The Forever Desert by Moses Ose Utomi (He also has a young adult series out, which I haven’t read yet.)
Book 1: The Lies of the Ajungo
Book 2: The Truth of the Aleke
Book 3: The Memory of the Ogisi
This quote from the final novella of the series is the reason why we need to read other voices:
The cruelty of forgotten transgressions. The cruelty of children absolved of the sins of their parents but never disinherited from their plunder. The cruelty was an evil inscribed into history, so that those who came afterward would know nothing else.
Amazon Cover
BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for THE LIES OF THE AJUNGO
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.
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.
MY REVIEW for THE LIES OF THE AJUNGO
When you live in the City of Lies, there are no heroes nor is there water. One thirteen-year-old male (not a boy … and this is not a YA science fiction story) leaves to find water. But is there truth, heroes, or water beyond the City of Lies?
The Lies of the Ajungo is a very good science fiction / fantasy story.
Ebook read through the local library system.
Amazon Cover
BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for THE TRUTH OF THE ALEKE
Moses Ose Utomi returns to his Forever Desert series with The Truth of the Aleke, continuing his epic fable about truth, falsehood, and the shackles of history.
The Aleke is cruel. The Aleke is clever. The Aleke is coming.
Five hundred years after the events of The Lies of the Ajungo, the City of Truth stands as the last remaining free city of the Forever Desert. A bastion of freedom and peace, the city has successfully weathered near-constant attacks from the Cult of Tutu, who have besieged it for three centuries, attempting to destroy its warriors and subjugate its people.
Seventeen-year-old Osi is a Junior Peacekeeper in the City. When the mysterious leader of the Cult, known only as the Aleke, commits a massacre in the capitol and steals the sacred God’s Eyes, Osi steps forward to valiantly defend his home. For his bravery he is tasked with a tremendous responsibility―destroy the Cult of Tutu, bring back the God’s Eyes, and discover the truth of the Aleke.
MY REVIEW for THE TRUTH OF THE ALEKE
Five hundred years have history remembered differently. (Note in normal life, history can be remembered differently in months (example, how many people remember the Suez Canal being blocked for six days in 2021) – 500 years is overkill. See below in spoilers for editing comments on that.)
Anyway, back to the review. Much more complicated than The Lies, The Truth has layers of gray rarely seen under the bright sun of the Forever Desert harsh light. One of the differences I have found in BIPoC stories vs. typical dominate culture mainstream narratives is easy answers are not always available. Survival vs right vs wrong vs growth vs family vs culture vs power vs hope, all mix together into a messy reality.
The Truth of the Aleke is uncomfortably messy and worth the short read a novella gives. Comparing and contrasting The Lies against The Truth would make a great book club discussion.
Ebook read through my local library.
SPOILERS: As is often the case with science fiction and fantasy, the time for things to change is SEVERALLY overestimated. America is ONLY 250 years old – four generations or less if the oldest of a generation is shaking hands with the youngest of the next. History is being rewritten daily. Entire nations are blended and erased in 200 years. Climate changes from snow higher than houses and missing summers to glaciers melting. The fact that the Forever Desert doesn’t change, but three hundred years of active war is a thing doesn’t make sense except in a fantasy setting. Fantasy keeps breaking this out and it just bothers me.
Addition comment. I always dislike the use of foreshadowing at the end of chapters to create a false tension. Stuff like “If he knew what would happen, he would have run” (not a quote from this book). It just feels cheesy to me and is a personal preference.
Amazon Cover
BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for THE MEMORY OF THE OGISI
The epic conclusion to Moses Ose Utomi’s critically-acclaimed Forever Desert series, The Memory of the Ogisi shatters every truth, interrogates every lie, and is a story of oppression you’ll never forget.
Even deserts have a beginning. Even gardens have an end. Even water has a story.
The City of a Thousand Stories stands resolute on the edge of the Forever Desert. It is a lush metropolis, where water flows into every mouth that thirsts and knowledge sprouts in every mind that craves it. Yet despite their prosperity, no one can remember how the city began. It is a dire state of affairs: a people who do not learn their past cannot chart their future.
Ethike is an Ogisi, one of the City’s many historians, who has devoted his life to studying a little-known figure named Osi. He believes Osi to be the key to the city’s origins, but his years of research have only raised more questions about Osi’s identity. Until, one day, he believes he has found the answer.
Spurred by his love for his city and his family, Ethike ventures into the Forever Desert in search of the Lost Tomb of Osi. If he can find it, he will finally be able to prove his worth to the City’s Elders and cement Osi’s role in history. But history is a story told by the powerful. What Ethike uncovers beneath the sand is a power far beyond anything he could have expected…and it wants vengeance.
MY REVIEW for THE MEMORY OF THE OGISI
“Evil didn’t change. The evil of yesteryear was no different from the evil of today, … History was a story with no ending.”
The third and final installment of The Forever Desert trilogy continues the masterful cadence of oral storytelling in prose form. While the weakest of the three narratives, The Memory still is powerful. The power of the tongue, ears, and eyes continues to be controlled for political purposes; a means to control the narrative of the people, because, as the first book says “an untongued people cannot tell their story.” When stories cannot be shared, when they are banned, when they are erased from existence, history is also removed.
History removed is history without ending, and the cycles of the past will continue into the future.
Monsters, heroes, magic, desert, all play their role. Even water has a story. And Cities lie.
Hardback book checked out through the local library. Keep history honest and known, support your local library.