Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa is the first in a trilogy about an alt-African empire that is about to be turned upside down by a magical threat. Unless you're one of the elite Bassai, you're probably having a hard time of it as an indentured servant or living on the fringes of society.

Danso is a scholar who loves learning for learning's sake. Unfortunately, he has poor impulse and time management skills, which leads him to be late for an important gathering. This snowballs into him getting involved with a magicworker and having to abandon his home and family, traveling through a dangerous forest and savannah to reach what he hopes will be a sanctuary.

Having read Okungbowa's "David Mogo - Godhunter,) I wasn't surprised by the lushness of the story and the solidity of the worldbuilding. This is an Africa that never was, but this reads, in the way great fantasy books do, like a history. Danso is the well-meaning, naive hero who is forced to examine his culture and how it treats others as he works to find his place in the world. Lilong, the magicworker, is more jaded, but still has hope that the different groups can work together.

While the story plays out much as the reader will expect it to, there is no staleness. You want to know what happens next with Danso and Lilong, and learn how their magic will shape not only themselves, but their world.

Highly recommended. 4 out of 5 stars.

I received a copy from Orbit Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Fantastic world!
I adored the main characters from the beginning and I just really loved the magic system. Really looking forward to more in this world.

I went into this book knowing very little about the plot since I typically enjoy experiencing a story completely blind, and wow did this story end up blowing me away. This story primarily revolves around three separate characters who have very different backgrounds but whose lives are still interconnected. Each of these characters is looked down upon by their current society due to the fact that their mere existence goes against societal ideals. Throughout the story, two of the protagonists have to come to terms with the truths of the world and how they contradict what they've been taught their entire lives by those in power. Meanwhile, the third protagonist, who is of a race most people were told no longer existed, is stuck working alongside one protagonist as she helps him unlearn false truths and to be less naive, and is also working against the other protagonist who has suddenly gained tremendous powers and is seemingly on a path of destruction.

This world and each character are so incredibly complex that it's hard to even do the plot justice in a simple summary. The worldbuilding in general was fascinating to me, especially as the story branched out into places other than Bassa, where most power is held. Each location the characters arrive at unravels even more about Bassai society and does a great job displaying its flaws.

I loved seeing the character growth as all of this occurred as well. No character was the same at the end of this book compared to the start, and despite being exposed to similar truths, each character still went down a drastically different path. Many characters had storylines I wasn't expecting, and some reached drastic extremes in terms of their actions later on in the story. After seeing how dark this book managed to get, I am very curious to see how these characters continue to grow in future books. I am particularly curious about one of the protagonists' future developments because despite disliking her by the end of this first book, her character growth was fascinating to me and I would love to see if she continues to seem unapologetically bad, or if she later becomes a more sympathetic character.

Overall, I loved this story and how it balanced feeling like a fantasy book while incorporating aspects that still made this feel very relevant to modern society. The examinations of how different races and cultures interact, and how those in power can so easily oppress others that they deem beneath them, hit hard, especially regarding the suppression of information in order to further push their ideals on members of their society. The way in which certain characters tried to push their beliefs on others felt almost uncomfortably real because it mirrored things I have seen happen in politics in recent years. Okungbowa really nailed this, as it made it that much easier to understand each characters' perspective on events throughout the story.

This was a great start to a new trilogy, and now that I feel invested in this fantasy world, I look forward to seeing how the story further develops in the final two books!

I so badly wanted to like this book but alas, I just haven't been able to get into it. I am a fan of multiple points-of-view usually but 9 is it at least 4 too many. Due to the number of points-of-view, all of the characters felt very one-dimensional. I was unable to connect with any of the characters and came to view the book as a chore since I didn't want to not finish it. I could rant more but won't, this book just wasn't for me unfortunately.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

OoOoOo what a fun new fantasy series! I cannot convey how much I LOVE all the SFF fiction with postcolonial, anticolonial vibes coming out in recent years. Bassa is a past-its-heyday empire with a strict racial caste system. Dark-skinned individuals are the “Bassai ideal” and hold the highest positions in all government and academic institutions. Those of mixed-blood and refugees are relegated to the fringes of society. Never quite fitting this ideal, Danso is nevertheless being trained at an elite institution. That is, until an outsider turns his life upside down and exposes him to a magic he never thought existed. A magic that his deceased mother’s island people may also have possessed before they were destroyed.

