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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Aug 2020, 368 pages
Paperback:
Aug 2021, 400 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Michelle Anya Anjirbag
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The epic debut YA fantasy from an incredible new talent - perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi and Sabaa Tahir.
Nothing is more important than loyalty.
But what if you've sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?
Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince's Council of 11. If she's picked, she'll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won't stand by and become someone's pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself? With extraordinary world-building and breathtaking prose, Raybearer is the story of loyalty, fate, and the lengths we're willing to go for the ones we love.
Chapter 1
I SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED THAT FAIRIES EXIST.
When elephants passed by in a lumbering sea beneath my window, flecks of light whispered in the dust, dancing above the rows of tusks and leather. I leaned precariously over the sill, hoping to catch a fleck before a servant wrestled me inside.
"Shame-shame, Tarisai," my tutors fretted. "What would The Lady do if you fell?"
"But I want to see the lights," I said.
"They're only tutsu sprites." A tutor herded me away from the window. "Kind spirits. They guide lost elephants to watering holes."
"Or to lion packs," another tutor muttered. "If they're feeling less kind."
Magic, I soon learned, was capricious. When I squinted at the swollen trunk of our courtyard boab tree, a cheeky face appeared. Kye, kye, killer-girl, it snickered before vanishing into the bark.
I was seven when the man with cobalt-fire wings found me. That night, I had decided to search Swana, the second-largest realm in the Arit empire, for my mother. ...
In Raybearer, Ifueko opens the genre of fantasy further, stepping beyond old tropes and stories of power struggles to present something new. She proves that fantasy can be simultaneously diverse, political, and filled with wonder, and in dialogue with more than just a tradition. It's a development that the genre has desperately needed for a long time. She also proves that it's possible to explore the themes of imperialism and colonialism in fantasy without alienating readers and in a way that proffers a new kind of solution at the end, where new potential worlds can be envisioned. Readers who have already explored the worlds crafted by authors such as Tomi Adeyemi and Tamora Pierce will love Raybearer and eagerly await Ifueko's next venture, whether set in Aritsar or another world altogether...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Michelle Anya Anjirbag).
Heidi Heilig, author of The Girl from Everywhere
Fresh and utterly transportive, Raybearer is a fantastical fight for freedom, family, and justice at all costs. Jessica Khoury, author of The Forbidden Wish and Last of Her Name
Ifueko's world building and prose is nothing short of seductive and I completely adore Tarisai's headstrong, tragic self. This will be a major gem of a release in 2020!
In Jordan Ifueko's fantasy debut Raybearer, Mbali, one of the Emperor's Council of Eleven, is identified as a griot – "a singer of histories and stories, the most sacred of Arit priests." Griots are not a literary invention, but an incorporation of Ifueko's Nigerian heritage into her fantasyscape, along with tutsu sprites and the culture of the Yoruba.
"Griot" is one name of many for a West African historian, singer, storyteller, poet or musician who sometimes also acts in an advisory capacity to a ruler. Griots are living repositories of culture, who carry, remember, recite and pass on oral histories through performance. While there are different instruments that griots might use while performing, Mbali uses a talking drum, ...
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