The fact that the heroine is female and black is so refreshing. In so many fantasy books you have white male heroes that it was like a breath of fresh air. I loved how the author has clearly used her Nigerian background to inspire and influence the locations of the story and create her own language and religion. The amount of detail she goes into is incredible, with each of the twelve areas of the world being distinct and having its own culture. I think this could possibly have been cut down slightly as it did detract a bit from the storyline and was slightly confusing as to which was which. However, I applaud the author's efforts. This is the first book of its kind I have come across in a fantasy Africa and Ifueko pays such attention to the sights, sounds and smells that it is really evocative.
One of the main themes of the story is human rights, with the main character of Tarisai clearly feeling a sense of great injustice in what is happening to people in her world and that she should be doing something about it. The fact that her will is not her own, but partly controlled by her mother and the bureaucracy she herself is part of, I think deepens her character as it adds to her need to help others, often when she feels she is not able to. This idea of free will runs through the story as well- Tarisai feels both trapped by her mother, but is loyal at the same time, and the same goes for the society she comes to belong to- it holds her back and also frees her. I think this tension plays out very well in the story.
One thing I was not so keen on was the number of characters introduced. The 11 members of the council are all meant to be as close as siblings and yet most of them don't play much part in the story. I wonder whether it would have been better to cut out some characters and develop the main few to a better degree.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable read, completely different to your usual quest fantasy book and I look forward to the sequel.
One of the main themes of the story is human rights, with the main character of Tarisai clearly feeling a sense of great injustice in what is happening to people in her world and that she should be doing something about it. The fact that her will is not her own, but partly controlled by her mother and the bureaucracy she herself is part of, I think deepens her character as it adds to her need to help others, often when she feels she is not able to. This idea of free will runs through the story as well- Tarisai feels both trapped by her mother, but is loyal at the same time, and the same goes for the society she comes to belong to- it holds her back and also frees her. I think this tension plays out very well in the story.
One thing I was not so keen on was the number of characters introduced. The 11 members of the council are all meant to be as close as siblings and yet most of them don't play much part in the story. I wonder whether it would have been better to cut out some characters and develop the main few to a better degree.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable read, completely different to your usual quest fantasy book and I look forward to the sequel.