Akata Warrior (Akata Witch #2) by Nnedi Okorafor

Definitely enjoyed this better than Akata Witch, especially since the magic is explained a step better than in AWitch. I really wish Nnedi Okorafor wasn’t so laser-focused on having the third-person narrative stay strictly from Sunny’s point of view, though. I felt like Akata Warrior missed out on so many cool dramatic scenes, particularly in Osisi, because of Ms Okorafor’s commitment to this. It’s kinda dull to have Sunny just being told what happened after the fact instead of shifting our readers’ perspective to one of the other members of her, oh shoot, I’ve forgotten the name they have for it. Let’s go with “coven”, because I’m too lazy to look it up. I’m definitely interested enough to see the trilogy through, but I’m not sure I get why Ms Okorafor is so highly rated as a writer. The ideas are terrific, but the writing itself rarely rises above the average, and that’s being generous when accounting for the pacing issues. The series still feels under-written, and I’m starting to believe that the enthusiasm for world-building doesn’t make up for the lack of description, whether it be of feeling or action.

But hey, the Nwazue family are Gooners, so that papers over a whole lot of faults for me.