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 *

Wow this one was so good!I find it unique and I liked the magic system and the set up, it was so refreshing.
So many things happening through the story to keep your interest.What amazes me is that with each chapter we are following a different character.
Danso,Esheme and Lilong were so interesting .
This one has a little bit of everything, politics, great magical system, intrigued characters and some twists to keep you wanting for more.

I had very high expectations for this book and that should teach me.
This was a chore to read. There is a lot of info dumping in the first chapters of the book and that makes it hard for a reader to want to continue.
The characters are not well fleshed out and neither of them have clear motivation they are all doing things and I found it hard to figure out the why. The pacing was off and scenes that needed to have the most impact were short and the filler scenes were really long.
A lot of situations felt contrived to me like the introduction of a love interest for one of the minor characters who was never mentioned again during the course of the story I didn't understand the reason for that.
The writing didn't help this book either, the author relied heavily on telling the reader the feelings of the characters with sentences like she smiled perfomatively or hate hung heavy in her gaze rather than showing us through actions it became boring very fast.
The 'west african setting' used to market the book was a bit bland I expected more and this book didn't deliver.

African-inspired fantasy full of political machinations, well-developed POV characters, mysterious islanders and magic long-thought a myth. A compelling start to the series. Particularly intrigued by the character of Esheme.

Son of the Storm is a fantasy novel set in a world inspired by the precolonial empires of West Africa. In the city of Basso, Danso is a clever scholar chasing forbidden stories of what lies beyond the city walls. He meets a warrior with magic that shouldn't exist, and his discoveries and their consequences threaten to destroy the empire.

I was immediately absorbed into the world. The world building is wonderful. There is so much depth and breadth to everything and it all feels so real. The system of magic is really interesting, and quite unlike anything I've seen in other fantasy novels. There are complex politics, clashing cultures, and a caste system that the main characters have to navigate. There is just so much going on.

The beginning of the story does feel a little slow. Things are happening, but a lot of it is establishing the world, rather than the story. But when things do start happening, the excitement ramps up. This is a complex story, where the pieces slowly come together and the connections between the characters are gradually revealed. I really liked some of the character development. Danso is far too clever for his own good, and yet he's also really naive and not so smart in non scholarly ways. Esheme, Danso's intended, is ambitious and ruthless, and her parts of the story were my favourite. I also really liked Zaq. He was very conflicted, torn between his different responsibilities and desires, which made for good reading. And, I'll be purposefully vague here to avoid spoilers, but the making of the villain was brilliant.

This is the first book in the Nameless Republic series, and I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel.

To begin - Wow what an awesome cover!

We love clever, smart characters and our lead Danso is one. In this first book, Son of the Storm from - The Nameless Republic series by Suyi Davies Okungbowa we follow Danso in this African inspired world. Again it is great to read a non-Western based book. Thank you Suyi. And of course, there is magic.

Orbit are go-to publishers for me and I highly recommend you follow them if you are a fantasy lover, like me.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for this ARC.


Links forthcoming.

Son of the Storm is an incredible, intricately told fantasy novel about how power can change a person, wether that be loss or gain, and the changes that happen when overlooked individuals find themselves with the power to change the society they were raised in. By reading from the three main POVs, and the occasional extras, you follow the characters as they learn to navigate their constantly changing circumstances, and as they fight to do what they believe is best, for themselves or others.
The world building of this book is entirely immersive, and never falters even as the book travels to different areas in the world, and subsequently we meet different characters, who’ve had an entirely different upbringing. Every new landscape is described in such a way that picturing it is effortless, yet the descriptions never felt heavy handed or overbearing.
My only reservation with this book is how naive some of the characters are, which isn’t a criticism and is definitely necessary, but at times it did feel slightly repetitive when characters would constantly push themselves too far or not think of the consequences of an action. It makes sense for the characters to not have a good understanding of magics and political movements that have purposefully hidden from the population, but both Danso and Esheme run in to situations without trying to gain the knowledge they need to deal with it. Overall I really enjoyed reading their arcs, and I think Esheme has one of the most unique progressions, I just hope the next book will feature more of them dealing with, or at least acknowledging, the consequences to their choices.

