| Title | : | Abengoni: First Calling |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0996016791 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780996016797 |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 368 |
| Publication | : | First published November 3, 2014 |
Matile Mala, once the most powerful empire in the black continent of Abengoni, is slipping slowly into decadence, and becoming more and more vulnerable to aggression from the nations and tribes it once dominated. In the capital, Khambawe, ancient rituals endure, dominated by dreams and delusions. As Tiyana, who is both priestess and princess, conducts one such ceremony, known as First Calling, the rite is disrupted by the arrival of a half-wrecked ship from Fiadol, a far-distant land across the sea that is almost forgotten by the Matile. Led by a Seer called Kyroun, the pale-skinned people on the ship seek refuge among the Matile.
But the Matile themselves are in need of aid, as they soon come under attack from their ancient enemies, the Uloans, who have flourished while the Matile waned. Along with her father – the High Priest Gebrem –Tiyana marshals the waning forces of Matile magic in conjunction with the powerful new sorcery wielded by Kyroun and his followers in an effort to forestall the threat of imminent annihilation.
As the Matile and Uloans clash, other foes of the fading empire wait on the sidelines, like vultures circling a battlefield. The newcomers from Fiadol hold the balance of destruction – and Tiyana must anticipate which way the scale will tip …
Abengoni: First Calling Reviews
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I loved this book.
Every so often I read a real book, a dead tree book I mean. These books are the ones I want to carry to a comfortable corner of the house and read slow, savoring the prose. Bernard Cornwell does this for me, Guy Gavriel Kay does it as well, as does Charles Saunders. Now that today's Fantasy has gone from saccharine sweet to "grimdark", it's good to know that someone is still writing books about people you can sympathize with.
The world that Saunders has crafted is wonderful feat of world building. It's so well described and infused with life that the olgibatory "world map" page is not required. The dialog of the characters was great. As a descendant of Islanders myself, I felt the patois speak of the some of the characters was on point. The plot is fluid and Saunders keeps things moving. The story is a multi-layer cake that satisfies on many levels. It's hard to go into more detail without bringing up spoilers. Looking forward to reading the next chapter of this well crafted epic. -
This review is taken from my personal blog artandyouthlove:
One of the best aspect of the book is the incredible cast of characters the author has created. They come from different social classes, races, and countries. An important factor is that these characters are inspired by both African and Celtic cultures and myths. Some notable characters include the courageous and dutiful Tiyana, the pious and powerful Kyroun, the hardened and deadly gangs of impoverished tsotsi theives, and the secretive Tokoloshe dwarves.
Besides the characters, the mythology and sword and sorcery is extremely well done. Chapters involving the deities called the Jagasti and the god Almolvaar were thrilling, as were chapters involving the magic power wielded by the Mantile and Fidadol people. While swordplay is also exciting enough to make the reader turn the page, the bloodshed also sobers the reader and makes them pity the characters.
In addition to the characters, mythology, and sword and sorcery, certain plot themes stand out well. Most of the themes are serious and deal with imperialism, classism, vengeance, and xenophobia. Yet happier themes include tolerance, compassion, and reconciliation. These themes breathe life into the characters and plot, entertaining the reader while encouraging them to think about what they are reading.
Overall, this book was a fantastic start to the Abengoni saga. If you love epic sword and sorcery or sword and soul, then read this book. -
Charles R. Saunders is one of my favorite writers in the speculative fiction genre, and Abengoni is another example of his brilliance. As with his Imaro and Dossouye series, he displays his rich knowledge of Africa's long history and diverse cultures in constructing his setting, but this time he hybridizes these various traditions into one fictional empire called the Matile Mala. And while the European stand-ins early in the second Imaro book were all minor antagonists, here they are portrayed with the same moral complexity and diversity as their African counterparts, and they even become allies of the Matile (even if their patron deity isn't what he first appears to be). Even the ostensibly "evil" faction of islanders who pose the most serious threat aren't all one-dimensionally evil or unsympathetic, and they're actually an offshoot of the Matile.
The only reason I've giving this one star short of a full score is because I feel Saunders spends a bit too much time expounding his world's history and setting the scene in a few places (most notably the second). But then it could be that I'm too used to modern fantasy books which prefer to dribble in a bit of information about their world one moment at a time. -
“Thoughts on Racial Reconciliation through Fantasy”
I remember when I first heard about ABENGONI being an upcoming novel on Facebook. To be quite frank, I was ecstatic hearing of this news. The last high fantasy novel that I had read that had even the slightest inkling of “color” in it was in David Anthony Durham’s ACACIA series. And that trilogy filled me up with such hope that I was like a starving child biting at the bit to read ABENGONI. Not to mention that I have read and thoroughly enjoyed Saunder’s IMARO series. So it was that I sat on the edge of my seat ready for this book to drop. To my recollection, the book was in my hands a bit before Thanksgiving so it felt like a pretty good way to start off the Holiday Season.
