The Bassai ideal ends up becoming a jump-off point for the book to discuss imperialism and assimilation. And it does so in a very subtle and yet nuanced way, in my opinion. Bassa holds power over the continent of Oon and forces its denizens to conform to its ways. But almost every important character in this book does not fit the Bassai ideal, and has to bend and break in various ways to make life worth living.

For Danso, this means going beyond Bassa and uncovering the truth. For Lilong, this means hiding herself and her people and the unique powers they possess. And for Esheme, this means nothing less than complete and total power consolidated in her hand. We even get to see how lower class citizens like Zak have come to believe that if they just try hard enough, they’ll be accepted as part of Bassa.

In my opinion, this is a very interesting reflection of how different people respond to the urge to assimilate. You have people for whom the effects of imperialism are unacceptable and who chafe under that sort of rule. There are also people for whom assimilation is the lesser of two evils. I think that this book shows that neither one is the “correct” response when faced with an inescapable colonial power.

Son of the Storm is a vibrant fantasy that will leave you breathless.

Danso was different from his peers; he didn’t look like his fellow citizens and he had a thirst for knowledge that was forbidden. When he found a fugitive who wasn’t supposed to exist, Danso learned about life outside his city’s walls and unearthed a magic that could turn the tides of a war that Danso didn’t know was brewing.

Son of the Storm was told from various perspectives and each character had their own mantra for survival. Okungbowa’s strength lied in his ability to tease out the personalities and motivations of his characters, especially the deliciously villainous Esheme, Danso’s fiance. The tone and pacing of Son of the Storm were very similar to epic fantasy, so buckle up for a ride full of politics, betrayal, and a little magic.

Korey Jackson was the narrator and I enjoyed his narration. Jackson did well in capturing the voice of each character with very subtle differences. He didn’t necessarily pitch his voice to relay different characters; he embodied their personalities so well that it was easy to tell each character apart.

Son of the Storm will be an instant favorite and I can’t wait to see what Okungbowa has planned next!

As this is such a high fantasy book, I wasn't expecting a lot of info-dumping, a lot of telling instead of showing. Initially, I was a bit intimidated by all the details but Suyi's writing doesn't feel like his water dunking this info on me. The pase of the book is relaxed which makes me glad as a reader cause I get to see Suyi develop and establish the plot, the world, and the characters. The plot of this book was tied into the lives of our main characters, Danso, Esheme, and Lilong. thus with time becomes an slow entanglement towards the end plot-wise.

Spoiler Alert... I REALLY enjoyed this book. I’m going to get the “bad” out of the way first. I felt there were some slight pacing issues in the middle of the book. It felt more like a lull in the action, but I found those parts a bit harder to read. There were not many and they were fairly short, but I want to mention it. Also, the beginning of the book is a bit slow. I don’t fault the writing or the author’s creative choice, as this is the first book in a series. The first 20% of the book is used to set up the potential conflict, offer a history of the people and places, and introduce us to the characters. We also get to understand their connection to each other, as well as their connection to the history and their place in the society. Still the beginning was a little slow. The final “con” is that there were a few characters whose arcs were so steep that it almost felt like the characters were inconsistent. Their attitudes or actions changed so quickly, that it left me feeling like I didn’t actually get a chance to know the characters. To be fair though, both of those characters were either peripheral, or were introduced so late in the story that it didn’t really affect the plot.

Now for the good...and there is a lot to love about this story.

The characters! All of the characters felt incredibly bright and lively. They seemed fully realized, while still having the space to evolve throughout the story. A few were morally grey (which I LOVE), but all of them were flawed in ways that are so inherently human. Even when doing what they truly believed to be the right thing, they were confronted with their own bias, selfishness, and sometimes even reckless choices. Most, however, were given a chance for redemption, and we were allowed to see how they used their second chances.

There is so much happening in this book. The story is told from several perspectives (no less than 6), so we have a lot of interconnected stories that all converge at the climax. This is not an easy plot device to employ, but Okungbowa does it beautifully. There is forbidden magic, betrayal, political intrigue, family obligation, clandestine affairs, and even a coup thrown into the mix. So much happens, but it all feels necessary.

