Book Club Q+A #2: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Patreon)

Ok so this is what I was talking about! 

Last month’s book club participation was lackluster, but this month I was loving all the commentary and excitement surrounding Children of Blood and Bone. Here are the questions I chose to answer. I’m even more excited to share the discussion video where I go in depth on characters and themes (while also giving Ms. Adeyemi ALLLLLL her praise!) I’ve found another nerdy thing to obsess over until the next book comes out.

1.  Lashaunda: Maybe because [Inan] was the heir and he faced a lot more pressure then Amari ever did (she got to be the princess but as second in line especially after a son, she was fairly unimportant in Saran and her mother's eyes she was able to be more open and develop a relationship with Binta). Do others think that because of her position as second child and a woman she had the luxury of being open in a way that Inan never did?

Definitely. While gender roles seem a bit fluid in the world Adeyemi has created, we know that some familiar patriarchal norms exist, as Saran inherited the throne from his father and that there are brothels that employ young female diviners as sex workers. Plus, when Saran made Inan and Amari fight as children, Amari didn’t strike Inan, something Saran saw as weakness. We also know that Saran found Amari weak because he was willing to forgive her for committing treason on page 84, saying “it is no fault of her own. I allowed her to get close to that maggot. I should’ve known her simple disposition would lead her astray.” I believe whatever sexist ideas that fit within the framework of the story were compounded by Amari being weak in Saran’s eyes, so he spent more of his time and energy on his son, who was both the “right” complexion and gender to succeed him on the throne. This means Inan go the full genocide apprenticeship lessons that Amari never did. I don’t think he ever had a chance to be open, especially because he was raised to abhor weakness… and sympathizing with Maji (even if he is one) would be considered the ultimate betrayal AND weakness. 

2.  Evan: Hey Elexus, for the book club Q+A, I was wondering what methods did you see Tomi Adeyemi use for fighting oppression?

I love this question! For starters, I somewhat saw myself in Mama Agba, who used her privilege as a Khosian-passing woman to protect diviner girls and teach them how to protect themselves. Though she didn’t have all the answers on how to stop the oppression and genocide of maji people, Mama Agba knew the importance of sharing knowledge. That is one of the most crucial ways, in my opinion, to fight oppression. The other method of fighting I noticed was represented by the storyline itself. Before Zelie, Amari, and Tzain could go to their final destination, the Holy Temple, they had to track down artifacts that would be used during the ritual to bring magic back. They were bound by a sense of urgency, facing obstacles with unity. They didn’t try to skip any steps, running to the Holy Temple immediately after leaning about the ritual from Lakan. As perilous and long as the journey would be, they committed to taking each step so they could adequately get the job done. Careful patience and tactfulness are methods in fighting oppression, and two things happened at the diviner holdfast that damaged the impacts of these methods: First, the diviners let their guard down at a nearby market, causing Saran’s men to follow them back to the camp. Secondly, the trio of heroes let all their hard work and tactful planning meet a HUGE bump in the road when they rested on their laurels at the celebration instead of taking their asses straight to the Holy Temple when they realized they had all the artifacts. While it made for a thrilling story, in real life, when fighting against oppression we can’t ever lose our sense of urgency or priorities. 

3.   Colleen: [Discussing Inan]: Does he think the villagers who burned to death are less dead than the battalions of soldiers?

This was a rhetorical question that Colleen answered in the following sentence [“He is SO oblivious”], and it caught my eye. What I absolutely loved about reading from each characters separate point of view was being able to hear them rationalize their decisions without the objectivity of a omniscient narrator. As awful and heartbreaking as Inan was, I couldn’t help but wonder how wholeheartedly he hated himself. Adeyemi used striking language to demonstrate how much Inan was suppressing his magic, and it sounded agonizing. While he was oblivious to his own blunders (and brainwashing), he wasn’t oblivious to pain.

4) D: What type of Maji would you be?

Some of my favorite parts of the book were the descriptions of the magical clans, and I can’t wait for them to be explored more in the next volume. I’d personally choose between being a connector or a healer, because I feel like you could do amazing things with either gift. All of the gifts can of course be abused (except for healing, I think), like how Inan used his connector gift to spy on Zelie, but he also gave her conscious mind a place to rest while she was being tortured. I’d use the Connector gift to incept American republicans into disappearing off of the face of the earth.  

4.   James: As a fellow Harry Potter fan, can you tell me your biggest differences and comparisons between Children of Blood and Bone and HP (so far at least)?

Zelie is 16 when the book begins, and Amari and Inan slightly older. Harry was 11, and had no knowledge of magic, so the books started out with him at that newbie mindset and he evolved (very, VERY slowly) into an emotionally intelligent young wizard. Harry Potter involves a lot more subplots and characters than Children of Blood and Bone. The latter story is quick paced and action-packed. From the beginning Zelie is already an emotionally intelligent young woman with knowledge on her history. Furthermore, Zelie is one of the actively oppressed members of the population. Harry may have been an enemy of the dark Lord, but he was wealthy and tended to be protected when he wasn’t sneaking out of his dorm to go be a hero. Zelie only knows fear, danger, and resentment when the story begins. Nobody protects Zelie because she can protect herself. That’s another big difference, a main magical character is a girl. You don’t know how many times I wished HP was told from Hermione’s point as view. As Children of Blood and Bone unfolds, Zelie befriends a princess of the ruling class, comes into her own power, and sees renewed hope for the future of Orisha… though that cliffhanger has left me with tons of questions! Zelie’s enemy is not symbolized by one man (like Harry with Voldemort and his cult-like death eaters), but it is the entire system of genocide taking place, held up by the country’s privileged population, that she faces. It made me connect with my own personal experiences and thoughts about being black in a country that hates black people. Adeyemi also presented a not-so-neat history of maji in Orisha, making opposition to them more reasonable (though still ultimately cruel). As your fellow patron Colleen said, “Unlike the Potter series where the death eaters were so pointlessly evil they were almost kitschy, you can kind of see Saran's point.”

Another difference I noticed while reading Children of Blood and Bone was the connection I felt to the themes. Zelie was living through the erasure of her people’s history. On page 90: “‘What is she doing?’” Amari steps back as if Mama Agba’s words would cut her. But hearing true Yoruba for the first time in over a decade makes it too overwhelming for me to answer.” This reminded me of the phenomenon of “Social Death”, explained in Stephanie Smallwood’s Saltwater Slavery as the death of an African's personal identity during or after the middle passage by isolating them from their culture and kin. I talk about this in the upcoming book club discussion video. But overall, I’d say the biggest difference was holding this book in my hands and knowing that this fictional world was created by a young black woman who sees the world in a similar way to me because of her skin and nationality. Lastly, it was so amazing to know that every character being introduced was black. I loved that. I’m dying to see this movie depicted on screen. 

If you haven't already, be sure to check out the discussion board for this book. It's not too late to comment, I love seeing new feedback! Make sure to vote by 10/31 Wednesday at midnight for the third book in the Intelexual Media book club! I look forward to next month's questions on An Indigenous Peoples History of The United States or King Leopold's Ghost. 

The book club video for Children of Blood and Bone will be posted soon, along with this month's Reader Enhancement Guide (so keep an eye out)! I'll be discussing themes and characters from the book in depth, with real world considerations! <3