I requested this when I was in my fantasy era and whilst I am still reading fantasy, my go to is romance and therefore I’ve noticed this up.

I can't believe I forgot to leave feedback for this one! It's been a while since I read this, but it was definitely a great experience. It took me a while to actually get involved with the story. I actually ended up dropping this book twice before finally reading it. Third time's the charm and all that.

For a debut, this is extremely good. I love the setting and the characters so much. The world building is really good and it keeps you engaged. I'm a fan of political fantasy, so I really enjoyed this as a whole. Though it's a little tedious to get through at times, I would definitely recommend this to fans of fantasy everywhere.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I tried reading this book twice and keep failing everytime I try picking it up.

I think this book is not for me. The writing style didn't jive well with me, it is dense with information and long winded that it was so hard to get into the world. The good things I liked about Son of the Storm is the magic system that is particularly unique and interesting. The themes of the story about oppression, historical revisionism, and everything in between was done quite well.

Final thoughts, in the future I might not continue this series because it is just not for me.

this is a tough review to write because i wanted to love son of the storm so badly. and it does have quite a few good things going for it - the west-african inspired worldbuilding is magnificent, intricate and fully realized. the themes of oppression, historical revisionism, how oppressors have the power to rewrite history and sell lies to keep the populace obedient, were all fascinating and done well. i loved how unique the magic system was and how there are major consequences to using it, how the magic takes an enormous toll on the minds and bodies of its wielders.

sadly that's where my enjoyment ended. the writing style was too dense, long-winded and overwritten for my taste - it made the book feel like such a chore to read. the characters were all varying shades of self-centeredness, and with the lack of genuine relationships between them, i felt emotionally distant and simply didn't connect with them. danso, the protagonist, was honestly pretty bland and uninteresting to me. esheme was the most compelling character by far - i do love seeing ruthless, ambitious, villainous women - but only within the context of the novel. the plot itself was just okay, it's fairly standard adult fantasy fare and didn't really stand out to me.

i would have still continued this series if it weren't for the writing style and how difficult it made reading the book for me. there's a lot to love here and if the writing style isn't a problem for you, i think this can be an engaging slow-paced epic fantasy book to pick up.

I have picked this book up and put it back down again multiple times. I really wanted to enjoy it, but I just couldn't get into the story! It is well written, but unfortunately just not a book for me.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A compelling and vibrantly written epic fantasy. Engages the reader from the very first page and keeps their attention throughout. Highly recommended.

I loved this so much, it’s a fantasy novel set in pre-colonial Africa, so beautiful to be reading so many own voices, so much representation after so much western and white culture being force fed globally, this tackles many well know world issues and does it so well, so beautifully. Fantastic world building, three dimensional well developed characters and. An intriguing magic system, I look forward to reading many more books by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I just could not get into this. I tried physically reading and the audio and it lost me around the 170 page mark.

I may try this again in the future, but for now it's a dnf as I've tried multiple times to read this

Unfortunately I'm really struggling with this one. For such an interesting premise, hidden magics and power struggles, I just couldn't get along with the writing style. I found myself rereading paragraphs endlessly because I couldn't understand what was going on, and the pacing is incredibly slow to the point where I could just not engage with the story or characters. I think the multiple perspectives also hindered my enjoyment, as I found that as soon as I started to get into one storyline the reader is moved on to another, allowing little time to get to know the characters.

I also don't think the plot itself really stood out as anything different for the genre. As someone who reads a lot of fantasy, I've come to accept that there are going to be tropes in every read, but I still seek out stories that feel unique. Although I really loved the diversity and the rich African mythology that forms a major part of the plot, this still felt very predictable.

Great diversity, but I wanted more from the plot and a quicker pace.

Creo firmemente que es necesaria la renovación del género fantástico para dar cabida a nuevas historias desde perspectivas que antes no tenían apenas representación. Es normal por tanto que me llamara la atención Son of the Storm, de Suyi Davies Okungbowa, a quien ya conocía por una obra anterior. Sin embargo, no me he encontrado una novela rompedora si no algo más convencional, con ciertos detalles exóticos pero que no termina de cuajar como obra completa.