Hunted by his former homeland, whose new ruler covets this long-hidden magic, Danso seeks refuge and answers.

Son of the Storm is exciting and intriguing world-building. And the female villains--Danso’s fiance and her mother--are loathsome perfection. That said, I found Danso’s character pretty dry and uncomplicated. For all his desires to leave Bassa, he doesn’t initially question his home very deeply and its darker secrets have to be exposed for him. Thankfully, Son of the Storm is multiple POV. Looking forward to the next installment!

I have to say that I went in reading this because of the hype and I really wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did.

This book is seriously one of my top 10 favourite Fantasy books of this year. I found it so entertaining and I just couldn't put it down.

Son of the Storm is an epic fantasy that is so well written.
I now can't wait for the next book in this series and yes you bet I will be pre-ordering the next book because I can't wait to read more.

I do highly recommend

My Review: Exciting West-African-inspired Fantasy!
Rep: West African, non-binary, LGBTQIA+

What a complex epic fantasy! I really enjoyed reading this book and learning more about West African culture through the vivid storytelling!

The Pros: What Worked For Me

The worldbuilding was incredible! The author didn’t skip a single detail in creating this magical world. From the clothing to the political climate, every aspect was carefully described and vivid.
The female characters were very well done. Esheme was my favourite and I’m looking forward to reading more about her in the next novel!
I loved learning about West African culture! This is a story told completely from an African perspective and it is wonderful.
The magic system was well developed and there is great scope for it as the series continues.

The Cons: What I Didn’t Like

I was not a fan of Danso. He was simply too naive for my liking and I couldn’t connect with him.
At times, the pacing of the story was slow; this book was great for setting up the stage but interesting moments only happened after the first half.

In all honesty, I found this to be a fun read. It was well thought out and has great potential as a series. I’m excited for what the next book will have in store, so I’m giving this a solid 3/5 stars!

This is now one of my favs in the fantasy genre. Love the characters and the worldbuilding. This an authour I will be looking out for more of their work. Highly recommend this.

I wanted to enjoy this, I really did! I just couldn't get into it at first and then after seeing an unexpected interview/review from the author about certain language he used in the book, I'm genuinely turned off from him and his books. Not for me, sorry! Thank you for the chance to read and review this book though!

Thanks to Netgalley for the earc!

Wow, this book REALLY surprised me.

This bloody and brutal coming of age story follows Danso on his quest to learn the truth about himself and Bassa. It’s multiple POV (yay!) AND IT’S QUEER!! Hello nonbinary rep & very not straight sex.

The first half was slow for me and I had a really hard time caring about any of the characters except for Danso. Everyone has different things that interest them so you may have a different experience than me, but the beginning of this book didn’t really keep my attention. Which then had me thinking this was going to be a 2-star for me.

But then things started happening. And let me tell you: it’s SO worth getting past the first half to get to the action.

Esheme is an AMAZING character. I mean, she’s definitely not a good person—she’s not even morally gray—but I love her anyway. Not in a “I support your decisions” kind of way. But. She’s just INTERESTING. I never knew what she was going to do or what her choices would lead to. And while there are some things that just… don’t quite add up in my head about her, it doesn’t even matter, because DAMN.

Danso is definitely more predictable because he’s a consistent and reliable character, but I loved his POV because this is where we get the adventure. His quest for the truth takes him away from Bassa, which extends our understanding of the world they live in.

I can’t wait to read what happens next in the second book!

The writing style and pacing were a little slow for my taste, but this was still a phenomenal read. Basically, it was difficult to get into the world of the story at first, but after a handful of chapters it picked up and I was fully immersed.

