#the lies of the ajungo

[aroaessidhe]

faves of 2023: short stories & novellas

Emergent Properties

Mammoths at the Gates

Spear

The Faerie Hounds of York

Feed Them Silence

The Lies of the Ajungo 

D.I.Y.

The Collection Awakens

Untethered Sky

The Six Deaths of the Saint

Muneera and the Moon

Babylove

#i didnt do reviewposts for all of these so you'll just have to imagine #read in 2023 #emergent properties #the lies of the ajungo #the six deaths of the saint #catastrophe incoming #untethered sky

[terapsina]

26 for the ask game

(ask game)

26. Favorite novella(s).

The Emperor's Soul is I think my favorite of Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere novellas, largely because I enjoy reading about con artists and thieves. Ones with magic power to rewrite the history of objects? Even better.

Thornhedge is a fun take on Sleeping Beauty that answers the question of why a fairy might have had NEED to put a girl to sleep. And how extremely stressful it would be to then spend hundreds of years dealing with all these knights trying to rescue this princess because apparently there's a story about it (reminds me a bit of how stories have a life of their own in Terry Pratchett's Discworld).

Mysteries of Thorn Manor is an epilogue novella to Sorcery of Thorns that I really enjoyed. A really nice self-contained look into the happily ever after of the characters I love (I mean what's not to love about the warrior librarian of living magical grimoires, a magician who has earned his magic by making a deal with a demon, AND the demon in question (Silas is the best, we love Silas)). Do need to read the preceding book to enjoy the novella though.

Artificial Condition, the second Murderbot novella. I mean I love all the novellas (and one novel) in this series but this one was my favorite. Because ART. I mean a sarcastic, extremely competent SecUnit meeting an equally sarcastic and kinda terrifying Asshole Research Transport? What more can one ask for?

The Secret Life of Bots. Its on the shorter end of the novella spectrum but I adore the little Bot that could. This Bot just gives me the WALL-E feelings, okay?

The Lies of the Ajungo. Okay, so I'm actually currently reading this one but I can already tell it's going to be very good. A story about a boy who goes on a quest to bring water to his city (they're under the thumb of a neighbor city that provides them water... as long as they agree to cut out the tongues of anyone older than thirteen.

It was a twofold price, a price of blood and a price of history: an untongued people cannot tell their story.

#answers #ask game #book asks #book recs #novellas #the emperor's soul #thornhedge #mysteries of thorn manor #artificial condition #the secret life of bots #the lies of the ajungo #brandon sanderson #t kingfisher #margaret rogerson #martha wells #suzanne palmer #moses ose utomi #terapsina rambles #terapsina's book rambles #moonofiron

[freckles-and-books]

My next read. I’m really excited for this one.

#books #currently reading #the lies of the ajungo #moses ose utomi #fantasy books

[caribeandthebooks]

Caribe's Fantasy TBR - Part 4

#kaikeyi #vaishnava patel #book tumblr #booklr #bookblr #books #book blog #fantasy books #fantasy #the invisible life of addie larue #v.e. schwab #the lies of the ajungo #moses ose utomi #the daughter of the moon goddess #sue lynn tan #the sword of kaigen #m.l. hang #the alchemist #paulo coelho #tbr list #tbr jar

[tinynavajoreads]

Tiny Navajo Reads: The Lies of the Ajungo

#bookreview of The Lies of the Ajungo by @MosesUtomi - a #novella about a coming of age story and what someone would do to save their mother and their city. #ebook #review #fantasy #shortstory #librarybook

This was a super quick read. The cover is what drew me in when I saw it. And it’s a fantasy story set in an African styled world. I don’t always get to read stories set in African settings, but those that I have been able to find and read, I have enjoyed them. This one, again, was found on Tumblr. You’re probably going to hear me say this a lot whenever I introduce the book I’m reviewing for the…

View On WordPress

#african inspired #book #coming of age #ebook #fantasy #library book #moses ose utomi #novella #reading #short story #the lies of the ajungo

[anodetofiction]

