Critique: Children of Virtue and Vengeance 3/3 (Tomi Adeyemi)

*****SPOILERS*****

 

Speech

Amari, ‘one speech away from taking the throne’, delivers it to a packed auditorium.

            I have to give credit to Amari: it was crafted beautifully. She spoke of Binta because even though the audience didn’t know her name, they ‘know her story’. That was a truly powerful line.

            But then Nehanda, Amari’s mother, comes in and literally tears the place down. She simultaneously claims Amari’s using tricks to gain the throne whilst she’s killing innocents to keep it. The sun may have been rising on Orisha but Nehanda ‘set it’. This analogy was nicely done.

            So, you were one speech away from the throne, did you say?

 

Attack on the Iyika HQ

Iyika want Inan dead but Amari doesn’t. The nobles want to annihilate the Iyika but Inan does not. So the siblings negotiate in secret.

            This takes place within the Iyika HQ so that Amari isn’t gone long enough for others to notice. But Inan has to travel a lot further which risks him being gone long enough to notice.  Now, he’s the king, so if he’s gone he’ll be noticed a lot sooner. Especially when compared with Amari who is ignored by the Iyika.

Also, kings get shadowed. In this case, Inan’s followed by the army. How oblivious do you need to be to not notice an army is following you? We know from book one that you are a capable tracker! What happened? (And naïve Amari for thinking that the king wouldn’t be followed.)

Iyika lose one member but the army can’t count how many they’ve lost (and yet Amari thinks the Iyika are losing!) Inan thinks the army will be wiped out so the only option is to annihilate them. Um excuse me but your army just tried to wipe them out so perhaps now’s not the time to flip flop?

 

The (Almost) Referendum

We learn that there was almost a referendum to join the maji with the monarchy.

Nehanda thought the throne needed protecting from this. So she got Burners to kill the royal family, leaving only Sarran alive. (Earlier she said she would burn the crown if she could. Was this shadowing or pyromania?)

Considering Ojore is Inan’s paternal cousin, why isn’t Ojore considered a royal? His royal parents were burnt in that same fire, after all. Perhaps I’d understand if Ojore was a distant cousin, but if that was the case, why would his parents be in the palace and why wouldn’t the author mention he was a distant cousin? To use ‘cousin’ by itself is almost always a reference to first cousins.

We later learn Ojore walked in on the queen telling Inan this and thinks Inan celebrated in it. (Yet when you read Nehanda’s revelation to Inan, Inan is clearly disgusted.) Then Ojore says Inan isn’t a leader because all he’s done is rip the country apart. Um, you were the one convincing him to go further. Shock does to funny things to our brains, though.

 

Ibadan

Inan is hiding in Ibadan, Zelie’s birthplace, and the elders plan to sneak in.

            Amari thinks Inan, Nehanda and her father Sarran are monsters. And because Inan’s a monster, Sarran’s command, ‘Strike, Amari’, comes through. Um, if he’s a monster then perhaps don’t listen to him?

Amari concludes she must fight like her family to defeat her family. So she concocts a secret plan with Jahi, Winder Elder, and Imani, a Cancer, to gas Ibadan to death. Zelie manages to save some people; Inan left before this happened. So Amari had Ibadan’s population killed for nothing.

Jahi and Imani aren’t reprimanded, let alone punished, for agreeing to Amari’s plan. No one even mentions they were involved, let alone that it was by their hands that Ibadan was exterminated, not Amari’s. This confused me to no end.

Amari has been determined to be a better queen than her father but she wonders when Sarran became her guidance. You’ve been chanting ‘Strike, Amari’ throughout the novel, so it’s been always.

 

Finale

Inan decides to dissolve the monarchy because Amari’s actions clearly show it corrupts people. (Just a side note: power corrupts, not the crown. Entitlement can be as strong, if not stronger, in an elected leader.)

            This gave me pause for thought: there’s no way he could have known it was Amari because it wasn’t her magic. Unless the monarchy had a spy in the Iyika? But if that’s the case, why haven’t we seen them before? But then it hit me: Roen’s gang. We know they’ve been working for both sides and Roen clearly knew what was coming.

