Nnedi OkoraforApr 6, 2025

As the release of book 2 in the SHE WHO KNOWS trilogy approaches (April 25), let me say some things:

1. I don’t use the word “magic” to describe the mystical elements in this work because I feel the word is reductive and lacks cultural specificity (which matters).

The word also adds a childish, unserious, nonsensical element that I don’t care for when it comes to the stories I’m telling. It muddies the water in aggravating ways. See for yourself. I avoid it.

Show threadNnedi OkoraforApr 6, 2025
2. This novella is NOT for kids. I’ve said this so many times and I’m still seeing a few early reviews already saying “kids will have a hard time relating”. This novella is about a middle-aged woman who becomes a powerful and audacious sorcerer after losing her husband and daughter (WHO FEARS DEATH tells that story…I highly recommend readings the novel, lol)...
Show threadNnedi Okorafor

...SHE WHO KNOWS Book 1 was about Najeeba in her teens. Women age and they deserve books written about them later in life, yes, because they do a lot of amazing shit.

3. Yes, I suggest reading the trilogy in order.

4. It’s a novella. Not a “short novel”. My god, there are different forms of storytelling. Open and free your mind.

Apr 6, 2025 at 12:44amWeb
Show threadNnedi OkoraforApr 6, 2025
Some advice, before you push back, just sit with what I'm saying here for more than a bit, as opposed to rushing to defend your comfort zone. IJS.
Show threadScruffy looking packet herderApr 6, 2025
@nnedi Can’t wait for this one. She Who Knows is amazing.
Show threadLuke RosenbergerApr 6, 2025
@nnedi "If people talked about other things the way they talked about gender identity ... Fiction: 'It’s either a short story or a novel. There’s no such thing as a novella.'" https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/if-people-talked-about-other-things-the-way-they-talked-about-gender-identity?utm_content=buffer2fada&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bufferapp.com&utm_campaign=buffer
If People Talked About Other Things the Way They Talked About Gender Identity

Fiction: “It’s either a short story or a novel. There’s no such thing as a novella.” March 31 2022 3/31/24 3/31/25 3/31/26 CALENDAR 2027

McSweeney's Internet Tendency
Show threadCurmudgeonApr 6, 2025

@nnedi

I'd much rather read a story that's a novella than a story that's been padded with a couple of hundred extra pages to satisfy the whims of a publisher.