Review : The Lies of the Ajungo (Forever Desert #1) by Moses Ose Utomi

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5 out of 5. The Lies of the Ajungo (Forever Desert #1) by Moses Ose Utomi Published by Tordotcom Adult Epic Fantasy Goodreads | Amazon | Blackwells | Bookshop.org (affiliate) Release Date : March 21st 2023 SYNOPSIS They say there is no water in the City of Lies. They say there are no heroes in the City of Lies. They say there are no friends beyond the City of Lies. But would…

View On WordPress

#adult fantasy #adult sff #forever desert #moses ose utomi #the lies of the ajungo

[rhetoricandlogic]

Epic Fantasy on a Small Scale : The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

Alex Brown Tue Mar 21, 2023 11:30am

I thought I knew what Moses Ose Utomi’s The Lies of the Ajungo was about when I started it. It was going to be a quick story about a boy from a dying city who ventures into the desert to save his mother. But it’s so much more than that. It’s an epic fantasy in novella format, a story of the consequences of greed, how to process grief, and the lengths we go to to protect the people we care about.

“There is no water in the City of Lies.” No heroes either. And outside its walls are only desert and enemies. Tutu is just shy of his thirteenth birthday. On that day he’ll have his tongue cut out as part of an ancient promise. Long ago, when drought first struck the city, the inhabitants made a Faustian bargain with the Ajungo: the tongues of every adult in exchange for water. But the Ajungo gave them only enough to barely survive. As the decades ticked by, hope withered just like the plants and animals. Hordes of children ventured into the desert as heroes on a great quest to save their people. None ever returned.

With his mother on her deathbed, Tutu seeks the aid of Oba Ijefi, the ruler of the City of Lies and the only adult with her tongue intact. She gifts him water, a weapon, a camel, and an oath to keep his mother alive. He is determined to succeed where every other child has failed. He will find water and save his city. Out he goes into the desert. What and who he discovers out there in the vast expanse will shatter everything he believed to be true. There are more lies in the City of Lies than Tutu ever could have imagined.

Tutu is not alone in the desert. The corpses of the children who came before him litter the landscape. Other heroes from other cities journey the sand dunes on quests of their own. So to do the Ajungo, trawling for victims and carting their bloodsoaked wares. Tutu grows up during his sojourn, physically and mentally. He learns the difference between how the Ajungo see relationships—as purely transactional where they reap most of the benefits and delight at the cost everyone else must pay—and the caring way his mother and the sisters he meets in the desert treat him. There may be no water, heroes, or tongues in the City of Lies, but neither is there forgiveness. Tutu’s story is not one of letting go and moving on but setting things right even if it takes bloodshed to do it.

Like the best novellas, The Lies of the Ajungo somehow manages to balance brevity with lushness. Utomi does not waste words; every sentence is carefully crafted for the greatest impact. Yet at the same time, the worldbuilding and character development are as intricate and expansive as a full length novel. Although set in a Saharan-inspired landscape, this world defies Western tropes and stereotypes of deserts. There are bandits and wanderers, those who see themselves as heroes and those who revel in being villains. But there are also people trying to do the right thing in the face of insurmountable odds.

Within the space of about six weeks, Moses Ose Utomi released two stellar stories: The Lies of the Ajungo and Daughters of Oduma. I’m excited to see where he goes next. This is the kind of storytelling that makes me remember why I love speculative fiction so much.

#Moses Ose Utomi #The Lies of the Ajungo #mahreviews #long post

[virtuallyincompetent]

need more people to read the lies of the ajungo!!! just phenomenal

#the lies of the ajungo #moses ose utomi #book blog #novella #booklr #bookish #literature #fantasy books

[hear-the-ocean]

The Lies of the Ajungo Book Review

Non-spoiler review for The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

Summary (pulled from Goodreads):

Moses Ose Utomi's debut novella, The Lies of the Ajungo, follows one boy’s epic quest to bring water back to his city and save his mother’s life. Prepare to enter the Forever Desert. A Library Journal Best Book of the Month! They say there is no water in the City of Lies. They say there are no heroes in the City of Lies. They say there are no friends beyond the City of Lies. But would you believe what they say in the City of Lies? In the City of Lies, they cut out your tongue when you turn thirteen, to appease the terrifying Ajungo Empire and make sure it continues sending water. Tutu will be thirteen in three days, but his parched mother won’t last that long. So Tutu goes to his oba and makes a deal: she provides water for his mother, and in exchange he will travel out into the desert and bring back water for the city. Thus begins Tutu’s quest for the salvation of his mother, his city, and himself.

