The Legacy Of Orîsha

Children of blood and bone is a action-packed duopoly written by Nigerian writer Tomi Adeyemi who is known for her mystic and binding way of writing tales. This was her debut boom which has charted among New York Times’ best seller books.

Let us look at each of the books individually

1. Children of Blood and Bone

Here we follow Zèlie Adebola who is the protagonist of the story who risks everything to restore the lost magic from the majestic kingdom of Orïsha, post the disastrous and brutal raid led by the ruling class with the main aim of suppression magic.

Before the plot begins, we get to know more about the history of the land of Orïsha, where King Saran held a raid killing hundreds of magic-blooded.

We see that the districts of Orïsha are inhabited by two types of people, Divîners (who have the capability to possess magic and become ‘maji’) and the non magical people. Since then we see that the divîners were extremely oppressed.

Zèlie’s mother was a victim of the raid and since then her family’s financial condition never had been the same. One day after going to the capital city of Lagos, Zèlie and her brother Tzain help the noble princess Amari, the daughter of Kind Saran himself, flee from the castle. On reaching a safe place, away from the royal guards who were yet on the hunt for the trio, Amari reveals she possess the scroll of the paper which can restore the magical powers of any divîner who comes in contact with it. Zèlie is able to awaken her powers of a Reaper just like her mother and is able to command undead spirits.

The trio now heads towards Châdomblè. The temple, in shatters yet remains and retains its beautiful murals which the trio is in awe of. The priest, Lekan tells them that they must use the scroll, the bone dagger given to them by him and the sunstone (an artefact) to perform a ritual to renewer the connection between the gods and maji.

Will the trio be able to complete the task as they are simultaneously hunted by the royal guards, Inan (Amari’s brother, commander of the army) and Admiral Kaea?

This book has plot twists which one never anticipates. Everyone’s life is at risk, who makes it to the end? Find out who the actual maji’s are, and who will finally possess the magic.

2. Children of Virtue and Vengeance

This review is filled with spoilers of the previous book.

This book is written from three different perspectives : Zèlie, Amari and Inan. Post the grievous death of their father, Zèlie and Tzain bury their father. Apart from this, the girls are trying to accept their fate as they face the reality of them bringing back Maji powers. As the protagonist trio reaches the mainland with the help of Roen they try their best to gain the Queen’s blessing and crown Amari as the ruler of Orîsha. King Saran is believed to have killed Inan. Just about the time when Amari is about to win over the people’s trust and faith the Queen accuses her of killing her father and brother. This deeply upsets Zèlie which ends up in her crashing her lionaire into a tree where she blacks out and enters a dreamscape which was created by Inan’s magic.

Inan on the other hand wakes up from coma in which he had been since his father had stabbed him. Their city is attacked rebels who take the girls into the middle of nowhere as the maji welcome Zèlie as their new hero. Inan shifts sides and decides on peace with the maji and offers food and shelter which Zelie refuses. During her ceremony of ascension she is gifted a vision of rainbow lights intertwining. Within the clan, there are fights for supremacy which leads to hunger for power. Amari is being taught specifics of how she could use her new found magic by Zèlie. Tzain uncovers the rebels and their plan.

A huge fight is in store. Who survives the journey? Does the monarchy survive this or does it share the same fate as the Maji’s did years ago? With all the main characters experiencing changes and finding themselves to new depths, we get to know the true colours of the characters we have grown to love. This book effortlessly manages to put forth the emotions of all 3 perspectives spoken about in the book.

Phew! This was fun to write. And i am sure do hope it was fun to read. So take out some time from your busy schedules and indulge yourself in the magical and mystical world of Orïsha.

If you have read any of these books do let us know your opinion on them. If you have any more book recommendations, we would love to hear from you. Until then, Ciao.