The fact that the story is set on a fictitious continent that seems to represent Africa, and the cast system that the society is built upon puts the darker hue citizens at the top; adds another layer of interest to the story. Also, the way that Okungbowa used the idea of mixed heritage in the plot was fresh and u expected.

Overall, if you are looking for a fantasy book to read this summer and you want to switch it up, Son of the Storm is perfect. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Son of the Storm is an intricate and beautifully woven story about people from diverse backgrounds and with different motivations trying to gain power. It's a story of power, politics and people trying to crave their own place in the world. The world-building is easy to understand and the magic system is very interesting to read about. The characters- their experiences, struggle with power and the consequences of their actions really added the oomph factor to the story.

This story highly character and theme driven, which may make someone who likes plot-driven books to feel like it's dense and slow paced. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a beautiful fantasy read that makes you think.

With this, big props to orbit trying to diversify their author pool. Thank you for giving authors from different ethnicities and backgrounds a platform to tell their stories.

Received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you are a fan of fantasy you will definitely love son of the storm. This world was so intricate and beautiful, I enjoyed every second of it. The multiple points of view really helped me immerse myself in the story more and allowed me to know and love these characters on a deeper level. Loved every page of this book!!

Thank you to Orbit Books for the early review copy!

It took me a bit longer than expected to finish because I moved shortly after starting it, but I'm so glad I finished. I actually finished via audio since I finished after it released.

5/5 stars for writing, plot, characters, and even the narrator. This has been one of my favorite books I've read in a while. I have to say I absolutely adored Danso, but I also loved Esheme because she is RUTHLESS. Her character arc made the most impact for me because how she changed. Every character changed and grew so much in this book as everything happened.

This story had a great pacing the entire time. Aside from a slow beginning it stayed quick pretty much the whole time. I'd highly recommend this book!

I know some people will be upset about the descriptor "yellow-skin". The author actually posted a "review" on goodreads that explains it and how it's not related to Asian-descended people, but that in Nigerian it's commonly used to describe the skin tone of Africans with Albinism which is what Lilong and most of her people have. And the author is from Nigeria.

Suyi Davies Okungbowa’s Son of the Storm is a West-African inspired high fantasy, and the first book in the Nameless Republic series. Being a die-hard fantasy fan, Son of the Storm was one of my most anticipated books of 2021. With extensive worldbuilding, well-built and layered characters, and intense writing, Son of the Storm makes for a strong first book in a series and it’s one that’s going to make the wait for the second book painful indeed. However, even though I liked Son of the Storm for the most part, I’m kind of sad to admit some aspects of this book didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Son of the Storm starts off at the great city of Bassa in the continent of Oon, and centers around Danso, a young Bassai scholar who is prejudiced against for being a Shashi—the child born of a union between a mainlander and an outlander. Danso is to be joined to the obstinate, callous Esheme, but he doesn’t want the life everyone seems to have planned for him. Instead, he wants to escape Bassa and seek out the truth about the outlander mother he never knew.

When Danso comes across Lilong—a warrior from the Nameless islands outside the Bassai city borders, who has supernatural powers the Bassai have always been led to believe are mere myths—Danso becomes privy to the secrets the Bassai leaders have been keeping about the world outside their city. With Lilong at his side, he sets out on a journey to discover his heritage, and finds out everything he had known about his people and his continent had been an illusion.

Son of the Storm is told through several points of view, with Danso, Lilong, Esheme, and Danso’s attendant Zaq being the primary PoV characters. None of these people fully belong to the highest caste in Bassa—the Idu class—and therefore it was really intriguing to see the author explore caste, systemic oppression, and social privilege through the eyes of these so called outsiders in the Bassai high society, and how some of them strive to claim their own places in the very society that scorns them at every step, while others yearn to escape.

One thing about the book that grated at me a lot was the extremely slow pace of it, especially in the second section out of the four parts in the book, when nothing really seemed to happen for a hundred pages or more. The worldbuilding here, however, is done extremely well. I loved how the author keeps giving us tidbits regarding both the history and geography of the world throughout the book, especially in Danso’s chapters where he mentions songs and stories from Bassa he has had to learn as a Jali novitiate, and Lilong tells him about the Nameless islands, giving their world a realistic, lived-in feel. Even though Son of the Storm might seem a little incomprehensible at the beginning with many fantasy terms and background knowledge about Bassa and the continent in general thrown in within the first fifty pages or so, it starts getting interesting once you reach Esheme’s chapters.