The Lies of the Ajungo opens the curtains on a tremendous world, and begins the epic fable of the Forever Desert. With every word, Moses Ose Utomi weaves magic.

Review:

5 STARS!

The Lies of the Ajungo is a short but devastating story about a boy and his quest for water. I was originally drawn to it by the cover (which is gorgeous wow) but it was the synopsis that fully ensnared me. I saw the author said he pitched his story to someone by saying it’s “Attack on Titan in North Africa vibez” and I can’t believe I didn’t see it! But as someone who has read Attack on Titan, despite the inspiration being clear (in hindsight) this story sits apart. The theme’s are similar but this story goes another way, and dare I say it, I loved this more than AoT. 

The story is short. Less than 100 pages. The time in the story lasts half a year but it doesn’t feel like it to the reader of course but it never becomes an issue. The pacing never fails. There’s action, there’s character building and connection, there’s a mystery, and there’s poetry. Not actual poetry but the story’s themes felt like poetry to me; gutting, satisfying, and bittersweet.

It’s a big challenge to set up an entire world in less than 100 pages and still have space for plot and character but Moses Ose Utomi juggles it all expertly. I never felt lost, never felt like I didn’t feel or connect with the characters, and it never felt bogged down. When you don’t have enough space, it might feel tempting to infodump but the way the exposition was handled in this story seamlessly fit into the tone and style of the writing. Utomi mentions that his story sits at an “intersection between fable and fantasy” and yes it does and it’s why his exposition works so well. It reads like a fable and so when you are getting information about the world, it works itself into the style of the story.

The pov character, Tutu (who I loved) comes from a small and distant part of a city and is a child. He is yet ignorant of the world and so is the perfect character to have things be explained to (and by extension, us). Because he’s a child with a limited understanding and view, it makes sense that the world most of the time feels limited. We only truly see 3 places: his home, the palace, and the desert. So it does feel like the world is small but it makes sense? One place in a desert is not so different from another place in a desert. I could say that as a child, the world beyond his home should feel vast and scary but that feels nitpicky because it’s not really that important.

What’s important is the characters themselves. I felt for Tutu. I cried when he cried. I felt his fear and hopelessness. It’s a testament of skill that Utomi was able to connect us to the characters in such a short amount of time. I cried like twice while reading this book! The atmosphere and tone were so engrossing, I was absolutely absorbed into the story. 

Speaking of atmosphere, the antagonists of the story were amazing (I’m running out of synonyms for amazing and incredible but if you can think of anymore just know that it would apply to this book). We are given just enough information (little, as little as Tutu and basically everyone else knows) to let our imaginations fill in the rest, and the little we are given is that the Ajungo are cruel, ruthless, powerful, and greedy. Our imaginations will always fill in with morbid ideas of why and what and how. It made it so that every time we came across someone there’s the immense feeling of fear and dread that it’s the Ajungo.

There’s an entire world carefully laid out in less than 100 pages and I will not go into detail about any of it other than the praises for the incredible job Moses Ose Utomi has done and thank him for sharing his story with the world. I think everyone should go into it blind, don’t do anything but go straight into reading. You will be transported into a new world for a few hours and you will come back changed. Some of us will see the themes of the story and the answers coming and it’s a bitter feeling being proven right. But it’s an important story because of what it stands for and what it is saying. I wish I could say more but it would spoil everything and everyone needs to experience it fresh like I did. 

Thank you to Netgally and TOR for the ARC.

