Children of Blood and Bone is one of the top fictional books of 2018. It is a young adult fantasy novel by Nigerian-American novelist Tomi Adeyemi. A debut novel of the author, Children of Blood and Bone received one of the biggest young adult publishing deals ever, including preemptive sale of film rights to Fox 2000. Debuting at number one on the New York best seller list for young adult books, the novel received mostly positive reviews. It is a coming-of-age as the characters; Zeile Adebola (heroine), Tzain, Amari, Inan and others discovers abilities to help save the world through their actions.
SUMMARY
The novel introduces the land of Orisha, where king Saran rules over two conflicting cultures; the Maji and the Kosidan. The Majis are extremely powerful as a result of their unique magical abilities which King Saran wiped off after his ascension. It was a show of revenge for his family who were killed by the Majis. The heroine, Zeile Adebola was also introduced. She is a diviner or one who has magic blood. Her mother was a Maji killed in the raids by the Kisdans and her father is a Kisdan. She was raised by a hidden diviner, Mama Agba as her white hair marked her out as a diviner. At this period there was no more magic.
Trouble loomed as Zeile’s family were unable to pay the taxes placed on them. They would be sent to work in a kind of indentured servitude, including sometimes death. These were the few of the hard times the Majis were going through. Tzain, Zeile’s older brother had to go to the capital, Lagos, to raise money to pay the taxes. It was during this period that Zeile met Amari, the second child of the king. She fled the palace following the killing of her friend and servant, Binta, a diviner.
Amari took a powerful scroll in the palace after Kaea, the admiral of the forces failed in his attempt to destroy it. This led to a chase by the guards led by Inan, the crown prince of King Saran and Amari’s brother. Inan got magical powers when he touched the scroll. Zeile, Tzain and Amari now a team fled and sought the temple of maji as directed by Zeile’s father, Baba. Series of events happened afterwards; they must perform a ritual that is done once every year to renew the connection between the Maji and the Sky Mother (mother of all gods).
In the ensuing battle, Mama Agba was killed. Inan was also killed by his father after he had used magic to stop a mercenary from killing him. Zeile’s father was also killed despite agreeing to give up prized possessions (artifacts). Amari in turn kills her father. Zeile was unable to repair the scroll, and thus complete the ritual to restore the magic. She uses blood magic and an incantation of her own devising to complete the ritual which apparently kills her in the process. She met her mother in the afterworld who sent her back to live. Children of Blood and Bone concludes as Zeile learns that Amari now has magic.