Though I was curious to read One Way Witch, my expectations for this one were not that high. You may recall that She Who Knows wasn't exactly the Who Fears Death prequel I thought it would be. Unfair, I know, but for me Who Fears Death will always be the benchmark against which all other Okorafor works will be judged. Given how important she is in her daughter's tale, I was expecting more from Najeeba's origin story. I know the cover blurb mentioned that it's a small, intimate, up close, and deceptively quiet account, but I still would have liked for Najeeba to be fleshed out a little more.
One Way Witch is labelled as the second volume in the She Who Knows trilogy, but it's essentially the first part of what should have been one novel. Hence, it doesn't stand well on its own and, given its size, it should have been published as a single book. As such, since it brings little to the dance and ultimately is a work that focuses on Najeeba's training as she copes with the loss of her daughter, with such little story progression it can be nothing more than a disappointment.
Here's the blurb:
Set in the universe Africanfuturist luminary Nnedi Okorafor first introduced in the World Fantasy Award-winning Who Fears Death, One Way Witch is the second in the She Who Knows trilogy.
The world has forgotten Onyesonwu.
As a teen, Najeeba learned to become the beast of wind, fire and the kponyungo. When that took too much from her, including the life of her father, she let it all go, and for a time, she was happy — until only a few years later, when the small, normal life she’d built was violently destroyed.
Now in her forties and years beyond the death of her second husband, Najeeba has just lost her beloved daughter. Onyesonwu saved the world. Najeeba knows this well, but the world does not. This is how the juju her daughter evoked works. One other person who remembers is Onyesonwu’s teacher Aro, a harsh and hard-headed sorcerer. Najeeba has decided to ask him to teach her the Mystic Points, the powerful heart of sorcery. There is something awful Najeeba needs to kill and the Mystic Points are the only way. Najeeba is truly her daughter’s mother.
When Aro agrees to help, Najeeba is at last ready to forge her future. But first, she must confront her past — for certain memories cannot lie in unmarked graves.
Nnedi Okorafor writes short novels and novellas. I was afraid that the 157-page format would preclude much in terms of worldbuilding and this ended up being the case once more. One Way Witch takes place in the same post-apocalyptic Africa that was the setting for Who Fears Death and She Who Knows. As it's been nearly fifteen years since the first book was published, I'm glad to report that the author provides a short "what has gone before" section at the beginning of the novel. She remains parsimonious with details, yet it does help readers get back into the story. As is usually her wont, Okorafor holds her cards very close to her chest and the worldbuilding leaves a little to be desired. Indeed, beyond the Africanfuturism setting and some Africanjujuism elements that Okorafor has accustomed us to, other than the Mystic Points, the masquerades, and the mysterious Cleanser, all of them concepts that would have benefited from being explored with more depth, this new work is more of the same. In many ways, One Way Witch often feels like an epilogue to Who Fears Death and never quite like its own thing.
Headstrong, capricious, and impetuous, Najeeba isn't necessarily a protagonist that you want to root for. True, her horrible past and the pain of losing her daughter for the greater good of the world explain why she has become such an impulsive and emotional woman. But even if you understand her plight, it's hard to actually care for her as a character. And since this is a first-person narrative, it does hurt the overall reading experience from time to time. Aro, who used to be Onyesonwu’s teacher, and Dedan, Najeeba's new lover, provide a certain sense of balance, but it's never quite enough.
In my review of Who Fears Death, I claimed that if there is a speculative fiction title about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity and atrocities, this had to be it. Some readers criticized Nnedi Okorafor for writing a feminist work daring to explore subject matters best left undisturbed, such as the practice of clitorectomy, genocide, racism between various tribes, rape, sexuality, and violence. I found that a bit pathetic, as I felt that the author should be commended for having produced a tale that packed such a powerful emotional punch. Alas, the author never quite managed to recapture the magic of that novel. And though a good chunk of the plot of One Way Witch runs alongside or follows the ending of that book, I would have liked for this story to feature the same sort of gravitas. It was not to be.
Although it's a slow-moving affair, this novella doesn't suffer from any pacing issues per se. At first it feels like an epilogue to Who Fears Death and then it focuses on Najeeba's training. Don't expect much in terms of endgame or resolution, as there are none. One Way Witch is the first part of a tale that will reach its conclusing in the recently published The Daughter Who Remains. For all of this, I was glad to return to this world and I'm looking forward to the next novella. It's just that I have a feeling that this book could have been so much more. . .
The final verdict: 6.75/10
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