#book review #the lies of the ajungo #moses ose utomi #books and reading #books #bookblr #bookish #reading #reader #nigerian author #diverse cast #diverse reads #arc #black mc #black characters #black authors #fantasy novel #fable #novella #novel review #books and novels #fiction #fantasy books #takes place in fantasy north africa according to the author

[saphirabluish]

Finished this one today. :)

#The Lies of the Ajungo #Moses Ose Utomi #books #bookdragon #bookworm #finished reading #library

[tintededges]

The Lies of the Ajungo

Sahara-inspired fantasy parable about lies, greed and control I received a copy of this eBook courtesy of the publisher. Image is of “The Lies of the Ajungo” by Moses Ose Utomi. The eBook cover is of a bleak-looking city against a setting sun right side up at the top, and then at the bottom a figure in red robes standing on a desert upside down. “The Lies of the Ajungo” by Moses Ose Utomi is a…

View On WordPress

#advance reader copy #ARC #book reviews #books #fantasy #Moses Ose Utomi #Novella #Parable #The Lies of the Ajungo

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread  

The Lies of the Ajungo

fable-like fantasy novella about a boy from a desert city who sets out to find water to save his mother and his people, but discovers more about other people in the world and the lies they have all been told about the world

#The Lies of the Ajungo #aroaessidhe 2023 reads #oh i really loved this it's very short but...very succinct and well told #ties it’s point together nicely #lil found family. no romance. #no romance

[shsenhaji]

✒️ August Writing Round-Up 🖋

Not much to report, but I am super glad that I got to review The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi for Strange Horizons!

Will try to at least write one review for September, and hopefully get inspired to continue working on my fantasy and sci-fi WIPs.

#mine #writing #writing round-up #wip #book reviews #the lies of the ajungo #the forever desert #moses ose utomi

[101delusions]

#the lies of the ajungo #moses ose utomi #book quotes #best line #arch enemy #book tumblr #tor publishing

[tigger8900]

The Lies of the Ajungo, by Moses Ose Utomi

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

There are three things known to be true in the City of Lies: there is no water, there are no heroes, and there are no friends beyond the walls. Tutu is just days shy of his thirteenth birthday, when he will have to undergo the rite all adults in the city undergo; in return for the water rations that will keep him alive, he must have his tongue removed and surrendered to the foreign power known as the Ajungo. But his mother is sick, and won't survive that long without water. And so he petitions the city's ruler, volunteering to journey across the desert in search of a water source that would allow the entire city to thrive. In exchange, his mother will be given enough water to survive for one year, by which time he must return or the life of his mother will be forfeit.

Make no mistake, this slim novella(my copy consisted of only 87 numbered pages) is a dark fantasy. Also, despite the age of the protagonist, this is not a young adult title. Rather than a coming-of-age narrative, this is a fairy tale about oppression, loss of innocence, and the power of stories. And it was so, so good.

The narration moves along at a brisk pace, laying down foreshadowing even as it reinforces Tutu's limited perspective. This is one of those stories where you're going to see the "twist" coming a mile away, but I put it in quotes because I don't think it's meant to be a surprise. I think we're supposed to know it's coming. The story — and the tragedy — is in watching Tutu uncover what was so obvious from our perspective.

One of the major themes of the story is that of a child forced to grow up prematurely. Tutu is 13 years old, 12 when he sets off into the desert. He shouldn't be doing any of the things he's doing. As the story goes on we see him more and more as an adult, growing into the role he's been thrust into, until the final confrontation when we see that he's very much still a child who just wants his mama. That hit me in the heart, easily the darkest moment in this story. Despite being a fantasy tale, the themes in this story are very much of our own time and place.

This is the first book of a planned trilogy. From where this one left off, I suspect I know what the concepts of the other two will be. I intend to read them when they come out, and if they can rip my heart open even half as much as the first volume did then they'll have done their job.

Important question time: do the camels survive? Very minor spoilers ahead! Camels are used as traveling mounts in this story. Not all of the camels survive, falling during scenes of mounted combat.

#books #book review #the lies of the ajungo #moses ose utomi #forever desert #fantasy

[lilibetbombshell]

#arc review #arc reader #arc reviewer #book review #book reviewer #book blog #book blogger #netgalley #macmillan tor forge #tordotcom #moses ose utomi #the lies of the ajungo #the forever desert series #novella #coming of age #fantasy #fantasy book series #historical fantasy #ownvoices #coming soon #new release #new release alert #new release book #new release tuesday #new book #new book alert #new book release