard getting into the groove. I believe I have said all that could be said prior to reading the book with the other review, so, I’d just hit the road running.

OVERVIEW
   As said earlier AKATA WARRIOR by Nnedi Okorafor is the second installment of the AKATA series (I guess I can call it that), a fantasy book series. About a year after the defeat of a kidnapping menace and ritual killer, Black Hat Otokoto and battling Ekwensu back into the wilderness, Sunny begins to get more acquainted to leopard ways. She’s found to be growing stronger physically as well as in her knowledge of leopard things. Her family is getting used to her disappearing and reappearing at odd hours of the day and no longer question her much about it. She can now read Nsibidi even though not exactly fluently.
   Sunny still finds ways to merge her leopard school and real school into her schedule even on days when she can’t help being fagged out. After her battle with Ekwensu at the end of the prequel, she begins having nightmares in which she sees a smoking city presumably a city on fire. The nightmares give her trouble for more than a while and it gets worse when Ugonna, her immediate elder brother makes a drawing similar to the city in the nightmares. The dreams end up leading here to another battle with Ekwensu when she comes back to earth. This book finds Sunny exploring her abilities to more lengths and her friendship ties with Orlu, Chichi and Sasha. It also focuses some more on her family relationship. This is the kind of book that if I say too much would ruin the fun. So, I’d stop it right here.

MY THOUGHTS
   The book starts with a preface kinda chapter that sheds light on things that transpired in the previous book alongside bits about the major characters and where they what was up with them at the start of the new book. I really appreciate this effort on the part of the writer as it gives the reader, especially one who didn’t read the first book or one that read it a long time ago (the books are 4 years apart) adequate insight into the major things that took place before this book.
   The book explores effectively Sunny’s growth and that of her friends and siblings over the time interval betweeen the happenings of the two books.
   I honestly liked seeing Sunny get into trouble, taking risks to protect her brother from confraternity related mess (family is everything) and missing death by the whiskers on more than one occasion. The author subtly highlighting some problems in certain areas like oil spillage and how the international companies hardly care since it’s not their community, confraternity issues in higher institutions in Nigeria is also laudable. The brief story of Sunny’s encounter with bullying and not being able to fit in completely whilst she was in the States is very welcome and also how Okorafor brushes over how “lambs” like the fast life:

“Lord knows that Lambs can be damn annoying, with their silly materialism, hatred of education, and love of remaining stupid. They’re obsessed with getting things fast, fast, fast, with the least amount of work, books, no instruction. It’s universal.” He chuckled. ”

   Sunny is shown to be as vulnerable as she’s strong, I guess that’s what makes her a likable herione. I like how the book is a combination of truth and realities as much as it is fictional.
Bottomline, the storyline was a tight, progressive and occasionally suspenseful one. My only reservation was the written pidgin wasn’t that accurate but I could look that over and the misnomer (I may be wrong) of AJ city (Ajegunle) as J city. Aside those, I dare say it was more interesting than the prequel and definitely worth the read.

Side note: there seems to be another sequel in the works and, a stab in the dark kinda guess leaves me believing it would be revolve around Sunny and Chichi as Nimm warrior and princess respectively. I say this based on allusions in a portion towards the end of the book. Anyhow, I’d be looking forward to it and hope it supersedes the precedence that the first two books have laid.
‘Mina.