BOOK REVIEW: Adeyemi’s is a story of suppression and a cry for freedom

If you love fantasy realms that allow your imagination free reign, then Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi will blow your mind. You’ve probably read fantasy novels like Game of Thrones, Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings and as entertaining and fantastical as those books are, they are essentially foreign and reflect worlds that do not resemble the African setting in the least. This is what sets this novel apart. 

In our fantasy world is Orisha; a country that closely resembles Nigeria. In this monarchy, the people are every shade of black and brown. Some of their ancestors speak Yoruba, they eat Jollof and their monarch lives in a city called Lagos. 

Forced labour, maiming, beatings, and staggering taxes are used to keep the Diviners fearful and obedient.

The book starts with a fighting circle in the seaside village of Illorin. Here, we meet one of the young protagonists called Zelie. She is a ‘diviner’- a child whose parent had magic that should have been passed on to her; characterized by their snow-white hair. The difference between her and a ‘Maji’ like her mother is that Diviners do not have magic but are marked for it. 

When we meet Zelie, magic has disappeared under a ruthless King that killed the Maji, thus leaving every diviner orphaned and in a constant state of fear. As the book progresses, we learn that Zelie is the one chosen by the gods to restore magic to Orisha and bring back the ten Maji clans. If she succeeds, the world could once again have the Burners who ignite flames, the Tiders who beckon waves, Welders who bend iron and earth, and the Reapers like Zélie’s mother, who could summon forth souls.

Danger and death

As with every quest, her journey is wrought with danger and death. She has to overcome everything and lose everything to bring back magic and free her people. Will she manage to accomplish the task with the prince on her heels?  

As the trio of liberators move around Orisha, we are captivated by the emotional flashbacks of the countries bloodied past. We see what was lost during the ‘Raid,’ the event that led to the murder of every Maji in the realm, and set into place the caste system that oppresses the Diviners. Forced labour, maiming, beatings, and staggering taxes are used to keep the Diviners fearful and obedient but the hatred and grief they endure only grow with each passing day. 

Police brutality

The state of Orisha reminds us of the current atrocities of police brutality. All around the world and especially in the United States, unarmed men, women, and children are losing their lives to police brutality.

Since curfew was instituted in the country in March, the Kenya Police has reportedly been involved in the killing of 15 people. The Independent Policing Oversight Body (IPOA) said in a statement seen by AFP news agency that they have received complaints about the police that range from deaths, shootings, harassment, assaults, robbery, and inhuman treatment to sexual assault. Sadly, the killings of people without Personal Protective Equipment continue under the guise of enforcing Covid-19 restrictions.

Not Yet Uhuru

We may have taken to streets to protest the atrocities that we the people have endured during lockdown, but as with many things in our beloved country, it is not yet Uhuru. With this book, you can find a medium for your pain and a target for your anger. 

In a nutshell, Children of Blood and Bone is an old African story of political oppression, cultural suppression, classism, and the struggle of the downtrodden to regain their magic.