A beautifully written, multiple pov fantasy that sent me into a spiral or research into the history and fashion of pre-colonial Benin. Okungbowa's Nigerian heritage is on display with the descriptions of the sights, sounds and colours of his fantasy Continent of Oon. His structured and stratified society is one in which birth, breeding, and caste are inescapable and cruel. Yet his characters are all ones who defy social strictures by their mere existence. Danso was born mixed race, and his paler skin marks him as unclean and unwanted. Yet his brilliant mind is undeniable. Which, to be honest, is what causes most of his troubles. His fiancé Esheme and her mother Nem, are politically and socially powerful because of Nem's position as a fixer with her fingers in a lot of less than legal pies, but scorned and feared by the elite who rely upon them. And then there is the mysterious and amost mythic pale skinned stranger from a place though to have been destroyed.
A clever and unique magic system, and plenty of queerness. Although perhaps a little too much violence and gore for some.
One of the most stunning covers that I have seen all year, and readers should absolutely hit up Okungbowa's Instagram feed for the incredible character portraits!

Another book in 2021’s fantastic library of diversity, Son of the Storm has been earmarked as one of the big books of this year, sitting in every list alongside other incredible book’s like She Who Became the Sun and The Unbroken. I’m massively honoured to get to read these books early and Son of the Storm was no exception to this. Suyi Davies Okungbowa isn’t a new voice in the world of Fantasy, but he isn’t an author I had come across before, I believe Son of the Storm to be his first full length published works and after reading this I genuinely can’t wait to see what else this man is able to imagine for us.
I’m going to start straight off with what I believe makes this book so good, the incredibly beautiful world that Suyi has built. The story of The Nameless Republic is based on the continent of Oon, Bassa is built on the western half of the continent, the Largest city on Oon, its power and influence spreading across almost the entire continent. Many people of different castes live here but Bassa is only truly home to the Idu, those of the truest blood and of the darkest humus, everyone else here is either mixed race and seen as lesser or an immigrant. The eastern continent is the Savanna Belt, home to the desert landers who trade with Bassa for many of the essentials the Bassai need. Between the two we have the Soke Pass that joins them together, the only trade route between these vastly different areas. Suyi has detailed his world beautifully, it drips in culture and is painted vividly for the reader, its multiple dialects, the clothes that the people wear and the difference between the castes, the life of its people from both high up and low down. The world that you are brought into is where the initial magic of this book comes from and what keeps it interesting as we go on. In his worldbuilding Suyis main talents as a writer shone, being able to write this incredibly detailed world without needing massive info dumps, his ability to get transfer the impressive amount of information feeling incredibly natural and in pace with the story.
Danso is our first main character, he is a Shashi, a mixed-race resident of Bassa, his father a mainlander and his mother an outlander. Danso is a scholar at the University, a Jali Novitiate, a position only normally given to the Idu, but something that was allowed due to Danso’s ability to absorb and remember everything, a condition we call hyperthymesia, and something that makes him potentially the greatest scholar Bassa has ever seen. But because Danso is Shashi he is always discriminated against and looked down on, our first introduction quickly introduces us to this caste system and shows us quickly how harsh life is for anyone outside of the Idu.
“If belonging to both the highest and lowest castes in the land at the same time taught one anything, it was when people had to choose where to place a person, they would always choose a spot beneath them”
Esheme is next, Danso’s intended and another Jali Novitiate, right off the bat you are introduced to Esheme’s confidence and power, she is clearly going to be a force in this world and her story arc is definitely the wildest and the events that happened weren’t anywhere near what I guessed would happen. She was an incredibly strong and brutal character, and the book was so much more interesting because of her, book two is going to absolutely spiral for her and I don’t know what insanity we will see come next.
“But Esheme knew that rules only worked for those who fit neatly within them. She could be the most rule -abiding person, but as long as anyone believed that she was an Emuru by blood and did not belong in the Idu caste, they would treat her as such. She was tired of trying to earn respect. Perhaps it was time to start taking it by force”

