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crybabybea 's review for:
Birth of a Dynasty
by Chinaza Bado
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm so torn on this. I don't think it was a terrible reading experience, but I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a bit misled by how this book is marketed.
Looking at the marketing and how this book is reviewed, I was expecting an epic, sprawling fantasy with rich political machinations, immersive world-building, and complex characters. But Birth of a Dynasty is more like a historical court drama with a vaguely fantasy backdrop. The fantasy elements are more of a whisper, with some magical realism elements being woven in here and there, but nothing like the sprawling fantasy world expected out of other political fantasies.
I think my main struggle with this was that it has A LOT of dialogue. Like I would venture to say that 80-90% of this book is dialogue. It often felt like each chapter was a fade to black to a new scene where more characters would talk or argue about something, sort of giving the vibe of watching a play. Pretty much everything happens via dialogue with the exception of some violence/deaths that motivate the characters. While it made for a readable experience (the chapters absolutely fly by), I can't say it helped me feel connected to anything at all. I felt detached from the characters because they weren't given time to sit in their own interiority, instead speaking everything out loud to whoever else is in the scene. This made for a very matter-of-fact reading experience -- I didn't have to guess what characters were feeling because they would say it out loud.
The other issue with the book being majority dialogue was that most scenes lacked detail or depth, which then caused the world-building to feel vague or nearly non-existent. A lot of scenes were just dialogue, and I was often wondering about the world; what does it look and feel like, how does class and power show, how do people behave and dress? To add on to this problem, the lack of detail in scenes also meant that foreshadowing was so heavyhanded that it took all of the intrigue out of the story for me. When you write settings that don't have any detail, it becomes painfully obvious when the narrative notices something in the background and then continues to bring it up throughout the following chapters. I'm not saying every scene had to be explained in excrutiating detail, but I think the book could have benefited from striking a stronger balance between dialogue and exposition.
Despite my struggles, I did think the plot was interesting enough. The premise is exciting and mysterious with enough twists that it feels fun. The characters, while not having the strongest voices, were agentic and the narrative put them into situations that made their stories interesting. I did find myself wanting to keep reading to find out what happened, so I can't say I completely hated my time reading it.
All of this brings me to my final point, to add some context to the book. In reading more about Birth of a Dynasty, I realized the author has previously published under the name J.J. McAvoy, and has written some beloved Regency romances. Ahhh, it all makes sense! Once that connection clicked for me, I realized that this book totally reads as a regency romance or court drama. And to be clear, this is not said as an insult, just that it made all of the issues I was having make more sense.
I think this book has value because it centers Black people without apology. I think it's great to have a political fantasy based on African history/mythology, which challenges genre norms of white as default. It allows readers (especially young readers, who I think this book appeals to) who are Black or African themselves to have a world they can get lost in and feel seen by.
However, I think readers should be aware that this is not the sprawling, epic, high fantasy that it is marketed as -- it doesn't mean the book isn't enjoyable or doesn't have value, but it may not match up with what readers are expecting if they are looking for "Game of Thrones but make it African". I would recommend this as a fun, accessible fantasy for when you just want to get lost for a day or two without thinking too deeply.
Looking at the marketing and how this book is reviewed, I was expecting an epic, sprawling fantasy with rich political machinations, immersive world-building, and complex characters. But Birth of a Dynasty is more like a historical court drama with a vaguely fantasy backdrop. The fantasy elements are more of a whisper, with some magical realism elements being woven in here and there, but nothing like the sprawling fantasy world expected out of other political fantasies.
I think my main struggle with this was that it has A LOT of dialogue. Like I would venture to say that 80-90% of this book is dialogue. It often felt like each chapter was a fade to black to a new scene where more characters would talk or argue about something, sort of giving the vibe of watching a play. Pretty much everything happens via dialogue with the exception of some violence/deaths that motivate the characters. While it made for a readable experience (the chapters absolutely fly by), I can't say it helped me feel connected to anything at all. I felt detached from the characters because they weren't given time to sit in their own interiority, instead speaking everything out loud to whoever else is in the scene. This made for a very matter-of-fact reading experience -- I didn't have to guess what characters were feeling because they would say it out loud.
The other issue with the book being majority dialogue was that most scenes lacked detail or depth, which then caused the world-building to feel vague or nearly non-existent. A lot of scenes were just dialogue, and I was often wondering about the world; what does it look and feel like, how does class and power show, how do people behave and dress? To add on to this problem, the lack of detail in scenes also meant that foreshadowing was so heavyhanded that it took all of the intrigue out of the story for me. When you write settings that don't have any detail, it becomes painfully obvious when the narrative notices something in the background and then continues to bring it up throughout the following chapters. I'm not saying every scene had to be explained in excrutiating detail, but I think the book could have benefited from striking a stronger balance between dialogue and exposition.
Despite my struggles, I did think the plot was interesting enough. The premise is exciting and mysterious with enough twists that it feels fun. The characters, while not having the strongest voices, were agentic and the narrative put them into situations that made their stories interesting. I did find myself wanting to keep reading to find out what happened, so I can't say I completely hated my time reading it.
All of this brings me to my final point, to add some context to the book. In reading more about Birth of a Dynasty, I realized the author has previously published under the name J.J. McAvoy, and has written some beloved Regency romances. Ahhh, it all makes sense! Once that connection clicked for me, I realized that this book totally reads as a regency romance or court drama. And to be clear, this is not said as an insult, just that it made all of the issues I was having make more sense.
I think this book has value because it centers Black people without apology. I think it's great to have a political fantasy based on African history/mythology, which challenges genre norms of white as default. It allows readers (especially young readers, who I think this book appeals to) who are Black or African themselves to have a world they can get lost in and feel seen by.
However, I think readers should be aware that this is not the sprawling, epic, high fantasy that it is marketed as -- it doesn't mean the book isn't enjoyable or doesn't have value, but it may not match up with what readers are expecting if they are looking for "Game of Thrones but make it African". I would recommend this as a fun, accessible fantasy for when you just want to get lost for a day or two without thinking too deeply.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol
Minor: Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Xenophobia