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clapton's review
3.0
I recommend checking out Akala's 4th fire in the booth after which he recites/raps most of chapter 3 - the killing fields to music. A redacted form of the book in his BBC show of ruins of empire. I think hearing with the music is more powerful than reading it
tstark2000's review
4.0
In a similar style to his music he gives us a vivid account of his views and politics, would recommend to anyone who is a fan of his music or enjoys history.
inkdrinkerreads's review
3.0
As a fan of graphic novels and a worshipper of Akala, when I heard that he was writing his own graphic novel exploring the theme of Empire that permeates much of his work, I thought it was too good to be true. And...to some extent it kind of was. Firstly, this isn’t really a ‘graphic novel’ as the marketing suggested. It’s initially an epic poem alongside some rather bland illustrations, and then becomes a few short vignettes about political uprisings and revolutions. These are where Akala shines- he is an exceptional writer and the narratives he shared- based on true historical events- are inspiring and richly crafted.
However, as a whole text, this was really quite disappointing. It seems largely self-published and there is almost no editing: there are grammar mistakes throughout and this seems a little unforgivable for an expensive book I had to ship over from the UK. I wanted to love this because I absolutely love most things Akala does but perhaps my expectations were too high and unreasonable. I know that he released a visual version of the narrative poem and perhaps that will be a better format for this work, if only I can find a copy somehow!
However, as a whole text, this was really quite disappointing. It seems largely self-published and there is almost no editing: there are grammar mistakes throughout and this seems a little unforgivable for an expensive book I had to ship over from the UK. I wanted to love this because I absolutely love most things Akala does but perhaps my expectations were too high and unreasonable. I know that he released a visual version of the narrative poem and perhaps that will be a better format for this work, if only I can find a copy somehow!
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