I am so dead excited about the news that Nnedi Okorafor‘s book, Who Fears Death, is set to become a HBO show!
Unfortunately, the news came to me in a way that was less than satisfactory. The AV Club that posted the story credited Game of Thrones creator, George R. R. Martin, as the person HBO were commissioning the show from.
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The headline said: “HBO orders Afrocentric new sci-fi series from producer George R. R. Martin”. There was no mention of Okorafor in the title at all. Sure, the title says he’s producer, but that’s not what you take away from it at first glance. You see “HBO”, “new sci-fi series” and “George R. R. Martin” and you assume he’s the creator behind it.
I’m really glad she highlighted this and called them out for it, as they’ve now changed it to include Okorafor’s name ahead of Martin’s. But it shouldn’t have been written that way in the first place. Not only is Okorafor a Hugo and Nebula award winning author, she also has an MA in Journalism, a PHD in English and she’s an associate Professor of Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Buffalo.
I’ve read Akata Witch by Okorafor and her novella Binti as well and I loved both of them. She’s a wonderful writer and it’s great to see the work of a talented author hit the silver screen and get the recognition she deserves. What’s not great is seeing her credit usurped by a writer at The AV Club who thinks an article with George R. R. Martin in the headline is going to get more clicks.
I haven’t read Who Fears Death myself (it’s on my TBR!) but I do know it’s about a girl living in post-apocalyptic Africa who wants to discover the meaning behind her magical powers. It sounds right up my street and I know the visuals are going to be just stunning!
Are you looking forward to this show? Let me know in the comments!
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