I adored Danso as a protagonist, with all his naivety and his love of stories and his desire to know more about the world outside Bassa, but Esheme was definitely the most interesting character in this book. Her cunning and ruthlessness makes her the exact opposite of Danso, and her rise to power within the Bassai society was fascinating to read about, even as it makes you uneasy every step of the way. With Zaq, it was compelling to see the perspective of a person who remains loyal to the very people who have oppressed him since his birth and his reasons for doing so. As for Lilong, she’s the typical warrior love interest many fantasy books have, and since I failed to find her likeable, I was sort of glad that she had fewer chapters than Danso or Esheme.

To sum it all up, while I did have issues with the pacing in this book, I really loved reading about Danso and Esheme, and will definitely check out the second book if only to find out where the story takes them next. If you’re a high fantasy fan and have loved books like R. F. Kuang’s The Poppy War or Rebecca Roanhorse’s Black Sun, you’d want to read Son of the Storm as well!

This book is full of morally gray characters, politics and important commentary on people's worth in relation to their skin color, power, and class.

Like most epic fantasies, this book has a large cast of characters but each one of them has a very distinctive voice and I never found myself mixing the names up. I also like that the story wasn't exclusively told from the main three POVs. There are occasional chapters from point of view of side characters and I appreciated what additional perspectives brought into the story.

There are severe consequences from using magic and I was glad to see that play a role in the story. However, there was a point in the story where characters recovered strangely fast... but it's just one of very few and minor criticism I have for this book.

Worldbuilding is top notch. Book one has barely scratched the surface of its vast, vivid world and I'm very excited for book two, in which we are supposed to explore the other side of the continent.

Thank you to Orbit for providing an advanced reading copy!

An amazing mix of African folklore and fantasy. All the characters were ambiguous and morally gray. I loved every minute!

Through about 20%, I was really enjoying the story about Denso, his desire to belong, his life as an outsider, the awkward arrangement with his betrothed who clearly didn't want anything to do with him, his intelligence and school and family, all of it. (Think, five-stars-shouting-from-rooftops.) Suyi, the ideas are so great here, and more time with editors to hone in and craft the story would have solidified your place in YA canon.

The book is written in third person limited but jumps focus every chapter between Danso, his servant Zaq, his betrothed Esheme and her mother Nem, the yellowskin Lilong, Biemwense, Kakutan, Oboda ... 8 different people ... it should have been written in third person omniscient or just focused on Danso and Esheme, maybe Lilong as well. The jumping around made it harder to follow as the voice was really the same for all. How Danso interprets the actions and mysteries would be far more appropriate, especially as they are traveling and meeting new people. All the viewpoints also took away part of the mystery (as we are being told the thoughts and motivations) and part of my personal investment in a main character and their story (because we aren't sticking with them). Part of building the world thoroughly is of course having and knowing these additional stories, but the stories belong in a novella alongside the book if the author wants to share. So much of the first quarter and last quarter is focused on Danso anyway. It would have been a much richer experience had the book been focused in and edited more thoroughly.

Esheme is a BAMF, by the way. I liked the ending.

Included in Washington Post column dated May 14, 2021. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/african-speculative-fiction-is-finally-getting-its-due-lets-talk-about-books-to-seek-out/2021/05/13/d26ec060-9944-11eb-a6d0-13d207aadb78_story.html

I will preface this review by saying two things: go read a review by an OwnVoices reviewer and take their thoughts over mine; and go read the material that the author has provided to explain the intricacies of this world he has created.

