Just Out of Jupiter’s Reach by Nnedi Okorafor
Blurb
Tornado Onwubiko is one of seven people on Earth paired with sentient ships to explore and research the cosmos for twenty million euros. A decade of solitary life for a lifetime of wealth. Five years into the ten-year mission of total isolation comes a a temporary meetup among fellow travelers. A lot can happen in a week. For Tornado, who left a normal life behind, a little company can be life-changing.
Review
This is the fifth book of The Far Reaches collection and my first book by Okorafor. I also think this book is my favourite of the collection. I would have loved this to have been a full length novel as I just wanted to know so much more.
The first thing I loved about this short story was the science and technology involved in the living ships called Miris. The ships really reminded me of one of my favourite TV shows Farscape. I really found the Miris fascinating and I would love to have learned more about them. I loved how each Miri adapted to whomever lived in them and made things comfortable for them.
Each captain of the Miris is on the ship on their own although some do have pets, they also have AI on board to help them. I loved the story and found the characters unique and interesting. There were a couple of scenes that I found quite sad but they also just added to the story. The story might only be 45 pages long but it really packed a lot in and I enjoyed Okoafor’s idea of what humans travelling the universe would be like and what they might encounter. I really enjoyed this short story and I will definitely be reading more by Okorafor in the near future. I give this story 5 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
Nnedi Okorafor is a New York Times Bestselling writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. The more specific terms for her works are africanfuturism and africanjujuism, both terms she coined and defined. Born in the United States to two Nigerian (Igbo) immigrant parents and visiting family in Nigeria since she was a child, the foundation and inspiration of Nnedi’s work is rooted in this part of Africa. Her many works include Who Fears Death (winner of the World Fantasy Award and in development at HBO as a TV series), the Nebula and Hugo award winning novella trilogy Binti (in development as a TV series), the Lodestar and Locus Award winning Nsibidi Scripts Series, LaGuardia (winner of a Hugo and Eisner awards for Best Graphic Novel) and her most recent novella Remote Control. Her debut novel Zahrah the Windseeker won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. She lives with her daughter Anyaugo in Phoenix, AZ.
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