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War Girls

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War Girls

By: Tochi Onyebuchi
Narrated by: Adepero Oduye
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About this listen

Two sisters are torn apart by war and must fight their way back to each other in a futuristic, Black Panther-inspired Nigeria.

The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky.

In a war-torn Nigeria, battles are fought using flying, deadly mechs, and soldiers are outfitted with bionic limbs and artificial organs meant to protect them from the harsh, radiation-heavy climate. Across the nation, as the years-long civil war wages on, survival becomes the only way of life.

Two sisters, Onyii and Ify, dream of more. Their lives have been marked by violence and political unrest. Still, they dream of peace, of hope, of a future together.

And they're willing to fight an entire war to get there.

Acclaimed author Tochi Onyebuchi has written an immersive, action-packed, deeply personal novel perfect for fans of Nnedi Okorafor, Marie Lu, and Paolo Bacigalupi.

©2019 Tochi Onyebuchi (P)2019 Listening Library Dystopian Family & Relationships Fantasy Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy War Dream

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Critic reviews

"A brilliant novel about sisters, war, and freedom." (Booklist, starred review)

"Set amid the horrors of war in a world ravaged by climate change and nuclear disaster, this heart-wrenching and complex page-turner, drawn from the 1960s Nigerian civil war, will leave readers stunned and awaiting the second installment." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"The intense plot is narrated in alternating third-person perspectives, and the author explores themes surrounding colonization, family, and the injustices of war. The story culminates in an unexpected, heart-wrenching end. An exhilarating series opener." (Kirkus Reviews)
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The publisher blurb says this is "Black Panther inspired" but apart from its African setting I just don't see it. It's more like an African William Gibson novel.... but better. It's a future-set cyberpunk sci-fi take on the Biafra-Nigeria war, and on one level it's an insanely exciting actioner, with the kind of tech you'd find in an anime rather than a standard war novel (even a sci-fi one). Yet despite that, it has every bit as much nuance as novels like Half of a Yellow Sun. It's characters - all recruited into war as children - find themselves on opposite sides. All are bitterly opposed and filled with unforgiving and evidently justified mutual hatred, and all have committed unforgivable atrocities, but you can't but love them all. It's rarely made explicit how they are being used and lied to, or by whom, but the dread at their commitment to evident propaganda is a thread that runs underneath it all. So is their commitment to each other, their deep love and dedication. I found myself so committed to these characters that at times I just had to stop listening in order to let the feelings subside. It's tragic and beautiful and powerful and just... just get it, ok? The performance is mostly excellent too - I'll be looking for other books by this reader.

This book is amazing. Don't miss it.

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