Balogun Ojetade: Once Upon A Time In Afrika

Once Upon A Time In Afrika is a short novel from the Sword and Soul genre (African or African-derived fantasy or sword&sorcery fiction). It tells the story of the princess Seeke and the warrior she falls in love with. An oracle tells that the princess should marry soon, but not a chief or prince, but the mightiest warrior from the continent Onile (Afrika). So a grand martial arts tournament is set up, and exceptional fighters from all the lands are gathered. And more than one person enters the tournament in disguise, or with secret objectives.

Ojetade is specialist in martial arts, and it shows. But the book isn't all fights - there's negotiations, romance, magic, and descriptions of a wide range of different groups and cultures. I enjoyed the book and can recommend it.
Although the story was satisfying, I was a bit disappointed with the editing (first edition by Meji Books, 2012). There were a lot of typos, some line breaks in the middle of the sentence, stuff that should have been caught and corrected. While I think that it was a good decision to add a glossary to the book, the structure that was chosen didn't work that well for me (e.g. I was surprised to see witches, clans, the creator, and orishas in the category of "things" instead among "persons".

Anyway, if you're looking for 140 pages of fast-paced, well-written fantasy outside European-derived tropes and stereotypes, check out Once Upon A Time In Afrika.

Balogun Ojetade's homepage: https://chroniclesofharriet.com/

Originally posted to my G+ stream on 2016-07-31

Impressions/ mini-reviews for two comics: Shattered Warrior & Thanos Rising

Sharon Shinn/ Molly Ostertag: Shattered Warrior is a good SF comic about a human resistance in a dystopian world ruled and exploited by a militaristic alien race. It is tightly woven, has a lot of (inter-)personal drama, some romance, and it probably is in the YA genre (I seriously have no idea and am not really interested in genre boundaries). I became aware of the book because I'm a fan of the artist, Molly Ostertag (I recommend both her graphic novel Witch Boy as well as the webcomic she's drawing, Strong Female Protagonist).
I particularly liked that some scenes were done without any words. I have a soft spot for "silent" comics.

Yesterday I finished Thanos Rising, a mini-series by Jason Aaron and Simone Bianchi. I had expected better stuff by Jason Aaron, after his female Thor (I still want to read his other Thor stuff) and Star Wars. Thanos Rising suffers because Thanos is the only character with an inner life. All the others remain flat and boring. This is particularly blatant for the female lead, which plays an important part but remains utterly, ridiculously unmotivated.
Also, I'm a bit over this Dark & Brooding & Selfrighteous Loner Whom Nobody Understands Nor Loves. That trope is not enough to carry a story.

Originally posted to my G+ stream on 2018-05-18

Just gushing a bit about Jemisin's Broken Earth...

It's even free of spoilers.

The bit in italics below was originally posted to my G+ stream on 2018-05-18.

I read N.K.Jemisin's The Fifth Season back in May (2018). Wow, what a great book! (It won a Hugo award, so the world already knows this.) Jemisin interweaves three storylines set at different times and places, each helping you better understand bit by bit how the world works, how unfair it is, and why it should end. For the last time. The book has absolutely fantastic worldbuilding, nice pacing, and a bunch of setting-appropriate emphatic curses.
The whole book is like a very slow moving tsunami, and only near the end do you get to see the larger picture (but not even the whole picture yet, it seems).

"The Fifth Season" is the first book in the "Broken Earth" series, so I'm happy there's more. Highly recommended unless you prefer having every question answered within a single book.

By now I've read the second book, and am ready to plunge into the third and final one. The second book has been great, too. Great characters, the plot rolls on unstoppably, lots of heart-wrenching scenes as well as fun, interesting turns and reveals... This sequel never disappointed. I especially like how this series portrays communities, very much acknowledging that communities don't just are, they are built and nurtured. And this fact - or: these processes and activities - are worthy of attention and reflection.