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Christopher Farai Charamba The Reader
The fantasy genre has grown to become a massive part of the entertainment industry. With productions like “Harry Potter”, “Lord of the Rings” and “Game of Thrones” earning billions on the silver screen and through subsidiary streams like merchandise, fantasy literature has become a lucrative form of writing.

This is something young adult fiction writer Tomi Adeyemi would come to find as her debut novel “Children of Blood and Bone” earned her a reported seven- figure deal with Fox picking up what is to become a trilogy for on-screen production.
Adeyemi’s is the biggest book deal in the world, illustrating the strength of the genre in publishing and the popularity of such content among readers and viewers.

The first in a trilogy, “Children of Blood and Bone” certainly deserves to be up there with some of the famed works in its class of writing. With the success of “Black Panther” at the box office, audiences have shown that they are keen on diversity in the entertainment industry and this book is one poised to become a game changer in the literary world.

Set in a fictional place named Orïsha, “Children of Blood and Bone” is a story about magic, family, tradition, culture, and self-awareness. The story follows Zélie, a teenage girl living in a small fishing town in the West of Orïsha. Zélie is a Divîner, a child who has the potential to do magic and become a maji.

Unfortunately for Zélie and the rest of her people, magic was destroyed by the King of Orïsha and all the maji killed in what was known as The Raid. Zélie’s mother was one of the casualties and her family has suffered tremendously since.
Divîners are treated as outcasts in Orïsha, forced to pay high taxes and usually ending up in forced labour by the time they become adults.

But life is set to change for Zélie as an ancient artefact is discovered with the power to bring back magic. During a chance encounter with the Princess of Orïsha, Amari, in a market in Lagos, Zélie’s ashe (her ability to do magic) is awakened and thus her quest to bring back magic begins.

Along with her brother Tzain and the princess Amari, after discovering that there is a way to restore magic to Orïsha, Zélie sets out to accomplish this mission.

Her journey is not without challenges as on her tail is Amari’s brother, the Prince of Orïsha, Inan and the leader of the Orïshan forces, Admiral Kaea.

Their mission is to stomp out magic for good and make sure that none of the other Divîners become maji.
To fans of “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, this book might seem familiar as there are some similarities. The maji are divided into 10 clans, each with a special ability they control, and a specific deity who grants them the gifts.

Zélie is from the Ikú clan, a maji known as a reaper with the power of life and death. This gives her the ability to connect with the living and the dead and channel life through her as well as manipulate dead souls.
Adeyemi, a student of West African mythology, drew on a number of the elements she studied in this well-crafted story. The importance of such stories cannot be understated. Although they are fictional, they illustrate different narratives that black and African writers can produce which can compete with other popular stories in those genres.

The book deals with a number of important themes, one of which is identity. All the major characters – Zélie, Amari, Tzain and Inan – struggle with figuring out who they truly are and where they belong.
Adeyemi manages to illustrate this internal battle the characters face well and shows how it affects their interpersonal relationships which impacts their choices and the future of Orïsha.

An enjoyable piece of young adult fantasy fiction, “Children of Blood and Bone” is deserving of its acclaim and will likely be as much a hit at the box office as it is on the bookshelf.