Sci-fi Quickie: Drunk on All Your Strange Words by Eddie Robson

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Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is a fascinating and compelling take on first contact. Lydia is a translator for Fitz, the cultural attaché to Earth. Her job requires her to translate mentally with Fitz and the effects of this work leave her feeling drunk by the end of the day. While her job can be incredibly stressful, it pays well and her client is pleasant enough to work with. After a long night of translating at a prestigious event, Lydia wakes up to find her client murdered. Racing against the clock, Lydia must help to solve the murder and declare her innocence. But Lydia is haunted by the voice of Fitz and finds herself unable to trust anyone around her, including herself.

Absolutely fascinating and thrilling, Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is a compelling and well-written sci-fi mystery. I really liked how the author centered the way Lydia and Fitz communicate, as well as all humans and Logi, and the intimacy that this kind of communication can develop. Lydia had Fitz in her head all the time, essentially reading each other’s thoughts without any way to lie or deceive one another. I found the mystery was well crafted and I definitely didn’t solve it before the end. Overall, this was a delightfully weird and fascinating book that I was very happy to spend a few hours with.

If you’d like a copy for your shelf, you can click on the cover for ordering information.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. This post may also contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

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Set in a near-future Ghana, Remote Control tells the story of Death’s adoptive daughter and her quest to find the mysterious object that gifted her with her deadly touch. As she travels across dirt roads and through the villages, Sankofa fills the people she encounters with fear and dread. Her powers are widely known but, even to Sankofa, a great mystery as to how they work and why. Her journey is made even more difficult by her inability to interact with the large amounts of technology found in each city and town she comes to. As she closes in on her final destination, we learn how Sankofa began her transformation from innocent child to a powerful and determined young woman. Through her imaginative and descriptive writing, Okorfar transports readers to a beautiful and intriguing world full of fascinating technology and interesting characters. Remote Control is an engrossing and compelling story of family, acceptance, and finding your place in the world. 

I absolutely love Nnedi Okorafor’s writing and thoroughly enjoyed every page of this novella. The story is so well crafted and the slow reveal of Sankofa’s transformation from young Fatima who loves watching the stars from the branches of a shea tres to the determined and deadly Sankofa who travels across the country alone to seek out her goal is stunning. Okorafor’s writing is incredibly descriptive and you find yourself walking along with Sankofa on the hot, dusty roads and you can feel the anger and fear emanating from the people she encounters. 

Remote Control is an incredible story and don’t let the young protagonist fool you, this is hardly a book for children. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading Nnedi Okorafor’s work before, this is an excellent place to start. She recently had a story called Mother of Invention read on two episodes of LeVar Burton’s podcast, LeVar Burton Reads, about a smart house that takes on an important role in the birth of a young woman’s baby. Highly recommend-it made painting my new bedroom far more enjoyable. 

If you would like to add this book to your collection, or recommend it to your favorite Librarian, you can find ordering information here:

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.  This post contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate.