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lanid's review
adventurous
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Classism, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, Xenophobia, and Pregnancy
deedireads's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
Son of the Storm is a fun start to a new fantasy series. It’s got strong themes, a great magic system, and characters with lots of room to grow.
For you if: You want to read more West African-inspired fantasy.
FULL REVIEW:
First, thank you to Orbit for the electronic review copy! Epic fantasy and a cover like that — how could Son of the Storm not catch my eye? I enjoyed it and will definitely be reading book two in the Nameless Republic trilogy when it comes out later this year.
Son of the Storm jumps around in terms of point of view, but the main character is a young man named Danso. He’s from a caste that normally wouldn’t be allowed to become scholars, but in a society that claims to prize knowledge above all else, his photographic memory earns him a place at the university. Until he gets too curious. And meets a person who isn’t supposed to exist from a place that isn’t supposed to exist with a magic that isn’t supposed to exist.
I liked this book, although I think the trilogy is truly going to take off in book two. This one’s pacing wasn’t the fastest and felt a bit like a long exposition. Still, it has a ton of promising elements — a good central mystery, great magic system, and plenty of questions left to answer — that feel like they’re about to combine into epicness. It’s also got a GREAT villain who has only truly become the villain by the end of book one. In fact, all the characters are a bit unlikeable (immature, stubborn, making selfish choices) for most of this book, which can feel a little frustrating but also feels REAL and I think will set up some great character arcs by the end of the trilogy.
I also really appreciated the imaginative worldbuilding here and the way it examines things like colorism, classism, xenophobia, and diaspora. I’m excited to see those themes develop even more in book two.
TL;DR REVIEW:
Son of the Storm is a fun start to a new fantasy series. It’s got strong themes, a great magic system, and characters with lots of room to grow.
For you if: You want to read more West African-inspired fantasy.
FULL REVIEW:
First, thank you to Orbit for the electronic review copy! Epic fantasy and a cover like that — how could Son of the Storm not catch my eye? I enjoyed it and will definitely be reading book two in the Nameless Republic trilogy when it comes out later this year.
Son of the Storm jumps around in terms of point of view, but the main character is a young man named Danso. He’s from a caste that normally wouldn’t be allowed to become scholars, but in a society that claims to prize knowledge above all else, his photographic memory earns him a place at the university. Until he gets too curious. And meets a person who isn’t supposed to exist from a place that isn’t supposed to exist with a magic that isn’t supposed to exist.
I liked this book, although I think the trilogy is truly going to take off in book two. This one’s pacing wasn’t the fastest and felt a bit like a long exposition. Still, it has a ton of promising elements — a good central mystery, great magic system, and plenty of questions left to answer — that feel like they’re about to combine into epicness. It’s also got a GREAT villain who has only truly become the villain by the end of book one. In fact, all the characters are a bit unlikeable (immature, stubborn, making selfish choices) for most of this book, which can feel a little frustrating but also feels REAL and I think will set up some great character arcs by the end of the trilogy.
I also really appreciated the imaginative worldbuilding here and the way it examines things like colorism, classism, xenophobia, and diaspora. I’m excited to see those themes develop even more in book two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy and Grief
azrah786's review
3.75
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I was provided with an ARC by Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: racism/colourism, ageism, violence, torture, blood, body horror, immolation, death, genocide, murder, pregnancy, miscarriage/abortion
Son of the Storm commences a fresh high fantasy tale set in an exquisitely complex pre-colonial West African inspired world that will hook you in from the first page.
The continent of Oon is under the jurisdiction of the Bassai Empire where ethnicity and caste determine your status and where all must adhere to the Bassai Ideal. We predominantly follow 3 main characters – Danso, a mixed-race scholar with a love for stories; Esheme, a fixer’s daughter with an ambition to be seen as more than her parentage and Lilong, an outsider wielding legendary and forbidden magic – as they navigate their place in the empire.
Okungbowa’s narration vividly brings the people and place of this world to life - from the array of cultures and complex caste systems that shape society, to the layered settlements within capital of the mainland - it all immerses you right in. Though as a fantasy map lover along with the broader map of the continent I do wish that we had a map of Bassa itself and its concentric Wards.
The storyline is rich with politics, touching heavily on the themes of oppression and privilege but there is also some focus on immigration and the environment which I thought was quite notable. Alongside this are the whispers of forbidden knowledge which have you curious to chase all the stories just as much as Danso.
Each of the primary protagonists is of a differing background and their individual perspectives further enhance the story. Though I’ll admit I didn’t find any of the characters that likeable (except maybe Lilong). They were all frustrating in their own way however, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by their journeys and development through the book. I also thought it was an interesting choice to have interspersed chapters from some of the side characters too. I was worried that this would become confusing but it again helped add to the history/background of the story as well as understanding the leading characters and their motivations more.
My favourite element of the story though was the Ibor and its magic which I found equally badass and terrifying. From the lore and history behind it, to the way it is wielded and its consequences, I couldn’t get enough of it!! Definitely one of my favourite fantasy magic systems to date and I can’t wait to learn more about it in the rest of the series!
What I had some issues with was the pacing. It is for the most part quite slow going, which at the very beginning when the key details and world-building were being laid down was perfect. However, as the story progressed particularly the middle chunk of the book I expected a little bit more from the action scenes. I mean at one point some of the characters were being pursued and are travelling through the Breathing Forest, a forest that was literally heaving around them, and while the descriptions of the place opens your imagination to the danger of the terrain the stakes didn’t come across as high enough for the characters to me. I was also quite thrown with the pacing in the last few chapters because in comparison to the rest of the book everything happened so fast?
All that aside though I am very much looking forward to seeing how the story continues!
Final Rating – 3.75/5 Stars
**I was provided with an ARC by Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: racism/colourism, ageism, violence, torture, blood, body horror, immolation, death, genocide, murder, pregnancy, miscarriage/abortion
Son of the Storm commences a fresh high fantasy tale set in an exquisitely complex pre-colonial West African inspired world that will hook you in from the first page.
The continent of Oon is under the jurisdiction of the Bassai Empire where ethnicity and caste determine your status and where all must adhere to the Bassai Ideal. We predominantly follow 3 main characters – Danso, a mixed-race scholar with a love for stories; Esheme, a fixer’s daughter with an ambition to be seen as more than her parentage and Lilong, an outsider wielding legendary and forbidden magic – as they navigate their place in the empire.
Okungbowa’s narration vividly brings the people and place of this world to life - from the array of cultures and complex caste systems that shape society, to the layered settlements within capital of the mainland - it all immerses you right in. Though as a fantasy map lover along with the broader map of the continent I do wish that we had a map of Bassa itself and its concentric Wards.
The storyline is rich with politics, touching heavily on the themes of oppression and privilege but there is also some focus on immigration and the environment which I thought was quite notable. Alongside this are the whispers of forbidden knowledge which have you curious to chase all the stories just as much as Danso.
Each of the primary protagonists is of a differing background and their individual perspectives further enhance the story. Though I’ll admit I didn’t find any of the characters that likeable (except maybe Lilong). They were all frustrating in their own way however, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by their journeys and development through the book. I also thought it was an interesting choice to have interspersed chapters from some of the side characters too. I was worried that this would become confusing but it again helped add to the history/background of the story as well as understanding the leading characters and their motivations more.
My favourite element of the story though was the Ibor and its magic which I found equally badass and terrifying. From the lore and history behind it, to the way it is wielded and its consequences, I couldn’t get enough of it!! Definitely one of my favourite fantasy magic systems to date and I can’t wait to learn more about it in the rest of the series!
What I had some issues with was the pacing. It is for the most part quite slow going, which at the very beginning when the key details and world-building were being laid down was perfect. However, as the story progressed particularly the middle chunk of the book I expected a little bit more from the action scenes. I mean at one point some of the characters were being pursued and are travelling through the Breathing Forest, a forest that was literally heaving around them, and while the descriptions of the place opens your imagination to the danger of the terrain the stakes didn’t come across as high enough for the characters to me. I was also quite thrown with the pacing in the last few chapters because in comparison to the rest of the book everything happened so fast?
All that aside though I am very much looking forward to seeing how the story continues!
Final Rating – 3.75/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Genocide and Abortion
whatellisreadnext's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Violence, Miscarriage, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
queenmackenzie's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Firstly, the cover for this book in phenomenal, and a big part of why I requested a copy in the first place. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations, but I still have a lot of good things to say about it. In this review I’ll attempt to keep it as positive as I can, but I do want to explain my disappointments, so that others can decide for themselves.
Firstly, the cover for this book in phenomenal, and a big part of why I requested a copy in the first place. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations, but I still have a lot of good things to say about it. In this review I’ll attempt to keep it as positive as I can, but I do want to explain my disappointments, so that others can decide for themselves.
The book is told through multiple points of view, the main ones being Danso, Zaq, Esheme, and Lilong, though there are a few others that appear here and there. Danso is a scholar, and probably the brightest in his age group, but he constantly faces difficulties because he is Shashi, which means that one of his parents was either from the Savanna Belt or one of the islands. People from that side of the continent are paler, and so are regarded as less by the people of Bassa on the mainland, who see the perfect colour as being the closest to humus, the organic component of the soil from which the gods formed them. So essentially Danso is mixed race, and so despite being in an elevated position in society, he does not get the respect reserved for his order.
