A review by pagesofglory22
Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
4.0
3.5 stars
Thanks to Jonathan Ball Publishers for gifting me a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Son of the Storm is a fantasy following Danso, who lives in a world divided into different castes. He does not feel like he fits in anywhere. One day, he makes a decision that will forever change his life, and this leads to a dangerous adventure. On this adventure, he learns a lot of secrets about the world he lives in.
The first third of this book is incredibly slow. Once the “journey” part of the book starts, the pace picks up a bit. It was hard to know where the story was headed, since there are so many different points of view being told, and you do not necessarily realize how they all fit together until a bit later on.
I enjoyed seeing a fantasy that centered on non-white characters. There was also some LGBTQ+ representation. I did not necessarily like any of the characters, but I did enjoy reading about them, as I feel that they were well fleshed out.
Seeing the characters’ relationships with each other was also interesting, and I liked how the characters developed through these relationships.
The book is incredibly well-written, although hard to read at times, because it is very dense. The writing felt a bit impersonal to me, which made me feel disconnected from the story and the characters.
I would say that the world-building in this book is its strongest point. The world is rich in terms of culture, politics, and history. I feel that there is a lot that can be explored. The magic system was also unlike any other, and I would love to dive a bit deeper into that.
I very much enjoyed reading an African fantasy as opposed to the normal fantasies that I read, as they can get a bit repetitive, and this was a breath of fresh air.
While this was a very good book, I did not enjoy it all the time. The ending also felt a bit too rushed for me in comparison to the rest of the book.
Overall, I do think that this is an important book, as it tackles many serious topics. Even though it was hard for me to read, the author is clearly talented, and I would be eager to read more of their work.
Thanks to Jonathan Ball Publishers for gifting me a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Son of the Storm is a fantasy following Danso, who lives in a world divided into different castes. He does not feel like he fits in anywhere. One day, he makes a decision that will forever change his life, and this leads to a dangerous adventure. On this adventure, he learns a lot of secrets about the world he lives in.
The first third of this book is incredibly slow. Once the “journey” part of the book starts, the pace picks up a bit. It was hard to know where the story was headed, since there are so many different points of view being told, and you do not necessarily realize how they all fit together until a bit later on.
I enjoyed seeing a fantasy that centered on non-white characters. There was also some LGBTQ+ representation. I did not necessarily like any of the characters, but I did enjoy reading about them, as I feel that they were well fleshed out.
Seeing the characters’ relationships with each other was also interesting, and I liked how the characters developed through these relationships.
The book is incredibly well-written, although hard to read at times, because it is very dense. The writing felt a bit impersonal to me, which made me feel disconnected from the story and the characters.
I would say that the world-building in this book is its strongest point. The world is rich in terms of culture, politics, and history. I feel that there is a lot that can be explored. The magic system was also unlike any other, and I would love to dive a bit deeper into that.
I very much enjoyed reading an African fantasy as opposed to the normal fantasies that I read, as they can get a bit repetitive, and this was a breath of fresh air.
While this was a very good book, I did not enjoy it all the time. The ending also felt a bit too rushed for me in comparison to the rest of the book.
Overall, I do think that this is an important book, as it tackles many serious topics. Even though it was hard for me to read, the author is clearly talented, and I would be eager to read more of their work.