            I hope it was Roen’s gang and not Roen himself who passed the information onto the monarchy. Knowing Zelie, she’ll blame Roen either way.

 

The end is super-fast. Everything flitted before your eyes which built up a sense of anticipation to make the reader feel as lost as the characters do at the end.

Zelie, Tzain, Kamaru and Khani join their life forces and their combined magics are fascinating. They need to sacrifice a loved one: can’t let go of Tzain or Roen (finally admits it to herself!) so has to be Amari. Instead, Mama Agba becomes it.  

Amari turns her back to her mother and to my surprise Nehanda doesn’t strike her daughter.

Zelie slowly takes the life out of Inan but does she take all of it?

Roen comes to save Zelie from white gas but Zelie and Amari end up leaving Orisha on what I guess is a slave ship. Maybe this is why Nehanda didn’t kill Amari: a princess would fetch a high price and after a civil war Orisha could do with the money.

 

Conclusion

Zelie and Agba both say they’re children of the gods. The title of the first book was physical (bones and blood) and the second is abstract (vengeance and virtue) so a spiritual/magical title for the conclusion seems fitting.

The book started out lethargic: I wasn’t gripped until the end of chapter three. I had to push myself to continue reading. Beyond doubt, this was worth it (the book as a whole was another power hitter), but the start was still a disappointment.

Throughout the book, both sides have opposite opinions on who has the advantage. Every single time one of them changes their mind, so does the other side. If you’re to flip flop several times, at least stagger the changes (unless something decisive happens so it’s clear to both sides that one side has the advantage). It’s like Inan and Zelie’s opinion on magic in book one, but on steroids.

The three perspective characters are all tinged in grey. Not neutral but their thoughts, actions and intentions range from good to horrific. It’s definitely one of the most successful ways I’ve seen a writer balance their characters to reflect the imperfections of human nature.

Now I just have to be patient for book three. The wait will be too long but I have high hopes. From what I’ve seen so far, Adeyemi will produce another work of genius.

Critique: Children of Virtue and Vengeance 2/3 (Tomi Adeyemi)

*****SPOILERS*****

 

Zelie and Amari

Zelie and Amari’s relationship suffers more turmoil than in the first book. It’s like storm-made waves on the ocean.

If there opposite feelings towards Inan weren’t opening a rift between their friendship, their squabbles would have been softer and rarer. Amari believes Inan’s good intentions but Zelie won’t let Inan betray the Iyika like he did her.

Timid Amari from book one is now a confident Amari rearing to be queen. Before, she wanted to become queen to save Orisha. Now, her focus is on becoming queen: saving Orisha is always the justification but she acts like the role is more important than the goal. So the Iyika wanting Zelie on the throne  (sorry, ‘my thrine’) upsets Amari to no end.

Amari uses an incantation against a maji despite promising Zelie she wouldn’t (using someone’s sacred language against them is a bit shitty). Zelie accuses Amari of winning at any cost, just like her dad and brother. Seeing as Amari wants to fix what her father did, this is a blow.

            Zelie blames Amari’s family for both her parents being dead. Obviously Zelie’s upset but lashing out by specifying Amari is harsh, especially considering Amari has worked for Zelie. Amari points out she killed her dad and both her parents tried to kill her. So Zelie runs away (which is, of course, the grown-up thing to do).

 

Zelie

Zelie sees ashe flowing over people’s skeletons. So far, we’d been told ashe flows through blood. This isn’t entirely odd, considering considering blood is made in bones. But surely organs would have a lot more blood, and hence ashe, so they should be more vivid than the bones?

            It surprises me that Zelie’s always able to raise spirits to help her fight. This isn’t a comment on her talents. Rather, how are there enough spirits trapped in the plain of the living for Zelie to use? Especially when Reapers are meant to put spirits to rest! Or do they use the spirits of the dead animals and maybe plants too? Many belief systems are pantheistic so everything in the natural world, even rocks, have spirits.