Lilong was introduced halfway through and became our third main POV, she is a “Yellow Skin” (please see below before jumping to conclusions), and her introduction and story are really start the avalanche of events in this book. She was with no doubt my favourite character, her sass and attitude giving me moments of laughter, her skills and abilities making her incredibly interesting. She will be who I’m most excited to continue reading when we get to book two, if only so we get a clearer look at the Islands, the lore, and the people that Bassa fear so much.
The story is a mass of POVs, the people surrounding Danso and Esheme, their own families and interactions forming then attaching POVs, and in the end I believe we had 11+ POV characters, some having just one chapter, some having more when their stories became more important. This has always been a struggle for me because every extra POV pulls away time from an MC and makes it that much harder to connect with the characters. My biggest issue with the book is that I never felt any attachment any of the characters, Suyi definitely didn’t follow any of the classic hero characterization’s with this book so we didn’t get the regular cast of heroes or villains, but I found them all relatively annoying at points in a way that turned me away from them, sometimes conversations between them feeling rigid and what was said by these characters feeling intentionally ignorant or stupid purely to fulfil a point the author wanted to make.
Son of the Storm is heavily based on African culture, and if it isn’t clear one of the main themes in the book being colourism, a concept that intertwines with Racism but distinct in its own respect. This is a sort of discrimination that is based on the skin tone of the person and is the main theme the entire way through the book, you see it in more detail as the book goes on, Seconds for example, men who’s job it is to protect people of the Idu, punished if their charges cause issues, however it’s their job to follow the instructions of their charge at all times or face the same punishment, the threat of deportation always there regardless of what they do.
Now just so you are aware, and I felt it important to add, Suyi uses the term “Yellow skins”, and I did see a small amount of backlash regarding this. Suyi did publish a statement for those unclear but all the people mentioned in Son of the Storm are black/African inspired, in Nigeria where Suri comes from, yallow is used as a slur against people with lighter skin tones, or people who have albinism. Throughout history people with albinism have been persecuted and in Africa this was no different, Suri has taken that history and used it in his own story. The Yellow Skins we meet are people that live on the islands to the north, feared for their magics (pertaining to the fact that albinos in history have been seen as witches) and made to be a focus of the Bassai’s hate and anger.
I loved that Suyi very much mirrored the two very different worlds that he lives in, the author lives between Lagos, Nigeria and Tucson, Arizona, you can see the two cultures and histories Suyi experiences mixed throughout this book. Bassa is clearly a capitalist society as much as its maybe masked otherwise, the country being led mostly by the people that own and run the economy. Bassa feeling very much like our own capitals cities, the centre being a shining, glorious beacon to power and wealth and ten minutes down the road being able to find signs of disparity and absolute poverty. Its leaders hiding the actual issues using people’s fears, fuelling the fires of hatred to pull attention away from what’s important. At one point we even have someone mutter “Make Bassa great again”. This all felt so vivid and real to me, I could imagine what was being said, imagine the acts of these desperate people because we’ve seen so much of this hatred and ignorance in our own recent events. All authors try and pull something out of our own world as a way to help immerse the reader, but few people have done this as well as Suyi did for me.
“We’re weak, ripe for the taking if anyone were bold enough to overlook our past glory and conquests. Our Speaker was murdered by one invader, for moon’s sake. The Coalition for New Bassa wants nothing but to make the mainland great again. But the truth is we cannot do it alone, we need the people to rally behind us, because that is where true power lies.”
My only other issue was upon finishing the book I did struggle with the ending, it definitely wasn’t what I expected or wanted, and the author has used it to springboard the events of the next book and because of that I felt there wasn’t a great amount of mystery about what will happen in book two. However, I want to say very clearly that Suyi is a master storyteller, the ending may not have been what I wanted but he did an incredible job of pulling together an amazing story, this book lacked so many of the classic tropes we get in fantasy, which meant we got something that felt exciting and genuinely fresh. I waffled in this review and there was more I wanted to mention, I want to talk about the fantastic magic system Suyi built, I want to talk about the creatures and monsters that he imagined for us, but instead maybe you should just read it.
I think this series will only get better as it goes on and I look forward to seeing what Suyi Davies Okungbowa pulls out for Warrior of the Wind, book two in The Nameless Republic series.