In my anticipation to read the book, I looked in to some of Saunders’ thoughts and motivations for writing ABENGONI. What struck me the most was the idea that he was creating this alternate African landscape with the idea of racial reconciliation in mind. What would our world look like if Western and African culture had met in the bonds of friendship and equality as opposed to possession and oppression? What kind of world would we be fortunate enough to exist in if color was the least of our concerns? So upon discovering this nugget of an idea was at the core of ABENGONI, I became even more excited.
The book starts off with an event called First Calling, which is essentially a rain ritual to the gods. We get our first glimpses of the Matile Mala Empire and its capital of Khambawe. The Matile Mala Empire strikes me as something that draws influence from the kingdoms of Ghana, Egypt and Rome. The Empire is very much like the latter in that it is in a state of decline. What had once been a continent sprawling kingdom is now holding on to the last dregs of its existence. The capital is besieged by inner-city gangs called tsotsis that ruthlessly rule the night. Their once vast territory is besieged on its borders by former slaves turned vengeful enemies called Thabas. Island enemies from a long ago civil war still bear a great deal of enmity for them. To top it all, the top two officials of the Empire are locked in a petty, bitter rivalry. Things aren’t exactly looking up.
Here we also get our glimpse of Tiyana, one of the main focal points of the novel. She is a young woman who carries herself with a pride and dignity that you can just feel exude off of the page. Saunders doesn’t shove it in your face that this is a strong, young woman. You just get it and even better, he manages to still give her vulnerabilities to tread her away from that ever present Mary Sue territory. Personally, I feel that she is the most well-developed and well-rounded character throughout the entire novel.
There are some other interesting characters in the novel of course. You have Jass Mofo and Jass Imbiah who both make for intimidating and interesting antagonists. Kalisha seems to be on the verge of a big development at the end of the novel. She goes from a gang spy to what seems to be a potential hero. I’m intrigued to see where the next book takes her. Speaking of Kalisha, that brings me to one of the larger themes in the novel…
Religion and the role it plays in society has a large part to do with what happens in the novel. Like the great myths of old, the gods in this world are present and described in wild, immense fashion. From the water goddess Nama-Kwah to the swampy realm of the spider god Legaba to the terrifying desert of Almovaar. These gods manifest themselves to their believers and make physical changes in the world. At the start of the novel you learn that the Jagasti (the Matile Mala pantheon) once very much interacted with their believers but because of a catastrophic war they have pulled back. They believed they were causing more harm than good so they all agreed (with the exception of Legaba) to pull back. So at the beginning of the novel we’re dealing with a people disillusioned with their gods because they no longer see them as manifest in their lives. How many people do we know in our own lives who constantly have to make every minute detail of their lives into a manifestation of the divine? I think Saunders is making a statement here on how fragile belief can be.
So in comes the god Almovaar and his believers from Cym Dinath (think medieval Europe). Almovaar’s primary disciple is the Seer, Kyroun. Now on a character level, I like Kyroun. He’s smart, brave and wise enough to know when to lead from behind. But on a thematic level, I find myself troubled with him. This is where I think Saunders shows his true depth as a writer. So you have Kyroun and his followers coming to the Matile Mala Empire with their new god and new magic that ultimately saves Khambawe from a terrible disaster. Does that not just scream the white savior complex? The black gods have ran away and here comes the white god to save the day. If this was an average writer, my blood would have boiled by that point in the story. But Saunders isn’t average and he takes this complex and turns it on its head.
Yes, Kyroun and his Believers arrive in the nick of time to save the Matile Mala Empire. Yes, their god Almovaar invigorates the Matile with new magic and power. Yes, accepting this new religion starts to send the Empire back into what seems to be a new age of restoration. But it comes with an exacting and bloody price. It is a price that Saunders hangs over your head as a mystery till the end of the novel, but when you receive it then it becomes all too clear what he was doing. The entire arrival, acceptance, and assimilation of the Believers is a subtle commentary on the price of bending too far when encountering other cultures. How many times have we seen this throughout history? Look at how Christianity was forced on so much of the world in the so-called name of friendship. Kyroun comes as a friend, but he brings a fearsomely dark thing with him. There’s a price for reconciliation and it has come with the Matile losing some part of themselves.