El relato se desarrolla en un mundo alternativo, basado en el continente africano pero con sus características propias. El mundo que expone el autor le sirve como herramienta para exponer sus ideas sobre colonialismo, racismo e incluso ecologismo. El centro de la “civilización” es Bassa una ciudad con un estricto sistema de castas y una gran riqueza que en cierto modo explota los recursos naturales de la periferia. El sistema de castas está cimentado en el color de la piel de las personas, siendo más “puras” aquellas que la tienen más oscura, mientras que el último escalón serían los casi míticos yellow skins (albinos) de los que hace mucho que no se tiene noticia.

Los personajes sobre los que recae el peso de la historia no consiguen despertar el interés del lector, no solo porque son egocéntricos y parecen niños malcriados, si no porque sus acciones realmente parecen escogidas al azar, no acorde a lo que conocemos de ellos. El sistema mágico permanece oculto durante gran parte de la novela y solo se va descubriendo a golpe de casualidad. Esta ocultación viene apoyada en gran parte por los aires de superioridad de los criados en Bassa, eso sí que está muy bien representado así como el desprecio por lo extranjero. Pero es que cuando llega la hora de conocer cómo funciona o la intrahistoria de los personajes y su cultura, nos encontramos con unos infodumps que cada capítulo parece el vertedero del pueblo, donde cada uno viene a soltar lo suyo e irse.

Por otra parte, la historia del viaje que han de emprender dos de los tres protagonistas principales, perseguidos por el otro, es tópica y en algunos momentos aburrida. También me gustaría resaltar que la lealtad de muchos de los habitantes de Bassa o de otras zonas es flexible como un junco y se dejan llevar por el viento que más fuerte sopla, dando lugar a situaciones que son casi cómicas por lo ridículas que resultan.

Por más que la portada sea maravillosa, no puedo recomendar este libro.

This book is starting very interestingly: In the ancient city of Bassa, Danso is a clever scholar on the cusp of achieving greatness—only he doesn’t want it. Instead, he prefers to chase forbidden stories about what lies outside the city walls. The Bassai elite claim there is nothing of interest. The city’s immigrants are sworn to secrecy. But when Danso stumbles across a warrior wielding magic that shouldn’t exist, he’s put on a collision course with Bassa’s darkest secrets. Drawn into the city’s hidden history, he sets out on a journey beyond its borders. And the chaos left in the wake of his discovery threatens to destroy the empire.

The first 25% when we are finding out about the society, the magic system (some interesting stones that offer different type of powers) and the world building were very interesting and captivating for me. After that the plot got a bit boring for me. I could guess what was going to happen and I just didn't want to read much. Danso became to powerful to soon and I wanted to see a bit more.

Other than Danso, there are some very interesting characters there. I quite liked the villain and her family. I don't want to say more about them because I enjoyed discovering little things on the way. I want to read the next volume just to find out more about this villain and how she evolves.

Even though some parts of the plot were very foreseeable, I still want to read the next volume when it comes out! Also, in the end I have to say that this is one of the most beautiful covers out there :)

If I have changed anything about my reading style in the last few years ( and I have changed a lot of things), I have tried more different types of fantasy fiction written by people from all over the world.
This book depicts a very intricate political system that limits certain sections of society and uses very visible affiliations to your 'roles'. We have two main threads of the narrative. One is a power-hungry woman, and on the other, her betrothed, a confused man uncertain of his position in life. Both come from unusual lineage, and this is what had thrown them together. By the end of this first book, they could not be further apart!
My one dominant reaction in this well described and complicated plot is that it felt slow. Given the near-death situations, the people continue to find themselves in, it should have felt like it was moving faster.
As a wrench thrown into any political system, we have unknown magic. The presence of this magic is a hidden piece of information, only town to a select few who use the myths behind it to suppress most of the nation.
One plotline dealt with immigrants and why they found themselves there in the first place. This formed the foundation on which the emotions of the story were built. None of the characters is completely innocent in their actions and how self-centred they are. This makes for an enticing setup for what future books hold.
Unlike some of its counterparts, the first in this series does not reveal as much as I had expected. We have a semblance of understanding of how things are, but the actual sequence of events and possibilities for a future is not clear. This last bit is a good thing.
I would recommend it to readers looking for books (fantasy or otherwise) based on non-white nations.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book!*

