The cover for Nnedi Okorafor’s upcoming Africanfuturist novel Shadow Speaker is out, and it is  stunning! Shadow Speaker is Book One of The Desert Magician’s Duology and will be released on September 26 by DAW Books.

The cover designer is by Greg Ruth, Okorafor’s longtime collaborator. Here is how Okorafor describes working with him on this cover:

This book cover is a result of a long conversation between @GregRuth and me about the main character Ejii Ugabe and West Africa in 2074, and then Greg Ruth’s masterful artistic wizardry. In this new world rife with AI-generated images, I feel this is an important detail.

The 2023 edition of Shadow Speaker is a deluxe, expanded edition of an out-of-print early novel from Okorafor, with a brand-new introduction from the author.

The story takes place in Niger, West Africa in 2074. 15-year old Ejii witnesses her father’s beheading and sets off to track down her father’s killer in this futuristic world. But Ejii comes face to face “with an earth turned inside out — and with her own mystical ability,” discovering that her travels across the Sahara Desert have a deeper purpose.

Okorafor shares on twitter that the book incorporates a wide range of elements including “deep mysticism, a new type of desert, spontaneous forests, polyandry, fast cars, the power of Gerewol.” Sounds exciting!

Preorder Shadow Speaker here!