Very detailed and impressive world building with an interesting magic system.

This is an Own Voices fantasy set in an African inspired continent with warring factions. I liked the characters and how nuanced they are. Danso is naive and has a lot to learn about the world. He seems to pick things up along the journey but is still wide eyed and optimistic. Lilong is the foil to his with her distrust and pessimism - she’s definitely jaded so they balance each other out. I even like Esheme - she’s entitled and devious and conniving, but you have to admire her guts and her ambition. She’s like the mean girl who you hope time and experience will eventually curtail. I can’t see her as completely evil even though she does some despicable things, plus weirdly Danso who’s the “innocent” one ends up killing more people. They are both intentional in who and how they kill people so it will be interesting to see how they are portrayed in the future books - I think it will be a lesson in how power corrupts and who is able to rise above it.

Overall it’s an interesting book with lots of action and character development. It is quite dense so took me some time to read but the storyline pulled me along. Will definitely be checking out the rest of the series.

The way this book discusses imperialism, rebellion, liberty... AMAZING. Suyi Davies Okungbowa not only gave us Lilong and Danso, a pair of earnest, honest, determined protagonists to root for - he also gave us a ruthless, complex, brutally ambitious villain in Esheme. This ended on SUCH a cliffhanger and I can't wait to read the second book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc! This is an absolutely stunning book inside and out, I cannot wait until my physical copy arrives :))

I had the pleasure of reading a digital ARC via #netgalley and throughly enjoyed immersing myself in this new world inspired by African folklore. Son of the Storm has all the right elements, spun together into a rich and compelling story: brilliant and intricate world building, a cast of complex characters, a flawed political system, the stirring of a revolution and ancient powerful magic. I enjoyed following the three main characters, and watching their paths converge.

My physical copy of the book arrived today - testament to how much I enjoyed this first installment in The Nameless Republic series. I am already waiting for the next book...

#netgalley #sonofthestorm

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions expressed in this are my own.
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Okungbowa has set a standard for worldbuilding with this book!

Inspired by West Africa, the continent of Oon was described beautifully and immaculately. I truly felt as if the societal , cultural and political structures, the ongoing conflicts and immigration issues were realistic and depicted in all their complexity. The same goes for the very unique magic system! What's more incredible is that the story is set in such a vivid world but the world has been built gradually without the need for massive info dumps and unnecessarily flowery prose.

I was not expecting there to be multiple POVs since the blurb did not indicate such but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. I am not the biggest fan of multiple POVs and in the first few chapters I feared that the pacing would remain slow due to handling too many character POVs. However, I was quickly proven wrong and found the pacing to be perfect for the rest of the story.

The characters themselves are diverse and provide ample opportunities for readers to put themselves in the shoes of others and thus get fully immersed in the story. I found Escheme in particular to be very interesting as her hunger for power was in contrast with the more, in my opinion, benign motivations of the other characters.

This was a great epic fantasy story and I would definitely love to see where it goes next!

I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a refreshingly new epic fantasy series set in a beautifully depicted world!

Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 stars

I would like to thank Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Son of The Storm was my catalyst to start reading more books inspired by African origins and culture to learn more and become familiar with it. Set in rich and vast ancient land of Oon, Son of The Storm follows a scholar's search for the truth that will either destroy or free the people of the whole empire.

The story was told through multiple POVs, but the story mainly revolved around three characters: Danso, Esheme, and Lilong. Danso was a jali novitiate who despite being a scholar-historian and having the perk of an Idu, the only caste allowed to attend the University of Bassa, still treated as an outsider because of having a light complexion which he got from his outlander mother. Esheme, Danso's intended, was a counsel novitiate who thrived for power to be more than being a daughter of the city's fixer. Lilong was a warrior who would do anything to protect her family's heirloom and its secrets. The story started slower than usual for an epic fantasy book mainly because of the multiple POVs. Although those POVs helped in having deeper understanding of the side characters, I personally thought this did not help the course of the story. Thankfully, after that, the pacing picked up and became more intriguing.