Zelie says ‘I abandoned my vow to get my revenge.’ Does this mean that you made a vow to get revenge but you abandoned this vow? Or does this mean that you made a vow but you abandoned it to get revenge instead? The sentence would mean the former but the context means the latter. Perhaps ‘in order to get my revenge’ would have been a better choice of words.

Zelie says Inan believes his own lies. I’ve never really understood this phrase. A lie is claiming something to be true when you know it’s not. A belief is something we think is true. To believe your own lies, you have to believe (i.e. think something is true) something you know is false (i.e. a non-true). How can you think something is true if you know it’s not true? You can’t. So it’s logically impossible to believe your own lies.

‘Inan the prince I believed I loved.’ You did love him. You can doubt if he loved you or if you should have loved him, but your feelings towards him now don’t erase your feelings towards him them.

 

Inan

I don’t like Inan. But he does push against bad actions to do some good. Amari and Zelie (whom I like), on the other hand, are determined to push with bad actions to do good. So Inan is my preferred perspective character (even if he still wants to impress dead daddy Sarren) because he made the biggest effort to do the right thing.

Everyone behind the monarchy want the maji eliminated but Inan only has eyes for the Iyika. That way, he thinks maji will no longer be seen as criminals. But he knows the maji were hated before the Iyika even existed. But he makes point that kodisan attack diviner attack kodison. No one takes any steps to end the cycle.

 

Nehanda

Nehanda is one mighty schemer and is a force to be reckoned with.

Queen Nehanda should be known as ‘Queen Dowager’, ‘Dowager Queen’ or ‘Queen Mother’. She’s not married to a king and nor is she a regent. ‘Queen’ by itself is insufficient.

The queen says a lot of things that are contradictory to actuality.  She says she can break through the defences but can’t put them back. Why ever not? You clearly have the capability and the titans to take energy from. Plus you’ve been willing to do anything for your son. But she was probably trying one last thing to make Inan change his mind.

As a side note, Nehanda says they haven’t been able to bring food into the capital and yet she with a sizeable guard could sneak out to go destroy Amari’s speech? Surely you can send some soldiers to raid for food at the very least. 

 

Roen

Roen takes on a kinder role. He comforts Zelie a lot and it does warm my heart, I’ll admit. He can be kind, gentle and patient when it matters. He’s tender when Zelie feels like it’s hopeless. Well and truly cute.

Roen takes her swimming and it is a beautifully vivid scene. They see a blue whale that glows and eats fish. Blue whales in real life eat krill BUT there’s no reason why a fish-eating whale that’s blue can’t be called a ‘blue whale’. (Either that or the author thinks blue whales do eat fish in real life.)

When they come back, he’s got seduction on full blast but he finishes it with a forehead kiss. That’s a lovely touch. Then they share a kiss and he asks if it’s okay. But when he touches the scars on her back, Zelie is savage to him to make him leave.  It’s horrid to watch but it does add realism, in regards to Zelie’s personality and to Zelie as a person with an awful experience.

Roen gets his arm trapped under a boulder and Zelie cuts it off to get out the water. He jokes for her to let him drown rather than chop off a ‘certain appendage’, bringing in an Orishan saying: ‘Don’t chop it till you try it.’ Whilst I snorted, it’s ‘ ‘til’, not ‘till’, because it’s short for ‘until’, hence an apostrophe is needed whilst an extra ‘l’ is not.

Throughout the book, Roen calls Zelie ‘zitzol’, making up humorous meanings to go with the situation. Now we find out it means ‘home’. Oh, my heart!

Critique: Children of Virtue and Vengeance 1/3 (Tomi Adeyemi)

 

*****SPOILERS*****

 

In the second instalment of this series, people fleeing the war-struck Orisha. The novel begins with a touching memory that gives impetus to Zelie. She and Princess Amari work with the Iyika (maji-driven ‘Revolution’) to bring down King Inan and the monarchy.

 

Adeyemi’s detailed description of the use of magic is innovative and so vivid. They are among the best that I’ve ever seen: truly spectacular. Then we see different types of magic combined to produce fascinating effects. With ten magic types, that’s forty-five possible combos. Perhaps multiple types of magic, up to all ten, could combine at once? That gives hundreds of potential combinations of creativity.