An African-inspired fantasy with rich world-building, Son of the Storm was the perfect book for me to pick up when I was in the middle of a book slump.

Going in, SotS reminded me a lot of a book I had recently read with a very smart main character who ends up making the worst decisions at every point and I realised I'm attracted to this trope (Or maybe I am this trope). That's what drew me into this book in the first place.

Some other things I loved:
x The lush setting and rich world-building.
x the magic system.
x a smart main character who is also adorably dumb (As I said, I love them)
x the queer rep. (One of the main characters is Bi, maybe pan and has a relationship with a non-binary side character)
x the not-so-cute animal companion/familiar. Didn't expect that.
x the underlying themes of discrimination because of one’s skin color, and the feeling of not belonging really hit the spot.
x it also doesn’t hurt that the cover is THAT gorgeous!

I really enjoyed this book till the 80% mark. But that is when it hit me that the character who I thought would be just a minor antagonist was actually THE VILLAIN of the series. And my main problem was that her villain origin story left something to be desired. I didn't understand her motivations. Nor did I understand why EVERYONE got swayed so quickly by her one speech. I found her to be despicable (maybe that's the point of a villain), and also felt things were handed to her too easily. Apart from the mixed feelings about the villain, I loved the other two main characters of the series - Danso and Lilong.

All in all, I really enjoyed this one and will be looking forward to the sequel!

I think the writer was not as interested in the bit of the story that were interesting to me. Many of the things that happened in the book seemed implausible, perhaps because I did not get a good enough foundation of this world. I love Lilong though. She is a complicated character and her mission is compelling. I wish she had been the hero of the story. Suyi definitely has a talent for epic fantasy and I think he will write better books going forward.

This perfectly paced fantasy had my heart pounding and my brain screaming to read faster! I adored the world building and the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing me with an advanced copy for review.

Son of the Storm was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021. It promised fantastic characters, an original story line, and a well-written world. It definitely did not disappoint. I loved everything about this book, from the diverse characters and setting, to the relationships that felt so fleshed out. I loved Danso, our main character, and absolutely cannot wait for book two! I would recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy or simply a good story.

I like to thank NetGalley and Orbit for allowing me a chance to read this book.

This was a tough book to read. While I think there was a story in this, it was marred by difficult writing and use of grammar.

If belonging to both the highest and lowest castes in the land at the same time taught one anything, it was that when people had to choose where to place a person, they would always choose a spot beneath them.

Danso lives in the city of Bassa, the seat of the great Bassa Empire. Although he is a brilliant scholar in training, he’s a Sashi, a child born between a member of the Bassai elite and an outlander. His engagement to up-and-coming politician Esheme (the daughter of a fixer) should help his status, but Danso’s feelings of unease and frustration have only been increasing. Until he witnesses a mysterious outlander performing forbidden magic, and his entire destiny shifts.

“I didn’t quite think this through, did I? I’ve been so fixated on a quest for my own truth that I didn’t consider the consequences.”

*hyperventilating wheezing*

That. Is. How. You. Do. Epic. Fantasy!

The scope, the stakes, the characters, the world-building. Everything was fantastic and spot on and all-encompassingly breathtaking.

I loved how deftly Okungbowa weaved the layers of this story together, and how gorgeously intricate the world of the continent of Oon was. It’s not just a quest between several runaways searching for answers and magic, but an insightful and damning look into imperialism and forced cultural assimilation and power.

In the city of Bassa, the ruling elite are isolated and brainwashed into believing that Bassa is All. There is an inherent superiority of culture within the rulers, reinforced by rhetoric, power and the way the city is structured. Outlanders are allowed inside the city and can become proto-citizens, but they are forbidden to speak of the world outside or anything that is not Bassa, because Bassa is the universe and the world. It’s nationalism and xenophobia taken to the nth degree, and it works so well.