One of the really interesting things Okungbowa has done with all of his point of view characters is make them outsiders to the higher castes in some way or another, and through this he explores class, race, and societal structure in very powerful ways. Esheme, for example, is Danso’s intended (as in they will be joined soon), and though she is the right caste because of her colour and education, she is looked down upon because her mother Nem (also a point of view character) came from a lower caste and works as a fixer, which means she helps people sort out their problems for the right price. Fixers are both feared and looked down upon, and Esheme wants to break away from that disrespect in any way she can.
Zaq, meanwhile, is from the Savanna Belt, and is essentially an indentured servant, and he works as Danso’s Second, a bodyguard/manservant. Zaq wasn’t always enjoyable to read, but he’s a very interesting character because through him we get to see the perspective of someone who is being used by Bassa, yet who holds a great allegiance to the country oppressing him, and he has to deal with his feelings as he gets dragged away from the city as a fugitive because of Danso’s actions.
Lastly, there is Lilong who was the character I was most looking forward to hearing from, because she is the catalyst for everything. She is a yellowskin from the Nameless Islands, which are believed to no longer exists, and she and her people wield a great and dangerous magic. She appears properly at the end of the first section, which I flew through, and becomes a point of view character from section two onwards. She also offers an interesting dynamic as someone who has grown up hating Bassa for their hatred and slaughter of her people, and now she has to come to terms with travelling with a Bassai who wants to befriend and understand her. While I did enjoy her and Danso’s development, a lot of her chapters felt a little repetitive.
In fact, overall, this story was extremely slow-paced, especially in the ‘fantasy road trip’ (for want of a better term) part of it. When Danso, Zaq, and Lilong find themselves on the run, I thought things would speed up for them and become exciting, but instead they stay in one place for several chapters. Sure, there is some development between these characters that have been thrown together, but I’m not sure how much it warranted the pause. Where the action stays fast-paced is actually back in Bassa, where Esheme’s mother becomes incapacitated, so that she has to step into the role and finds herself caught in the trap Nem’s actions have caused. She acts decisively, and a lot happens during her chapters. Then, just as her story had gripped me again, the point of view would change to someone else.
I am a big fan of many points of view, and love getting to know each character, but the way this was structured threw me off continuously, and messed up the pacing. Which is what my disappointment boils down to, in the end: pacing. The story is good, the characters are interesting, the world-building is incredible, but most of the time I couldn’t tell where the plot was going and was getting frustrated at the characters going round in circles in their own minds. It got to the point that, at the end of part three, I was convinced the book had finished, because the last line had the feeling of a conclusion, and then I realised I was only 80% of the way through! I know this isn’t helped by the format, which is eBook, and I do try to account for that, but it was still draining.
As I’ve mentioned, though, the world-building is really really good. Even in the prologue, which throws you straight into the world full of unfamiliar (to me) words, the way Okungbowa works in the history, geography, and language is done in the perfect balance so that the reader is a little lost by but still intrigued. This continues throughout the book, especially in Danso’s chapters; because he is a scholar, he often refers to texts of history or legend which give the world a much bigger feel, and make me want to explore it further. I mean, there are two moons! How cool is that? And there are some really cool things with the sea, which I’m hoping we get to see more of in the future. The attention to detail is impressive, and it’s always exciting for me to enter a fantasy world that veers away from the typical medieval Europe, which is happening more and more.
So overall, though I did spend some of my time dragging myself through the slow parts of the narrative and yelling at the characters to get a move on, I am glad I read this book, and will probably keep an eye out for the second one next year; perhaps it will elevate my opinion of Son of the Storm. Two of my favourite characters were actually minor ones (Biemwensé – grumpy badass older woman – and Igan – gender neutral warrior), and if there is more of them I’ll be happy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide
Moderate: Body horror, Miscarriage, Violence, and Torture
roguebelle's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a complex book with a lot of exciting worldbuliding ideas behind it, and I hope that it will find a great many readers. Okungbowa has crafted an intricate society, inspired by Benin and other African empires. The magical system is unique, and it feels like there's a *lot* more to explore there in future books. Okungbowa's writing is vivid and tightly focused, fully evoking the textures of the world.
Unfortunately, for me, the central characters didn't quite thrill. The ones we spend the most time with weren't the people I was most interested in seeing succeed, and so it was hard for me to get fully invested. This is, of course, a big Your Mileage May Vary thing! Danso and Esheme just didn't do it for me. Lilong was somewhat better, and I really enjoyed Biemwensé, but I spent the whole book hoping to see more of Oke, whom we meet in the prologue and then never see again! I'll hope the story winds its way back to her in the sequel.
Unfortunately, for me, the central characters didn't quite thrill. The ones we spend the most time with weren't the people I was most interested in seeing succeed, and so it was hard for me to get fully invested. This is, of course, a big Your Mileage May Vary thing! Danso and Esheme just didn't do it for me. Lilong was somewhat better, and I really enjoyed Biemwensé, but I spent the whole book hoping to see more of Oke, whom we meet in the prologue and then never see again! I'll hope the story winds its way back to her in the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Child death
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