The world building was definitely the strong point of this novel. Inspired by the author's West African origin, the continent of Oon felt vivid and real. It had its own history. From each nook and cranny of the city's streets, the detailed clothes of the citizen, to magical creatures and minerals which held secrets and powers, it gave us readers an unforgettable world that was both unique and unexplored. I liked the idea of using magic, but it came with the price. With its well-written political and cultural background, this novel tackled system of oppression, immigration, and social structure.

I liked how diverse the characters were. Although I did not connect to any of them, I still found myself invested on what was happening. First, Danso, being a scholar historian, was already expected to be intelligent. But sometimes, his actions and decisions were impulsive and told me otherwise. His naivety and curiosity, even when its out of the kindness of his heart, sometimes led him to difficult situations. On the other hand his character's growth was really something to look forward. Lilong was another interesting character. She went to Bassa to determine to discreetly retrieved a family heirloom, but her plans went awry after meeting Danso. She had to make a decision whether to keep the secret of the ibor or to help Danso on his quest. Lastly, Esheme's arc was my favorite. I liked and hated her. She was ambitious, cunning, and a little bit sociopathic in my opinion, but I liked how she wanted to claim power for herself. I was very excited on what she would become in the next book.

On the other hand, it was worth to mention that some readers like myself might be confused or some might even felt discomfort with the term "yellowskin" that was used in this book series. The author did a great explanation clarifying this concern. All the characters in the book were African-inspired, and the term "yellowskin" was actually a description often used for Africans with albinism. I highly suggest to read the whole explanation of the author here.

Overall, Son of The Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa was an enthralling introduction of a new epic fantasy trilogy. I recommend it to readers looking for a different kind of fantasy read.

4/5 stars!

A refreshing and vivid novel, Son of the Storm, is an African-inspired novel rich in culture, a unique world and magic system I have never read before, and intriguing characters.

Sooo this is one of my anticipated read this year and I gotta admit it was because of the cover first. It’s striking and stunning, and set in pre-colonial empires of West Africa? Just take my money!!!

Son of the Storm is a slow burn epic fantasy that addresses issues in the social caste system, colorism, family, social pressure.
Its strength is its world and character building. Well-crafted, inventive and richly imagined. Oon is a recollection of the ancient Benin Empire in Nigeria and readers can see that Suyi Davies Okungbowa put a lot of thought into how Son of the Storm would be imagined. The characters were diverse and interesting. All are distinct with their motivations and personalities. We have a naive scholar, a vindictive and vicious nemesis, and a cynical warrior. Also, there’s a nonbinary character and LGBT+ relationships. Esheme is definitely my favorite. She’s the most efficient and cunning character so far. I’m interested to see more of her character arc.
The magic system is distinct from what I've read before and I’m interested to see more on how the stones and ibor works. The author’s writing style is straight forward and the chapters are kept short. I did have an issue with the pacing, it started too slow for my liking. Although after the world was established, it started to pace faster. The first half of the book was slow going and filled with information necessary to establish the world, its society, and culture then it all started to fall into place. Also, it took a while before I got used to the unusual names. Hoping that the author will add a pronunciation guide.

Overall, Son of the Storm was a breath of fresh air. It has everything that I look for in a fantasy novel, expansive world-building, morally grey characters, complex politics, and an interesting magic system. I am looking forward and have high hopes for the next book. It definitely encouraged me to read more books inspired by African lore and culture.

Thank you, Little Brown Book Group UK/Orbit and Netgalley for the e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group and netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

I was initially drawn to Son of the Storm because the cover is absolutely stunning, and I am really enjoying a lot of the new African-inspired fantasy that is around at the moment.

