[Comments] Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

[lostcheerio]

January Pick Children of Blood and Bone is a fantasy novel like no other. Adeyemi was inspired to create a black, female protagonist to give young, black, female readers a hero to identify with. Beyond that character, she has created a world that draws on mythology around Orisha, divine beings of the Yoruba people in southern Nigeria, in a truly unique magical setting. The novel is technically labeled Young Adult, but pulls no punches on the violence and cruelty of oppression and the abuse of power. A roaring good adventure with lots of action and great characters, it also presents a fictional illustration of very real ideas, with many fantasy parallels to our-world issues. Adeyemi has written a sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, which is already out, with a third book, Children of Anguish and Anarchy, planned for June 2024. Plus, there is a three-movie deal with Paramount. It was an instant NYT #1 bestseller, won a Hugo, and made Time's list of the 100 best fantasy novels of all time. They killed my mother. They took our magic. They tried to bury us. Now we rise. An interview with Tomi Adeyemi Tomi Adeyemi's Instagram Afrofuturism Explained: Not Just Black Scifi (a video)

[lostcheerio]

I'm going to start the conversation by saying that I tried reading Children of Blood and Bone when it first came out, and I didn't get very far because it just felt disjointed and kind of breathless. This year (last year!) I read it again and flew through it. I think part of what turned me off the first time was the shifting point of view and the use of present tense, but once I got past that I found it very engaging.

I was prompted to revisit it because multiple kids in my middle school literature class asked if we could read it for class, and even though I had some trepidation assigning it to 11-14 year-olds, they loved it tremendously and it led to some really challenging discussion and interesting essays.

And now I'm writing a book in first person, present tense. So -- I guess I've gotten over my aversion to it!

[Fillyjonk]

NEW----ish? I read it. I didn't LOVE it? But I was having a hard time loving anything new. I am going to reread it, if I can find it.

[ShadowcatX]

I enjoyed it, though it seemed like it was pushing more and more into social commentary and less into fantasy novel as it neared the end. I think it will be an amazing movie deal, getting to see this type of fantasy will be better, for me, than having to try and imagine it as I kind of default to a European fantasy imagining if I don't actively work against that.

[lostcheerio]

I agree -- I am eagerly anticipating the movie.

I want to talk about the point-of-view choices, because I think the first time I tried to read this, it was the switching between narrators and the first-person present tense that turned me off. And since that first attempt, I've read several other books that are written in first-person, present tense, and I think getting used to it was the reason I liked it the second time.

Maybe I'm just old!

In fantasy, I am more familiar with that distant, narrator-flavor third-person point of view. What about you?

[Fillyjonk]

I prefer a tight camera and a close in POV. I have nothing against third person, but I like it best when the camera is on SHE or HIMs shoulder.

I don’t LOVE multiple first person points of view unless the writer is SO voicey I know exactly who is talking now within a sentence. I prefer mulitple POVs to be in third or one in first and the others in third. Or even second although this is a high degree of difficulty. I have seen it done where I just loved it though, notably in Tayari Jones’ perfect book, LEAVING ATLANTA.

I am neutral on present tense. I prefer the invisible past, but if someone uses present, then VERY quickly, I fall into it and stop caring. I can’t remember exactly why I had such a hard time getting into this book. I kinda think it was as simple as COVID MADE ME STUPID or I was not in the right mood for it.

I intend to try again, but I got distracted by THE VIOLENCE by Delilah Dawson. Which I am enjoying. THIS IS UP NEXT

[ShadowcatX]

I'm far more used to third person, yes, but I think that may be part of why this wasn't written that way, to help sever the ties between this and other works. Thinking about that, surely they wouldn't film the movie in first person though, right? That would just be crazy.

[Fillyjonk]

Hehe—surely not. Although …

CLOVERFIELD was kinda first person—owes a lot to Blair Witch. And then they made some movie based off a First Person Shooter Game that was extremely first person, like, HERE IS MY HAND REACHING FOR AN APPLE HA HA I KID IT IS REACHING FOR A GUN REAL SHOOTERS DON’T EAT FRUIT. I remember seeing the previews and thinking: wow how dumb.

[ShadowcatX]

Originally Posted by Fillyjonk

Hehe—surely not. Although …

CLOVERFIELD was kinda first person—owes a lot to Blair Witch. And then they made some movie based off a First Person Shooter Game that was extremely first person, like, HERE IS MY HAND REACHING FOR AN APPLE HA HA I KID IT IS REACHING FOR A GUN REAL SHOOTERS DON’T EAT FRUIT. I remember seeing the previews and thinking: wow how dumb.

I'll take dumb ideas over a fifth reboot of something in 10 years.

[lostcheerio]

Interesting.

We just finished watching the latest Harlan Coben book to make it to Netflix, Fool Me Once. And I felt like it was "first person" like not shot with a handheld camera but in the point of view of the main character.

 

However I felt like the ending/twist was such a cheater gotcha because if we were really in her POV as we had been led to believe, we would have known the twist from the beginning. I hate books like that, but not having read the book, only seen the movie, I don't know whether it was that way in the book or not. Still, bleh. We were trying so hard to piece together clues and figure out what the secret was, but we were missing critical information that we should have had, if what was presented to us was true. I love twists but that one left a sour taste in my mouth.

[Acathala]

I found the book rather forgettable to be honest. Surprised there’s a movie deal, but if you enjoyed the book, I’m glad you’re getting a movie.