Nnedi in SF Signal's Mind Meld

Excerpted from the latest Mind Meld:

Q: What book introduced you to science fiction?

Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor is a science fiction and fantasy novelist of Nigerian descent. Her books include Zahrah the Windseeker (winner of the 2008 Wole Soyinka Africa Prize for Literature), The Shadow Speaker (An NAACP Image Award Nominee) and Long Juju Man (winner of the Macmillan Prize for Africa). Her novels Who Fears Death (DAW) and Akata Witch (Penguin) and chapter book, Iridessa and the Fire-Bellied Dragon Frog (Disney Press), are scheduled for release in 2010.


The book that introduced me to science fiction was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It remains one of my all time favorite novels. I even give it a subtle (well, not that subtle) shout-out in my first novel, Zahrah the Windseeker. I was about twelve when I discovered The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

When I was growing up, I wasn't aware of the categories of science fiction and fantasy. However, I naturally gravitated toward books with speculative elements. I also liked nonfiction science books. My introduction to Isaac Asimov was through his nonfiction science books, not his science fiction. I picked up The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the library because it had that green circle monster with the big grin on it.

This creature highly amused me. I thought it was cute, funny, mysterious and strange. I didn't know what the book was about at ALL. I've never been too fond of stories about people on spaceships. They make me feel claustrophobic, as does the very idea of space travel. But this wasn't the case with the story of Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, and Trillion.

There was lots of breathable space in this novel, even within the ship, ha ha. When I picked up this novel, I was really really into all the animal field guides. The idea of the Hitchhiker's Guide, a constantly evolving field guide about everything...I LOVED that; the very idea sent my mind soaring.

Also, my strongest subjects were math and science and even back then, I had a love for illogical logic. I went on to read all the books in the series, of course. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was the first book to make me laugh really hard out loud. And I thought hard about the Infinite Improbability Drive.

The whale and the petunias...priceless on so many levels. I played that scene over and over again in my head for years. Because I wasn't familiar with the science fiction tradition that the book was mocking, I read the book in a different way. It wasn't a satire to me, it was just this really f*cking weird hilarious novel that was different from everything else I'd read. Oh and I have to mention that because it had lots of aliens, I felt included. I was reading tons of novels (genre and non-genre fiction) and none of what I was picking up had any people of color in them. This bothered me on a subconscious level. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxywas about BEING alien.

Arthur lost his whole planet and then he was thrust into a "world" bigger than his earth and it was full of truly diverse "aliens". It was a refreshing read for someone like me. I first read it as a library copy. It was not until I was in my late teens that I got one of those copies with all the books in one volume. I now own several copies of the series along with an old original cassette recording of the BBC radio series (used book sales can be so awesome!). A few days ago my 6-year-old daughter said, "I really want to fly! Mommy, how do I fly?" What did I tell her? "Anyaugo, just throw yourself at the ground and miss!" That kept her busy for about an hour. Ha ha ha! Lastly, YES I plan to read the forthcoming And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer, the sixth installment in the series. It's not Adams, but it is Colfer doing Adam's characters, so I'll bite.

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