Danso, Esheme and Zaq are each different aspects of Bassa, all held back by the cultural structures in place to keep people in their place.

She was right, after all. He might have left Bassa, but it would take a long time, and a lot of intentional effort, for Bassa to leave him.

Danso, as a half-Sashi scholar and the son of a disgraced scholar turned healer, is literally a genius and is able to rise high within the structures of Bassai academia, although he’s quickly realizing the strange ways Bassa changes history to best suit its current goals. He is well aware of the fact that no matter how hard he tries and how much he succeeds, he will never truly fit in, because his face will always be wrong and signal him as an Other. He sees freedom in the form of escape, but slowly realizes how deep the roots of Bassai prejudice live within him.

Esheme knew that rules only worked for those who fit neatly within them.

Esheme is the daughter of a fixer in one of the middle districts of Bassa, and her mother has fought long and hard to place Esheme in a position where she can gain power and respectability for them both. I really, really liked Esheme, who was practical, ruthless and understands how power and control operates better than she should. She was also completely lacking in empathy, and became more and more ruthless as the story continued.

“You made me come, a decision that will change my whole life, and you didn’t even consider the weight of that sacrifice for me. You didn’t wonder, How can I protect Zaq, who doesn’t have the same privileges as me? You made me come, because you think me dispensable.

Zaq is Danso’s protector, assigned to Danso because Zaq is an immigrant and that is one of the tasks assigned to immigrants looking to gain access to Bassa. While Danso is focused on his own lack of privilege, he fails to see the lack in others, particularly in Zaq, who is forced to follow and assist and then face the consequences Danso will never see due to his Bassai self. If Danso is a reflection of Bassai prejudice and the intersections of mainlander and outlander within the elite, Zaq is the reflection of the everyman, the lower classes who are just trying to survive and thrive—and he is. Until Danso forces him along and Zaq must follow.

Anyway, there’s a whole lot more going on besides power differentials and inequality and imperialistic prejudice and cultural superiority, to include magic and genocidal reservations and a lot more, including Lilong, who is the outlander Danso spots and then follows.

However, while the third act is pretty much nonstop action and movement, the plot is rather slow to start. The build is literally forever, but once I was hooked I was HOOKED.

Definitely a must-read if you are into epic fantasy.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

TL,DR: Son of the Storm is an epic fantasy set in a second world based on Africa. It's the first book of a series and sets up a complex and fascinating magical system that is intertwined with an equally thorny political landscape.
A huge thank-you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
--
Let me begin with this: Son of the Storm is slow to start. As with much epic fantasy, Suyi Davies Okungbowa has a lot of groundwork to lay down, and he does so with a very large number of points of view. I don't think he'll quite hit Robert Jordan levels of POV characters (148 in total across fourteen books), but there are many -- and, as much as I loved the different POVs in WoT, I sometimes wish I could just stay in one head for a little longer in this book.
I spent the first 150 or so pages making myself continue, though I really enjoyed the hints of magic and political landscape and had a clear favourite from the beginning: Esheme, an utterly perfect character who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Son of the Storm takes place in a colonizing country that has extremely strict rules and no magic. Danso, our main-est main character (in conjunction with Esheme and Lilong), is a mixed-race scholar who can't seem to keep out of trouble, much to the frustration/irritation of Esheme, his perfectionistic betrothed. When a "yellowskin" (i.e., albino) is spotted in his country, everything starts going horribly awry. Throughout the novel, we traverse the continent; find all sorts of magic; and see Danso make mistake after mistake. By the end of the book, the world has become infinitely vaster and more cruel, and Okungbowa leaves the reader with the knowledge of many more challenges to come without a strong sense of what they will be.
In all, I recommend Son of the Storm for everyone who enjoys epic fantasy and exquisite villains. I'm glad I pushed through to read this book in spite of what felt like a slow start to me; the magic system is interesting and I truly am fascinated by Esheme. I also love the general lack of romance in the book -- I'm not sure if it will continue on this way, but the hyperfocus on survival and achievement just felt right here. Even though I'm not sure I'll continue the series, it feels very much an "it's not you, it's me" problem; I was in a reading slump for a while leading up to reading this book, and I might just not be vibing with it in the right way.
The last thing I'll note: the phrase "yellowskin" rubbed me wrong at first, given the waves of anti-Asian violence that have been sweeping the US in recent months. The author has a very thoughtful post on the usage of this term on GoodReads; essentially, it means "albino" and comes from an African-centric view of language. It took me (not of East Asian descent) a little while to get used to it, so I can only imagine that for some readers, this may be insurmountable.
Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys epic fantasy with lots of political machinations and/or awesome female villains.

