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’.