One of the things that I really loved about this book was how it handled privilege. The nations in this book are governed by a strict caste system influenced by the color of people's skin and their heritage (everyone is Black so it's a colorist system, not a racist system). We see a mixed-heritage person of high "rank" (often accused of faking his rank but also having more privilege than others of similar heritage to his) embodying imperialist ideals and the selfishness inherent in trying to free only himself. We see an indentured immigrant whose goal is to achieve the highest status available to him (which is comparatively low) so that he can marry and enjoy a life of relative ease; he is willing to go along with the rigid structure because he doesn't have any other choice that will not result in more suffering. And we have a high-caste woman who is given an unexpected amount of power, who stirs up the people with talks of patriotism and returning the empire to greatness (sound familiar?)

I will say that the book involved a lot of political machinations, but once the weapons (and magic) came out about halfway through, it was compulsive. Especially when we see how the characters either embraces or shirked the expectations thrust upon them. How do they handle power? How to they learn from it? Who can help them?

I cannot wait to see where the characters and the series go from here!

Son of the Storm is the paragon of deliberate storytelling. Its slow, calculated pacing, a delightful subversion of the rushing tempos typically expected of high fantasy, gave the novel time to explore the world as an explorer may traverse their surroundings and acquaint readers with its protagonists with the intimacy of a mirror.

Throughout the book — in battles and skirmishes, monologues and conversations, arguments and confrontations — in moments of peace and moments of tumult — in every evocative description of the environment — not a single word goes to waste.

Each character contains multitudes. Danso is the Orpheus of this tale. He sees the world for what it can be, in spite of the way that it is. He is indeed a scholar of the highest caliber, acutely aware of his capabilities, but he is often unsure of himself. Danso may be defiant, but he’s also kind and empathetic, as evidenced through his interactions with Lilong, a warrior from the “Nameless Islands,” as they were called in Danso’s home.

Determined to avenge all that she has lost, Lilong is pragmatic and headstrong, an unknowable enigma (at least to Danso and the other characters) made known. I loved how clever and wry she was, and her expert proficiency of her world’s magic entranced me. Lilong’s critical eye and unshakeable resolve

Lilong’s mere existence overturns Danso’s understanding of the world: she challenges his misconceptions and serves as a foil to his naivety. Their dynamic was a highlight of the book.

If Danso is Son of the Storm’s Orpheus, then Esheme is Clytemnestra. She is the epitome of blade-wielding women in fantasy: bold, cutthroat, and shrewd. Esheme can step on my face.

I worshipped her arc — for the sake of keeping this spoiler-free, I must contain my excitement for the way her story culminated. In her prowess, she held an honesty and vulnerability which entranced me as it entranced her supporters.

These three characters stand at a crossroads carved by their birthrights — I have yet to mention Danso, Lilong, and Esheme’s designations as Shashi (mixed-race), yellowskin (please note the author’s explanation of the label via this link!), and a fixer’s daughter.

Their identities deeply shape their relationships with themselves, each other, and the world; they both stifle and strengthen the protagonists.

Throughout Son of the Storm, we truly come to understand these diametrically opposed individuals in the contexts of their identities. We witness their internal turmoil and gasp at the resolutions of their quests.

Danso, Lilong, and Esheme each desire survival, and whatever nebulous state lies out-of-reach beyond that. Who do we root for?

I rooted for them all. Danso, Lilong, and Esheme were so deftly crafted (and their individual ideologies so well-scoured) that I could not help but cheer for their triumph — even if triumph in one character translates to defeat in another. That is the nuance of Son of the Storm. I am excited to see what lies in store for this shining trio.

“This journey has shown me there are good and bad people everywhere. So perhaps, harboring just a little faith, a little bit of trust, even when you’re unsure... maybe that’s how we make change.”

Son of the Storm is a West African inspired fantasy that follows three main characters and a few side characters. Danso is a Shashi (mixed race) scholar that is promised to Esheme. Esheme is the daughter of the town’s fixer and is in a position of power. Lilong is a foreigner who came to the city to retrieve something that was stolen from her.

The beginning of this book was extremely slow for me. I’m typically a pretty fast reader, but this book took me 21 days to finish and put me in a fantasy slump. That said, the last quarter really picked up. I ended up enjoying the ending and am happy that I stuck with it.

“The world needs at least one person to harbor a little belief, a little trust in things, or else what a horrible, horrible place it’ll be.”

