2 min to read
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
- Title
- Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Children of Blood and Bone is a debut novel by Tomy Adeyemi. And what a great debut it is!
The book takes us to the fantasy realm of Orïsha where all magic was eradicated eleven years ago and all who wielded it were slaughter. Their children live now as the lowest social beings, humiliated and despised. The protagonist Zélie is one of the repressed, she still remembers magic but have no hope of ever retrieving it. But everything change when the princess with a good heart decides it’s time to stop the tyranny of her father. Two young girls, unlikely friends, take up a journey to bring the magic back.
The story is progressing very quickly and it’s hard not to get into this magical world. So full of potential and yet restricted by humans fear and hatred. I really enjoyed how much the characters grow during this journey, especially princess Amari. The narration is from first person and we can see the story through the eyes of Zélie, Amari and Inan - the king’s heir and captain of the royal guards, tasked with capturing his rogue sister and her accomplices. Thanks to that we can get to know the characters more deeply by seeing what is going through their heads. I’m not the biggest fun of the prince though. I don’t want to give away too many details but let’s say he can be really extreme with his actions and behaviours.
Book was inspired by West African mythology so the whole magic system and the pantheon is very interesting and original. The maji (magic users in the book) were divided for ten different clans, each wielded different kind of magic. Additionally, all the spellworking was strictly connected to the gods who granted humans with the powers. Discovering this world was truly amazing! The book also shows with great details a cruelty of racism and segregation and how little people need to overuse their power. Even though the action is based in a fictional world it’s not hard to see the similarities to our everyday life.
This book is an amazing and epic adventure. It has all the right ingredients for a great tale: protagonist with the destiny, the journey, magic and some surprising twists to give it a spice. And enormous wild cats used as horses. Because who wouldn’t want one of those, right? As I said before I’m not really convinced by Inan who often make me roll my eyes and sight heavily, but it was just a small part of the book. I do recommend it to all fantasy fans. And can’t wait for continuation!
4 stars/5