What I particularly liked about Son of the Storm, is that it is a very unique book and didn't feel predictable at all. The social and political scheming is very intricate and well plotted - I like the way that power filters through every aspect of the story. The whole book just feels very well thought out and detailed.

I really enjoyed the style of writing in this book - the way that Okungbowa flits between the multiple characters reveals a very full picture of events, and their interpretations of them. It is written in quite a matter-of-fact way, and I did like that we see even the 'bad' characters equally so are able to fully understand their motives, whether we like them or not. Although, Okungbowa is able to make his readers root for everyone's success. All of the characters are flawed and feel very real and genuine, although I would have liked to see more personal connections and emotion between them. It is a very character driven story with a slightly slower plot pace, but that suits me fine. I did find it difficult to connect with any character in particular though.

Another aspect I liked was the world building. This is especially poignant at the start of the story when we see Danso racing through Bassa to attend a meeting held at its centre. The way that the city of Bassa is designed feels very unique and I enjoyed learning about its structure. The map at the beginning is also one of my favourite features - who doesn't love a good map in a fantasy book?!

The last quarter of the book definitely picks up in pace and I have to say that it was my favourite section as everything begins to draw together and the real shows of power come through. The magic system is complex and still leaves us with some questions, but it is not too difficult to follow or understand. We piece it together as readers along with Lilong and Danso's understanding and then again with Esheme and Nem's.

I would recommend to those who enjoyed books like The Priory of the Orange Tree and the Daevabad trilogy, as the intricate plot, political aspects and rich sense of culture draw some parallels. I personally prefer a little more romance to my fantasy, and a little less gore, so it's maybe not something I would read again but I did enjoy reading it.

Son of the Storm is the first novel in Suyi Davies Okungbowa’s new adult fantasy trilogy, The Nameless Republic. This isn’t just a fantasy story about magic, it’s a breathlessly good tale of survival, political upheaval, and carving out your place in the world.

The story spans many themes and topics, including imperialism, revolution, racial and social hierarchies and prejudices, colonialism, and the bonds of family, and the author gives equal time and attention to each while delivering a tense, dramatic plot and enigmatic characters.

The story benefits from a slow-moving pace, as the author has more time to develop complex, multi-faceted characters, brimming with emotion, ambition, and hope. Despite having a plot juicier than a ripe orange, at times this book feels more character-driven, which is why we end up getting to know so many characters so intimately.

Having said that, the plot itself is gripping. It takes the form of an adventure/quest format, beginning in the city of Bassa and moving outwards into the rest of the kingdom of Oon. This is epic fantasy at its finest, with compelling action scenes and a bounty hunt for the ages. I would love to see this adapted for the big screen (somebody please make it happen) because I just know it would be excellent.

The world building in this novel is nothing short of sublime. Steeped in African culture and myths, the world of Oon comes to life in intricate detail through the author’s detailed descriptions.

Suyi Davies Okungbowa has stated that the world of Son of the Storm is inspired by the Benin Empire, with the societal hierarchies and geographical divisions being loosely based on this period in history.

We learn that Bassa is split into wards, with the inner circles being the most affluent and the outer circles being less wealthy. The university, courtship with an intended, the many languages of the continent, and the caste system Bassa upholds all come into focus through Danso’s eyes.

We see imperialist values sweeping across Bassa, as the people’s desire to simply survive in their city is outstripped by their desire to glorify Bassa in power. Bassai rule already holds sway over Whudasha, the Soke mountains, and other islands, who live in vigilance of them, and this tenuous balance starts to tip out of alignment as Bassa’s zeal to subjugate other lands grows.

The magic system is clever and unique; ibor can be wielded using red or grey stones, and different stones allow users to do different things. But not everyone can wield ibor and the conditions that must be met for an individual to do so make for some of the most electric moments in the novel.

Danso is one of the three main characters in the novel and a Jali scholar at the university in Bassa.

He begins the novel relatively naive and only invested in his own learning and future, but as he battles adversity and hugely unexpected events, he begins to grow and change. By the end of the story, we see someone who wants to help free and liberate all of Oon from Bassa’s clutches.