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting that. When Saunders talked of reconciliation I expected some overly positive joining of cultures. But I should have known better. Saunders wisely decides to approach such a joining with the understanding that “globalization” isn’t always a good thing and isn’t always overflowing with benefits for both sides. I still think in the midst of that he achieves his theme of reconciliation in that the racial differences between characters in this story are the least of their problems. The characters notice their physical differences, but nothing derogatory rises from it. It is simply just a difference and they move on.
So the themes and the setting of this novel are absolutely beautifully done. I can see these places Saunders described as if I was walking through the streets and sailing on the oceans. And you can tell he had passion for describing these beautiful landscapes and giving you a full, in-depth history of the land he was taking you to. And his physical descriptions of characters allowed you to solidly envision them in a three-dimensional way. Which made the violence in the novel all the more harsh and bloody because each of those characters felt so much like living, breathing people. I was made to care about the city that the islanders trampled through. I was made to care about the plight of the people on the island as they fought off bloodthirsty plants. I cared about even about the terrors and horrors that befell the tsotsis.
But despite being made to care so much, there were times when I think the characters could have been developed more through the novel. Outside of Tiyana, I didn’t feel like anyone had really changed or progressed from wherever their first introductions was. Gebrem remained the stoic elder. Kyroun remained the wise man. Mofo remained the cruel, seemingly unstoppable one. No one seemed to make any real progression. I think that comes as a consequence of having so much time invested in the geography and landscape. It didn’t detract too terribly from my enjoyment of the novel as even stagnant, these were some interesting characters. Plus it’s the first book and I’m sure the next one will start to become more character focused with all of the pieces having now been put into play.
Overall, ABENGONI was worth the wait and definitely served as that breath of fresh air I so need when it comes to reading high fantasy. Too often you’re forced to tackle things from a European perspective and any time someone decides to walk another cultural path in that genre you can count me in. On principle, I say bravo to Mr. Saunders for taking a chance and making it work. -
DNF. An interesting idea and good world building. But I want to read about character that I connect too. Not in the case in this novel. Will check his Imaro novels at a later date.
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Filled with plenty of great ideas, but I found the actual writing to be extremely lacking, which disappointed me because that's just not the case in Saunder's Imaro's stories. Felt very rough drafty, and i mean I this whole thing is just filled to the brim with spelling errors and typos even to the point of sentences ending with @ symbols and repeated words. Theres a massive cast of characters, some of which are introduced early on with no payoff at the end of this entry or until much later in it. Every time we jump from characters the author also has to completely recap the entire story up to that point. It becomes exhausting, and to a point insulting. Reminders of past events are nice, but for them to happen as often and as broadly as they do...
and as dramatically as they do with one sentence paragraph breaks like this one
Just feels like fluff to add pages.
When events actually happen I was surprised by how quickly they moved, how they really seemed to be based on honest to goodness myth, and the scope of them- especially this only being the first book in a supposed saga-but again the actual craft of writing is honestly juvenile and not handled professionally.
Again, it's disappointing because that's not how Saunders treats his iconic creation, Imaro. In Imaro it's the same kind of situation where the characters have their own language but, unlike Abengoni where Sanders just uses the words and then defines it in English, tactics are used in such a way where very few words are defined for you and you're using context clues to learn the language for yourself. Whether you're right or not will become clear the next time the word is used, and it's an added excitement.
Maybe he's just better suited at dealing with one character. I don't know, but it was jarring to see someone I look up to use his words so carelessly. Will I read the next one? heck ya, if there's another one I'll gladly check it out, but in the meantime I'm just kind of upset that i don't think I can recommend this unless you're
a)curious to the point of frenzy (as I was) or
b) looking for a case study in why drafts are important -
Well developed original fantasy world that's a nice change from the endless medieval Europe knock-offs. Well developed characters, solid magic system, lots of conflict, both large and small scale.
but he doesn't indulge in gratuitous violence either.
This book is the first in a serial epic, if you like stand alone novels, pass by. -
A satisfying read for the most part. Good example of Afro-fantasy/Sword and Soul! Has series potential. Good strong characters and expert world-building by Saunders. Lots of action, with solid plot. Loses points for no clear protagonist, because it jumps from POV to POV; even that of the antagonists. It also loses points for poor copy-editing. Many typos throughout; to the point it sometimes takes you out of the story. That's a shame though since the narrative is very engaging.
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This was a little difficult to get into, but once I learned the language and characters it sped right along. Epic storytelling here, and I'm eager to look up the books that follow. If Lord of the Rings took place in Africa, it might be similar to this. I loved it.
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Liked bits, skimmed other bits but I'm not much of an epic fantasy fan. Still, I'm curious where Saunders takes the characters and this world.