 

 

The Iyika

 

The army is slaughtering all maji to retaliate against the Iyika. This is blatant genocide.

            When we meet the Iyika, we see Mama Agba again, as brilliant as she was in book one. As the oldest remaining maji she advises the ten elders who lead the Iyika and their clans. My favourite is Na’imah, the Tamer Elder, who has ‘rich curves’ and a sunflower and hummingbird in her hair, creating an enchanting vision.

            Zelie becomes the Reaper Elder, convinced it’s wrong to take on a sacred role just to win a war. Amari, on the other hand, has no qualms with this approach. Amari became an elder for leverage but this (to no-one’s surprise but her own) just makes the Iyika hate her even more. Naïve Amari is back!

            Another difference is that Zelie received her isipaya, a prophecy given by that clan’s god to that clan’s new elder during a ceremony (Zelie saw different colours swirling together). We don’t see or even hear of Amari’s isipaya even though she did become Connecter Elder. Why was Amari’s left out? It’s not like the Iyika didn’t have the time to do it.

            Sentaro robes were worn by the Reapers helping Zelie prepare. Yes the Sentaro were separate from the ten clans but with no Sentaro left, someone had to fill the roll. Besides, Mama Agba maybe like the Mamalawo and she did train with the Sentaro, so maybe the Sentaro weren’t as separate from other maji as we were led to believe in book one. Or maybe the maji were just adapting to the times.

 

 

Titans

 

Titans are the group Inan and Amari fall into: members of the nobility and military who develop magic. Titans have a lot of power, meaning they don’t need incantations, but this also gives them less control.

            It’s hinted that titans have a maji among their ancestors. Titans only existed once Zelie restored magic by connecting everyone to the gods via their ancestors. Having maji ancestors would explain why Amari’s skin is darker than usual for a kodisan (and why this shamed Nehanda).

            The scroll from the first book gave Inan magic, just like it gave some diviners magic, too. Plus, as not every diviner becomes a maji, not every noble/militant who has maji ancestors would become a titan. Why, then, did Amari not develop powers when she touched the scroll from the first book? Perhaps it’s just because a connection with the gods is far more powerful than a connection with paper.

            Titans are immune to majicite. The titans put on masks when Nehanda unleashes fluid majicite (it acts like both liquid and gas and both of these are fluids). At first this was odd: if you’re immune then why protect yourself? But ingesting any fluid will cause breathing difficulties, whether it’s magical or not.

 

We also get centres, titans who strengthen their own magic by absorbing the ashe (magic) of other titans. Nehanda is one such being.

It’s a clever name, being the centre of energy, but how they got it was a bit… naff. Zelie goes: ‘”They’re more like centres.” She creates the term.’ That’s not how that works. If one says something’s like such-and-such, then that such-and-such has to already exist.

Zelie later learns to bind people together by their life force, creating the power to outmatch a titan. This, however, requires the sacrifice of a loved one. Seeing as her father was the sacrifice for magic, I’m surprised Zelie could consider sacrificing another for more power. Logically and strategically it made sense, but for Zelie to have the strength to go through with it was surprising.

On hearing this, Amari says this’ll let them ‘win the war without losing one more soul.’ Did you not just listen to what Mama Agba said? Even making one bond will require a sacrifice which would be the loss of one more soul. Or do the power-hungry dismiss inconvenient details?

 

The fact that kodisan can use magic is a sore subject for the maji.

Zelie even says titans stole magic so Amari shouldn’t use it. Now, magic is a gift from the gods. You can’t steal what’s been gifted to you. Also, they have magic because of the ritual you did to connect them to the gods via their ancestors. So if you’re looking for someone to blame…

Zelie does make a good point when she says maji are ‘still being hunted and killed for the very magic titans like you use against us.’ Like how you hear parents screaming at their children to not raise their voices. It’s hypocrisy at its finest. But the kodisan honestly feel like they’re the ones in danger, not the diviners.

 

 

Other

 

There are a few other things worth mentioning.

At one point Amari tells us, ‘A flutter erupts between my legs.’ Reaction One: NOPE. Reaction Two: the juxtaposition of intensity is really well done.