Son of the Storm is yet another home run from Orbit Books. I am truly never disappointed by the story, the characters, or the world we are presented. The author manages to pull you into the story within the first chapter. Fantastically written and captivating this story had me flipping pages quicker than my fingers could manage. We are introduced to a character who is being hunted for an unknown reason, but we have to wait if we want to find out exactly who this is because the story immediately jumps to Danso, whom I love very much. Danso was not my favorite during the opening acts of this book, but he grew on me very quickly in a short amount of time and I found myself eagerly awaiting his chapters in the book. He is your typical MC that wants something different in life, but he is also so much more than that.

The magic system in this book is very familiar and unique at the same time. One thing this novel does well is introducing us to this magic system and the use of Ibor. As this system is introduced to readers it is also being introduced to the characters and I felt that this brought me closer to them. I truly felt like I was on this journey of discovery with them.

Political intrigue makes up a portion of this book as well and I loved being able to see another character, Esheme, develop into someone I never thought she would turn out to be from her opening scene. I will say that the signs were there that gave us a hint to her true nature, but nothing obvious. The direction that Davies Okungbowa took this character definitely added a depth to this story that I didn’t know I needed.

All in all, this book will now sit on my favorite fantasy pedestal along with The Rage of Dragons and The Unbroken.

The story flows wonderfully and the reader is almost immediately sucked into the world. The characters are three-dimensional and their story arcs fit well within the overarching plot. I found myself caring about more than just the main character or the ending to a wonderful story. Great book.

I think the reason I didn't enjoy this book as much was because there weren't many action scenes. The author said he wanted to explore non warrior characters in fantasy, which I find compelling, but that paired with a journey plot and character relationships that mostly develop through introspection rather than dialogue dampened my enjoyment. Though if you're down for a slow epic fantasy with interesting themes and world building, I'd recommend checking this out.

Itching to get your hands on a high fantasy epic trilogy inspired by African—Benin specifically—history and folktales? Looking for dimension in multiple point of view characters without it turning into an overwrought or confusing mess? Suyi Davies Okungbowa, author of The Nameless Republic trilogy has you covered in the series’ engrossing first entry, Son of the Storm.

In this book we get to know some very dynamic main characters. There’s Danso, a university scholar who is out of place in the capital city of Bassa due to his mixed heritage and whose personality harkens towards the aptitude for story collecting, writing, and adventurousness of Strange the Dreamer’s Lazlo Strange, though he is also heedless of the social preservation he needs. There is Esheme, a court-trained student whose self-preservation and social machinations rival those of How to Get Away with Murder’s Michaela Pratt and Game of Thrones’ Cersei. There is also Danso’s reluctant and rule-abiding—nearly at Percy Weasley’s level—personal valet cum guard, Zaq, and a mysterious warrior with the best of Slytherin house’s attributes, Lilong. Through the course of the book we probe into the inner workings of each character, with a few more interesting additions, lending towards worldbuilding and character development that showcases not only the primary adventure but also the definitive changes that only these voices could make in this world. In fact, it is Danso’s curiosity about his mysterious origins and his inability to consider the ramifications of his actions, despite making a point to study the failings of an empire, that leads to the journey that involves the interests of each of these characters.

Danso uses a setback he faces with the leadership of Bassa and the region’s university as a sign to finally explore the questions he’s always held about his mother and the isolated region she hailed from before mysteriously vanishing from his life as a toddler. Zaq is unwillingly pulled along and Lilong serves as another catalyst of sorts for his decision to walk this path. Meanwhile, Esheme has to deal with what this self-imposed exile means for her social standing as his fiance, while at the same time her mother, who runs a spider network within the empire, is incapcitated. All of this upheaval is connected to the search for rumored fragmented remains of a magic system that has become the stuff of legend by the empire. As the only person raised in a community that has maintained their connection to this magic, Lilong holds many answers that those in power would like to remain undisclosed. The power imbalances and historical erasure to maintain systems of inequity are key to understanding this society and their relationship with magic. As the story progresses, we learn more about the way people at all tiers of society are imposed upon by the interest of maintaining the status quo, which means there’s a lot of xenophobia explored. Because this is a society of Black people who value the darkest-skinned highest in social standing, the ways in which this subject matter is approached are interesting yet still have some bite behind them—especially the anti-immigrant sentiment. The author also inserts climate change reflection into the story in a way that I found useful to the story and not at all conspicuous.