The author went all out with the world building, he crafted vibrant and vivid settings. His characters were very well developed, each had their own unique thoughts and personalities. The magic system was interesting and I am really looking forward to seeing more of it in book 2. I really enjoyed reading this but for some reason it took me longer than usual to finish but there was enough action and political maneuvers to keep me entertained, it's just the pacing was a little off at times. The author is a more tell then show style.

Suyi Davies Okungbowa is an internationally known author whose shorter works have appeared in Strange Horizons, at Tor.com, and in Fireside, to name only a few. Son of the Storm is the first novel of the Nameless Republic epic fantasy trilogy, but his first novel is David Mogo, Godhunter, which won the Nommo Ilube Award for Best Speculative Fiction by an African.

Nigerian, Okungbowa hails from Benin City, where his parents, both professors, still reside. Benin City (originally Edo) was born of the ancient kingdom (or empire) of Benin, which flourished in West Africa from, approximately, the eleventh through the nineteenth century before it was forcibly incorporated into British Nigeria in 1897. Ancient Benin was the inspiration for Son of the Storm, but Okungbowa also took inspiration from other African empires, including Mali, Ghana, Dahomey, Senegambia, and Egypt. He loves epic fantasy, but wanted to write a non-Tolkienesque tale. (Yes! Tolkien set the bar high for epic fantasy, but too much of the current European medieval-based fantasy is derivative.) So far, with Son of the Storm, he has succeeded.

The world Okungbowa has created is very different one most historical fantasy readers know. The society of Bassa has grown organically from specific cultural, sociological, anthropological, economic, and geographic conditions. It is rich and elaborate and engrossing. Power is situated in the Great Dome—I could not help but think of National Geographic’s pictures of Timbuktu—and weakens the farther one moves outward from the center. Readers will feel the stifling nature of a rigid society defined by caste and patriarchy; it’s what drives Danso, a scholar whose curiosity cannot be contained within such narrow parameters, nuts and makes his intended, Esheme, a woman of spirit and intelligence, so fierce. It’s a system that takes little of the individual into account, and it puts all immigrants into secondary status—at best. Immigrants have their lives horribly controlled; the limitations they suffer are humiliating and infantilizing. Readers will chafe right along with the characters, especially Zaq who has managed to work the system about as well as be expected, until Danso’s actions hijack his life.

Although there are three principal characters, it is Danso’s story. He’s a jali novitiate, just finishing up at the University. For him, this is a coming of age story, a story of growing up—there is a touch of Arjuna from the Bhagavad Gita in Danso. Lilong, the warrior practicing illicit magic who ignites Danso’s imagination and his longing to know his heritage, plays at best a reluctant Krishna. Mostly, she’s hostile, suspicious, and closed off to him, for he represents Bassa, and all that’s wrong with the world. Esheme, on the other hand, makes the most out of a weak position left to her by mother Nem and grows quickly into her power. That bodes no good for anyone. Ruthless, cold-blooded, well educated (she’s counsel novitiate), and wily, she is on the verge of becoming of a monster.