            My favourite description in the book is in the war-torn palace. ‘Shattered glass and crooked frames stain the barren walls.’ Honestly, that’s perfection.

            I like General Jokoye. Oh, to be sure, she’s a dick, but at least she’s an honest dick. Her character is so vibrant in my mind.

            We hear hyenaires. So far, the –aire suffix been for felines only. Are Orishan hyenas considered cats? Not necessarily, because we also have elephantaires. Seeing as Tamers created ryders, perhaps the –aire suffix is to indicate the modified animals?

 

There is the occasional oddity.

            Inan talks about his father. ‘But last time, I chose him; him and Orisha, when Amari and I risked everything to choose me.’ Powerful, to be sure, but it has the weirdest sentence structure.

            We get the metaphor of a snake breaking free from its cage. Why on Earth would you put a snake in a cage? It would slither straight through the bars! That’s like putting an eagle in an open-air aviary!

The purge of maji is being conducted by an admiral. An admiral operating entirely on terra firma… So why use ‘admiral’ which is a naval title?

We get ‘rain forest’ written in two words instead of one. It’s not wrong but it’s a bit off-putting.

Adeyemi will describe something once and never make mention of it again. For example, the Reaper Bimpe has patches of discolouration. Does Bimpe have vitiligo? It’s nice to have conditions represented in fiction, even if it only has a single mention

At one point, Tzain says Amari refused to see healers but six lines later Zelie’s told five healers refused to see Amari. So which one is it? Or did Amari like to Tzain so he wouldn’t be angry at the healers? I’m hoping the latter is the truth because the two conflicting ‘facts’ are so close together that they should have been noticed.

Ojore calls Inan ‘Your Highness’. Yet this is the style for a lesser prince, not a king (this would be ‘Your Majesty’). Even in his previous position as crown prince, Inan would have been entitled to ‘Your Royal Highness’.

A Lefty’s Economic Argument for the Monarchy

As such a staunch leftie, people usually expect me to vehemently oppose the monarchy. Yet I don’t. What I do is deconstruct the anti-monarchist economic arguments: taxpayers pay the monarchy and presidents are more cost-effective than monarchs.

 

The Queen owns The Crown Estate, a portfolio of businesses and residential properties.

All profits are paid into the Treasury. All of it. Usually 15% is given back to the Queen as the Sovereign Grant to ensure all royals have the money to perform their duties.

Hence the Queen is essentially taxed 85%. And it’s voluntary (there’s no legal requirement for her to pay that money). There would be uproar if others had to pay 85% tax and I doubt anyone would volunteer to pay tax if they weren’t obliged to do so.

So if the Queen pays for herself and her family, and the Treasury keeps most of her money, taxpayers clearly aren’t paying for the monarchy. Thus the Queen pays for herself: to claim otherwise is to be ignorant of the facts.

 

People often argue that monarchs cost more than presidents. This is simply untrue. If people want an elected head of state then they fully well should, but using money as the justification is illogical.

A country with an elected head of state has to pay for the elections via citizen’s taxes. Plus candidates seek donations for their campaigns. This money could be filtered into charities, parliamentary elections and other investments.

Royals bring in far, far more money than presidents ever could. Think of merchandise, the tourism industry and cultural/historical sites like museums, gardens and homes. Not only does paying for these things bring in money for the country but it also creates jobs for the citizens of the country, too.

Furthermore, having a family of royals means that multiple people can officially engage with communities, schools and charities on a local and national scale. It likewise means there are multiple people who can be sent on international trips and tours to promote the interests of the country. A president may come with a handful vice-president but they can’t work on the same scale as a royal family.

So if a monarch pays for itself (and a president doesn’t) and brings in a lot of money (compared to a president), the argument that monarchs cost more than presidents is unfounded.

 

Like I said, this is the economic argument to have a monarch as head of state. This neither ventures into the problems of privilege, nor does it justify abuses committed by absolute monarchs who are also head of government. But on a purely economic front, the monarchy (in the UK at least) is far more beneficial than a presidency.