Danso has many questions about his mixed-race heritage because he never knew his mother. He feels keenly the injustice of being seen as an outsider by the people of Bassa, who view him as not Bassai enough, but being seen as too Bassai by the people of Whudasha and therefore an unwelcome intruder.

Lilong is probably my favourite character. She’s a yellowskin warrior who can command ibor with skill. (Davies Okungbowa explains in his GR author’s note that this is not a slur towards Asian people (there are no non-African characters in the novel), but a term used historically in African communities to refer to the skin colour of people who had a form of albinism.)

Lilong’s transition from grumpy and selfish towards others to trusting Danso and wanting to do good in the world is a subtle shift, but a poignant one. She gradually realises that their actions could alter the face of Oon and makes the decision to help others rather than helping only herself and the people of her islands. She and Danso both realise they share a common understanding of what it’s like to be outsider and I loved their burgeoning friendship.

Esheme makes up the third of our three main characters and is perhaps the character I liked least, but also the character whose progression I found the most interesting. She begins the story as an unflinchingly ambitious young woman, the daughter of a fixer, who will do anything for power.

Her lack of care or empathy for those around her (even her own mother) unless they can further her gains made her hard to sympathise and connect with. But I also had to admire her single-minded ruthlessness and cunning. She’s always two steps ahead of everyone else and constantly plotting her third step.

As the plot progresses, we see her enact violence and shed blood, all in the name of reaching the top of Bassa’s political structure. She’s definitely the most morally grey character, but her descent into darkness fuels her rise in power and by the end of the novel, she’s a very different person to where she started.

Overall, Son of the Storm is a rich, bold novel with brilliant characters and world building so enticing that you’ll happily spend hours swallowed up in the story.

It manages to capture both the subtle, small details of character feeling and the expansive, explosive nature of cinematic fight scenes. This book marks the beginning of a magnetic new fantasy series, and one that I can’t wait to continue in Warrior of the Wind (2022).

A Son of the Storm is a multi-pov story that focuses on three main characters. Danso is a young scholar who dreams of a life of freedom from the expectations placed upon him. When he meets the mysterious Lilong, a warrior with magic that shouldn't exist, he's flung into an adventure beyond the city limits. Eshme remains in the city of Bassa as it sits on the brink of change, reaching for the power she's always longed to have.

This book has brilliant worldbuilding. Suyi Davies Okungbowa has truly created a world that feels rich and alive. As the main characters meet new people, unearth discoveries, and visit new places, a world of epic proportions comes to life. I could vividly visualise the setting due to the evocative writing style. If you're one of those fantasy readers that loves new places and adventure, this would be a great book for you.

The characters were all complicated and multi-dimensional. I found Danso's character annoying, but not in a way that disrupted my enjoyment of the book. In the beginning, he's incredibly naive, and despite being an intelligent scholar, he has no idea how the world works. His character development was especially interesting, and I'm looking forward to how that continues in the next book.

My favourite character has to be Eshme; sometimes you just need to stan a powerful, ruthless woman. I loved watching her reach towards power, and despite being thoroughly horrible at times, she was so entertaining to read. I loved her scenes back in the city, how she manipulated people and turned situations in her favour. I can't wait for more.

I also enjoyed Lilong, and especially the discussion surrounding her people having albinism. I haven't read many books where albinism is tackled, and especially alongside colourism and discrimination. I'm interested to know more about the community from where she originates.

This book tackles power very well - from personal desires to the power the city has over outsiders. Colourism links strongly to this. There's a strict caste-system linked skin tone, and outsiders are particularly oppressed. Even the history is rewritten to paint the city in a powerful, sympathetic light. Son of the Storm is based on a pre-colonial west-Africa, but these themes remain relevant today. I'm very interested to know how the city might change, grow, or fall in later books.

Overall, this was a brilliant book with interesting themes, characters, and worldbuilding. I'd recommend it to those who enjoy slower-paced, character-focused fantasy, especially if you love a good adventure.