I really enjoyed "Son of the Storm", which is a fantasy novel set in pre-colonial Africa, a brilliant choice. The fantasy genre has been dominated by white, eurocentric authors for way too long. This novel is innovative, well written, smart, and fun!

It has three main paragraphs and is highly political in its setting already. The female characters are pretty cool even though I disliked the entire romance hit. Danso is also a bit boring, but as this is the first instalment, I think that he will develop further.

Innovative world building, interesting characters, really cool magic system and smart storylines combined make this a really worthwhile read. (I still predicted some of the major plottwists but don't mind me.)

4.5 stars

First of all, that cover! This is what drew me in and then after that blurb, I knew I needed!!

A short one from me today as I've slipped a disc in my back and I'm struggling!

So we're here in the land of Bassa (which because of the history we're told, was a delight!)

The world building was superb, the magic system on point but I did struggle with connecting to the characters, I didn't hate them but I wasn't particularly rooting for them either. Not sure whether it was my mood or not as have been a bit 'off' lately with pain!

Overall I liked this read and can't wait for more!

This was such a unique story ! I really liked the writing style and concept of the book. I can't wait to read more from this author !

This was a hugely anticipated read for me and I looked forward and was excited to have the chance to read it through netgalley.
This is an epic fantasy set in a world reflecting the Africa that we know and thus, this book includes a lot of representation which is pleasant to read. It tackles many well know world issues in a well written way. I enjoyed reading this and look forward to seeing what else becomes of this world.
Some of the characters weren't my favourite but they were still well wirtten.

* 3.5/4 stars.

This was a tricky one to grade as it took me a while to get stuck in. The beginning quarter of the book does a lot of heavy lifting to establish the world, politics and characters involved, and includes POVs from several characters (including side characters) which at times I did struggle to follow. However, once all of the information we need to know had been put across, the book really picked up the pace and became a sprawling fantasy epic on a grand scale, where the shifting POVs made more sense as the characters were spread out across the world. I particularly enjoyed the chapters from Esheme's perspective, and found her character arc to be the most interesting and unexpected, and look forward to seeing what happens with her character in the next books. The world itself was also fascinating, with its caste system and exploration of colourism. As previously mentioned, it took a while to get hooked as the world was so dense and intricate but I found it rewarding to persevere having learned the necessary concepts that define the novel's world.

(Many thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Early reviews and the synopsis cited this as a political fantasy with a unique magic system, set in a pre-colonial, West African-inspired world. I felt so sure it was going to be a five-star read for me! Unfortunately, however, this was not the case.

This was by no means a bad book and had no unlikable traits inside of it, but I did find the pace to be gruellingly slow, in some areas, and it disconnected me from the story-line. I continued to appreciate the focus on social hierarchies and loved learning more about the culture, beliefs, and politics of the land, but wanted a little more from the actual bones of the story.

Despite this book not wholly working for me, Suyi Davies Okungbowa is for sure an author I will read from again, as there were many areas of skilful penmanship here.

DNF @40%

2.5 stars

I liked the premise and the potential of the Son of the Storm. However, it felt like I was reading a 1000 pages book instead of 500+ pages.
The political and social implications as well as the magic system were pretty impressive.
However, the extremely slow pace made me struggle, and the difficulty to truly connect with the main characters undermined my interest.
In the end, I raised my hand and surrendered.

* I received this for free from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review *