Remote Control

Remote Control (2021) is a science fiction novella by Nigerian American author Nnedi Okorafor. It tells the story of Sankofa, a young Ghanaian girl with the ability to kill people with a mysterious power she receives from a seed that falls from the sky during a meteor shower. When the seed is first sold by her parents, then stolen, she tracks it across Ghana on foot, both respected and feared by the people she encounters. She learns of a massive technology company, LifeGen, that infiltrates the villages across the country and seeks to harness the power of the seed. Through Sankofa’s journey, the novella explores themes of Redefining the Self After Trauma and Change, The Duality of Technology, and The Burden of Power.

Remote Control is set in the same universe as Okorafor’s novel Who Fears Death (2010) and its prequel, The Book of Phoenix (2015). They are all works of Africanfuturism, a term coined by Okorafor describing speculative fiction that centers on African cultures, histories, and perspectives within African settings. Though not directly tied to Okorafor’s duology of novels in its plot, Remote Control explores the same futuristic world and its technological advancements while tying it to the same mythos rooted in African culture.

This guide uses the first hardcover edition of the novel published in 2021 by Tor Publishing.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of gender discrimination, child abuse, child death, animal death, substance use, and death.

Plot Summary

Fourteen-year-old Sankofa, known as The Daughter of Death, arrives in the town of Tamale, Ghana. She is both feared and respected by the people, who hide in their homes and close their shops when she arrives, yet offer her food, clothing, and gifts. She goes to the largest home in Tamale, where the residents are celebrating Christmas. The owners invite her to eat from their Christmas feast, while serving her food and her favorite drink, orange Fanta. She asks their children to join her for company. While the girl, Ye, is afraid of her, the boy, Edgar, excitedly asks her questions about her life. He is delighted when Sankofa shows off her ability, glowing green with the power to kill anyone in her presence.

When Sankofa leaves the party, she makes it partway down the road when she is stopped by the gateman from the mansion. He accuses her of killing his brother. Sankofa admits that she did so, but only because the man was suffering from illness. When the gateman tries to shoot her, Sankofa destroys the bullet out of the air, then incinerates him, his ashes blowing away in the dust.

Ten years before, when Sankofa was four years old, she was known as “Fatima.” She spent much of her time sitting in the shea tree in her yard and looking at the stars. She drew the constellations and the words she saw there in the dirt, earning the nickname “Starwriter” from her grandfather.

One day, Fatima was sitting in the tree when a meteor shower began. One meteor fell to the earth at the base of Fatima’s tree. When she tried to pick it up, thinking that it looked like a seed, it burned her. When she dropped it, it was absorbed by the ground.

A year later, suffering from malaria, Fatima sat in the same tree. She was kept company by a small fox, Movenpick, that escaped from the nearby zoo. Suddenly, the ground opened up beneath her, as the roots pushed out a small box. Inside, Fatima found the seed. It glowed green and released a mist, which entered her body.

One day, an SUV arrived at Fatima’s home, and two men got out. She recognized one as a politician from TV, while the other was his bodyguard. When the bodyguard came to Fatima in the yard, he asked her about the seed. She refused to give him information, but he was adamant that he was going to take the seed to sell to LifeGen, a powerful technology company. He then went inside, where he and the politician convinced Sankofa’s parents to sell them the seed. Although Fatima was upset, she was relieved by the amount of money it brought her family. That night, she overheard her father talking. After leaving their home, the bodyguard robbed the politician and stole the seed for himself.

Over the next year, Fatima learned that the seed gave her power. When she was threatened, like by a wasp her brother insisted she hold as an experiment, she began to glow green. She was protected from the mosquitoes that bit her, her body responding to and killing them.

Soon after, Fatima’s father sent her and her brother, Fenuku, to the market. On the way, Fatima got distracted while crossing the road. She was struck by a car, causing her to collapse on the ground. Her body responded, glowing brightly and releasing energy. When she opened her eyes, she realized that she had killed everyone in the entire village. At the same moment, she forgot her name. She packed up her belongings and left with Movenpick, taking the name “Sankofa” after one of the figurines her brother used to carve.