Danso is Shashi, a man of mixed ethnic heritage; he is considered Ibu on account of his daa, but his deceased maa was an islander, an Ajabo. Danso is always uncertain of his status, and it shows in his behavior. On one hand, he’s a immature, privileged brat, and on the other, he is curious and reflective and willing to consider his flaws. His intended, Esheme, isn’t in any better social position than Danso, whom she barely tolerates. Nem is a fixer with a dubious background and a dangerous array of enemies, collected over decades of fixing political problems. Danso is threatened with expulsion from the university for stealing a forbidden codex on magic by the Manic Emperor that he’s already read and committed to memory. He’s accused because he’s Shashi and already a known troublemaker. He doesn’t have the codex, he can’t get it back, and he’s had enough of Bassa, so he’s leaving for Whadusha. At the same time, Nem has used ibor, a magical source also known as stone-bone, to assassinate an Elder whose daughter has gone beyond the Soke Mountains. This wayward daughter is a problem Nem can’t fix because the hunthands who were sent to retrieve the girl failed, and worse, allowed in a skin-changer, an ibor-worker, an Abenai warrior, who is derogatorily referred to as a ‘yellowskin’. Lilong ends up in Danso’s father’s barn, injured after a confrontation with Nem. With hunthands hot on her trail, she teams up with Danso and his unwilling Second, Zaq to escape Bassa. They run into the Breathing Forest, Zaq and Lilong knowing they are being pursued with a bounty upon their heads. Danso, in his naïveté, believes they’ll make it to Whadusha, and everyone will abide by the Peace Treaty. He has no idea of the bad spot in which he’s placed himself, Zaq, and Esheme. The last inherits the enemies, the fearful power politics, blackmail, and loss of status with precious little information from Nem. Forced to make alliance with radicals within Bassa, it’s hard to tell who Esheme hates more—her mother or Danso.

The magic system is consistent, as is the moral point. Use power or magic, and you pay for it. Using ibor depletes a body, so strict diets have to be followed to avoid the long-term consequences of drawing magic. Furthermore, power chooses you. Esheme, with help from her mother’s notes, deduces what red ibor means and how it works, and willingly uses it. That choice leaves her in a in a grotesque situation. Danso and Lilong must figure out why he can use red ibor whilst on the run. They have more respect for ibor—what it can do and what it costs to use.

While the world building in The Son of the Storm is magnificent, ably aided by a magnificent cover, the pacing is uneven. The author dedicates the first quarter of the book to getting everything and everyone in place for the first plot point, when Danso, Lilong, and Zaq flee.The ending feels rushed and is somewhat unsatisfying. The narrative never devolves into “info dumps”, but it does get confusing and hard to remember which group is which and where they are in the social hierarchy. Although the author has said in a response to an online review on Goodreads, that references to skin coloration is not race-based, that “yellowskin” derives from African approaches to albinism, it is hard to distinguish what is class, what is ethnic, or what is immigrant grouping—and yes, they overlap. Also, we don’t get as many reminders later in the narrative, which we should. I was glad to see a map to aid a reader in visualizing the land, but a glossary of terms would’ve helped enormously.

(For those who winced every time they read “yellowskin”, please read the author’s comments about this word here: Author's Comments )

I appreciate the author not wanting to resort to action to move the narrative along and to show people solving problems through dialogue and co-operation. This is a thoughtful story wherein the theme is diversity and open-mindedness allowing alliance with others, and that is the best route to survival. Still, the story does have to move. And it does, albeit a herky-jerky fashion. Once we get past the flight of Danso and Lilong, the narrative picks up steam. Danso and Lilong spend a lot of time explaining and hammering out things between them, not usually successfully. Esheme talks less and does more, but she moves too quickly to the dark side. Lilong, but especially Danso, hate that they have to reach for violence. Esheme, however, reaches for it quickly and discovers she likes it; the cost to her is horrific and morally disturbing.

Overall, it is an impressive beginning to a new epic fantasy series. Danso starts growing up before the eyes of the reader; Lilong begins to evaluate all she has been taught; Esheme elevates herself to power, yet renders herself morally bankrupt. There’s more than enough there to make me come back for the second novel, due out next summer.







Received as an ARC from NetGalley