All in all, I’m interested to see where this series goes next and how it continues to explore power dynamics and personal responsibility for the world around you. The characters are engaging, the world is well built, and the narrative could be a strong device for interrogating real world issues.

I ended up reading a handful of African fantasy books this month, and I have greatly enjoyed all of them. One that particularly stood out is Son of the Storm, by Suyi Davies Okungbowa, which is both a debut and one of our Dark Horse picks for the year. It’s the first novel in The Nameless Republic series, and Suyi says that the world is inspired by Nigerian folklore. While the book definitely has some issues that I will go into below, it was also my favorite debut that I have read in 2021 so far and definitely not a book to miss.

Son of the Storm tells the story of Danso, a mixed-blooded scholar studying at a wondrous university that few are privileged to attend, especially those with Danso’s heritage. The city is built in this winding maze of concentric circles, with the inner ones being lands of plenty and paradise, and the outer ones being dangerous slums. The inner-circle dwellers rule the city with intense xenophobia and rarely let anyone without their pure bloodlines study at the university. However, Danso is a gifted scholar with a perfect memory who manages to pass every test thrown at him, despite being a distracted, disorganized, and ironically forgetful student. When Danso accidentally memorizes a restricted tome that was supposed to remain forgotten, he finds himself caught up in a shadowy war for control of the city and must struggle to keep ahead of his enemies.

My plot breakdown is a little more vague than usual as part of the joy of Son of the Storm is blissful ignorance and a sense of discovery. Danso feels constantly out of his element and struggles to make the correct choice with limited information, a feeling the plot does an amazing job evoking in the reader. There are actually multiple POVs in the book other than Danso, including his fiancée, his future mother-in-law, his second (a type of bodyguard), and more. However, the bulk of the story definitely focuses on Danso and treats the rest of the cast as his mirrors and foils. Normally this isn’t my preference in narrative structure, but Danso is an excellent character and I didn’t mind spending all that time with him. He starts in an interesting place with a complex personality, and continually grows and evolves over the course of the book. He goes from this disinterested and immature scholar with a chip on his shoulder who is barely getting by to a confident leader who is trying to change the world for the better, and the transformation is great.

However, while I thought Danso’s character was very enjoyable, the rest of the book felt slightly akin to a toddler in many ways: adorable, exploring its surroundings, trying new things and sometimes failing, and sometimes slightly confusing and incoherent. Sometimes the plot in Son of the Storm is very clear and direct, and other times chapters will veer into strange areas that don’t actually seem to be about the story with little explanation why. Some parts of the world seem well-realized and exciting to explore, and others seem like vague ideas that need more development before they become well-refined parts of the narrative. Often, the prose is poetic and evocative of a style of fantasy (African) I haven’t seen enough of, other times it devolves into incoherent dialogue that can feel a bit stilted and directionless.

There is also a very interesting exploration of what feels like a more modern African ideal. Okungbowa says in his forward that one of his goals with Son of the Storm was to “situate the book in a time, place, and history that echoed his.” As I am possibly the furthest thing from Nigerian on Earth, I am unqualified to speak to how well Okungbowa captures this idea. However, I can definitely say that I felt like I got a peek into a culture that I previously hadn’t. The book felt very fresh to me and I really enjoyed learning about all sorts of customs and people I hadn’t seen previously in fantasy stories.

While the book has some issues, they feel like artifacts of a new writer in my opinion. With more time and practice I fully expect Suyi Davies Okungbowa to master his craft and deliver flawless books, and Son of the Storm is still an absolute blast to read despite some of these difficulties. I am fully invested in the story and ready for the next installment. If you are looking for a fantasy with a more worldly and original feel, look no further than Son of the Storm. Its chaotic nature might make it feel a little disorganized, but much like its protagonist Danso, the book only gets better as it grows into something bigger than its roots.

Rating: Son of the Storm – 8.0/10
-Andrew