Over the next few years, Sankofa travelled across Ghana with Movenpick, always following the seed. In that time, a few people tried to attack her, but Sankofa killed them to defend herself. She earned a reputation as The Daughter of Death, with people both fearing her and asking for her help to ease their suffering. Sankofa complied, always using her power for good or protection. Eventually, she came to the town of Tepa. She was drawn to a large home there. Inside, she found the politician’s guard that stole the seed. She could tell he was dying of malaria. He told her that he got rid of the seed, having spent years trying to keep it from LifeGen and knowing that death, in the form of Sankofa, was following him. He pulled out a gun and tried to shoot her, but Sankofa incinerated him. As she left, she felt the pull of the seed but headed in the opposite direction.



When she was 13 years old, Sankofa arrived in RoboTown. It was controlled by a large AI robocop that directed traffic and protected the townspeople. Sankofa arrived at Mr. Starlit Electronics, where its owner, Alhaja, asked for Sankofa’s help in protecting their newest shipment. When a group of armed men arrived and threatened Alhaja, Sankofa’s presence scared them away. After a successful day of sales, Alhaja and her employees celebrated, while Sankofa was overwhelmed by sad memories of her family.

Sankofa spent several months in RoboTown living with Alhaja. At Alhaja’s urging, Sankofa went to the mosque, where she met Sister Kumi. Sister Kumi urged her to suppress her power and her traumatic memories, bringing Sankofa relief for the first time in her life. She began wearing a hijab and doing her best to fit in with the people of RoboTown.

One day, while in the market, Sankofa came across the seed. Despite her insistence that she no longer wanted it, she was overwhelmed by the urge to have it. She gave the shop owner more than it was worth, then went to sit by a tree at the edge of the village. However, she was approached by one of the robocop’s droids, which had been tracking and following her. Annoyed, Sankofa destroyed it. When several townspeople saw her with it and responded angrily, she fled.

Back in Alhaja’s home, Sankofa took off her hijab and new clothing and put back on her old, traditional clothes. She prepared to leave the town. However, a mob formed outside Alhaja’s home. They demanded that Sankofa go to the robocop, as her actions had caused a car accident for the first time in years, killing a young boy. The robocop explained that Sankofa had always distracted him, as she had no digital footprint and could not be identified. When she destroyed his drone, he was distracted, giving the incorrect signal to the pedestrians.

The robocop’s revelation caused chaos. Sankofa tried to leave, but the citizens of RoboTown attacked her. As they hit her, she resisted the urge to use her power to protect herself. However, she failed, eventually releasing her energy and killing those around her, including Alhaja. Devastated, Sankofa left the town. She was stopped outside of it by one of the robocop’s drones. It told her that she was being tracked by LifeGen, then shocked her, knocking her out.

When Sankofa woke up, she was lying in a grave dug for her. Movenpick was with her. She fled into the forest, where she found a large tree by a stream. Over the next seven months, she lived there, spending many of her nights with farmers who lived nearby. She planted her own garden and made a home for herself, burying the seed at the tree’s base.

One night, when Sankofa returned to her tree after talking with the farmers, she was attacked by a leopard. She fled the forest and into the street before realizing that she had the power to kill it. She released her light, but it failed to kill the leopard. The leopard continued to approach her, stopping only a few feet from her. Although Sankofa was prepared to die, the leopard finally succumbed to her power instead, dying at her feet.

In the present, Sankofa decides to return to her hometown of Wulugu. When she gets there, she finds that it has been rejuvenated by new citizens and by tourism, largely driven by LifeGen. She returns to her old home, which has remained empty for years. As she walks through it, she has memories of her family living there. She makes her way to the tree, then places the seed into the soil. As the roots of the tree rise up and grab it, it is destroyed. Sankofa then remembers her old name, Fatima, and has more vivid visions of her family than she has ever had before.

That night, Sankofa sits in her tree. As she looks out over the shea tree farm, she sees green seeds glowing at the base of all the trees. Realizing that LifeGen has learned how to harness the power, she draws on her own, glowing brightly in the dark. The seeds glow in response, then Sankofa uses her power to destroy the town, this time doing so intentionally.