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. With every word, Moses Ose Utomi weaves magic.
I’m usually always up to read Tor’s novellas because they are just the kind of stories I enjoy and I love shorter reads when I don’t have much time. But I seemed to have missed the release of this one last year, but when I realized that it has a sequel coming soon, I had to give it a try and woah..!!!! This was an experience…
The writing is just sublime. It’s both beautiful and direct, packing a punch in just a few words. It’s been a while since I’ve highlighted so many lines in a book. The desert atmosphere is captured in its harsh glory, so much so that you can feel the dry heat. For such a short book, the story is fast paced but developed well, with a great arc and a very satisfying ending.
Our thirteen year old young protagonist Tutu starts off hopeless and naive but determined, fueled by his love for his mama, but through the story, he learns to make friends and found family, understands some harsh truths of the world and decides his course of action to remedy it. Through Tutu, we too get to see the truths and lies that have built up the cities of the Forever Desert, the forgotten histories of the people, and what horrors the powerful can commit to maintain their hold on power and ensure that they’ll never be challenged. When Tutu realizes all this, it’s heartbreaking for him but also solidifies his purpose, leading to an epic conclusion.
I absolutely adored this novella. With stunning and impactful writing, the author has managed to create a harsh and unforgettable world which deserves more stories, so onto the sequel now.
Faith is their armor. Truth is their spear. History is their battlefield.
500 years after the events of The Lies of the Ajungo, the City of Truth is the last remaining city of the Forever Desert. Long ago, it stood alone against the might of the monstrous Chief Tutu, and has since become a bastion of freedom and peace. The city has successfully weathered the near-constant attacks from the Cult of Tutu, who have besieged it for over a century, capturing any passerby and using them as human shields.
17-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.
After loving The Lies of the Ajungo, I just had to read this one immediately and though it’s a fundamentally different kind of story, the author does a great job with the twists and turns in this one, even more than the first book.
I’ll keep this review short because I feel that this book works best if one doesn’t know what to expect from it. It did take me a while for me to start liking it though coz the protagonist Osi isn’t immediately endearing like Tutu, and it was only after finishing the book and going over his whole character arc (and especially reading the author’s note) that I realized what his character was all about.
If the first book was about what the powerful would do to hoard their power, this one is about the perils of distorted history and keeping a populace ignorant; how people believing naively in their own righteousness maybe gullible to manipulation; how realizing that one has been lied to all their life can lead to disillusionment and may have unforeseen far reaching consequences.
Overall, I’m just very glad to have read these two novellas now even though I missed the first one in 2023. But now I have to wait for probably a year for the final third and it’s gonna be long and eagerly awaited. I’m very impressed by the author’s writing and very excited to see what more surprises the author has in store for us in the next. And to anyone new to this series, you can start with either book first and experience this superb world and characters.
PS: Thank you Tordotcom and Netgalley for providing me with the advance listening copy. All opinions expressed here are unbiased and solely mine.
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