Death of the Author

A Novel

By: Nnedi Okorafor

Narrated by: Liz Femi, Anthony Oseyemi, Jason Culp, Chris Djuma

THE INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Recommended by New York Times Book Review • People • NPR • Rolling Stone • Los Angeles Times • Reader's Digest • and more!

“This one has it all.” — George R.R. Martin • “As delicious as it is disorienting.” — Zakiya Dalila Harris • “Suspenseful, timely, and heartfelt.” — People • “Mind-bending.” — New York Times Book Review

In this exhilarating tale by New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor, a disabled Nigerian American woman pens a wildly successful Sci-Fi novel, but as her fame rises, she loses control of the narrative—a surprisingly cutting, yet heartfelt drama about art and love, identity and connection, and, ultimately, what makes us human. This is a story unlike anything you’ve read before.

The future of storytelling is here.

Disabled, disinclined to marry, and more interested in writing than a lucrative career in medicine or law, Zelu has always felt like the outcast of her large Nigerian family. Then her life is upended when, in the middle of her sister’s lavish Caribbean wedding, she’s unceremoniously fired from her university job and, to add insult to injury, her novel is rejected by yet another publisher. With her career and dreams crushed in one fell swoop, she decides to write something just for herself. What comes out is nothing like the quiet, literary novels that have so far peppered her unremarkable career. It’s a far-future epic where androids and AI wage war in the grown-over ruins of human civilization. She calls it Rusted Robots.

When Zelu finds the courage to share her strange novel, she does not realize she is about to embark on a life-altering journey—one that will catapult her into literary stardom, but also perhaps obliterate everything her book was meant to be. From Chicago to Lagos to the far reaches of space, Zelu’s novel will change the future not only for humanity, but for the robots who come next.

A book-within-a-book that blends the line between writing and being written, Death of the Author is a masterpiece of metafiction that manages to combine the razor-sharp commentary of Yellowface with the heartfelt humanity of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Surprisingly funny, deeply poignant, and endlessly discussable, this is at once the tale of a woman on the margins risking everything to be heard and a testament to the power of storytelling to shape the world as we know it.

“An ambitious, inventive tribute to the power of storytelling itself.” — Nikki Erlick, New York Times bestselling author of The Measure

“A deeply felt dazzle. A blaze. It is true deep to the bones.” — Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author of The House of Broken Angels

""There’s more vivid imagination in a page of Nnedi Okorafor’s work than in whole volumes."" — Ursula K. Le Guin

A masterclass of storytelling

this is so rich in culture, the essence of humanity, and beautiful storytelling. A must read in 2025!

A wonderful emotional rollercoaster

That was amazing. Beautiful prose. A story beautifully told with four-dimensional characters. A story I will come back to again.

A Brilliant Book that Touched Me Deeply

This book is special and if it doesn't win awards this year I will be shocked. It touched me deeply and the characters felt so real. They all had flaws and even unique lives going on outside of the main characters story. the chapter, The Passing was the point where this book clicked for me and became my favorite book. I highly recommend this to everyone and I've already chosen it for my work Book Club as our next read.

Riveting read

I enjoyed this title very much. all of it the writing and the performance

Beautiful exploration of what it means to be human

Not being a sci-fi fan, "Death of the Author" is my first Akorafor book. The author completely pulled me into boht worlds - that of our main character and the world of that character's smash novel. I appreciated the way the author took us through our main charcter's struggle to be seen as more than just a disabled person, to truly get at her fears, desires, dreams. I loved being plunged into her Nigerian-American family and I am now on the hunt for a Nigerian cuisine restaurant as all of the food descriptions made my mouth water. Much like "James', this book highlihts the importance of being able to tell your own story as well as the need to listen and learn from each other's story.