Children of Blood and Bone
Wikipedia
Guide to YA Lit
Children of Blood and Bone is a 2018 young adult fantasy novel by Nigerian-American novelist Tomi Adeyemi. The book, Adeyemi's debut novel and the first book in a planned trilogy, follows heroine Zélie Adebola as she attempts to restore magic to the kingdom of Orïsha, following the ruling class kosidáns' brutal suppression of the class of magic practitioners Zélie belongs to, the maji.
The novel takes place in the fictional land of Orïsha, inhabited by two distinct people-- divîners, who have the capability to become magical maji and are marked by white hair, and non-magical kosidán. Eleven years prior to the events of the book, King Saran figured out how to switch off magic and ordered the slaying of many defenseless divîners, including the mother of Zélie Adebola. Since that time, divîners have been severely oppressed.
After visiting the capital city, Lagos, to make enough money to pay off an increased tax on divîners, Zélie and her brother Tzain help a noble girl flee the clutches of local guards. This girl, who turns out to be Princess Amari, the daughter of King Saran, has stolen a magical scroll that can restore the magical powers of any divîner who touches it. The reason Amari stole the scroll was that after her servant and best friend, Binta, touched it and her powers came to life, King Saran killed her. Like her mother before her, Zélie is able to awaken her magical powers as a Reaper, giving her the power to command undead spirits.
Pursued by a contingent of guards led by Amari's brother Prince Inan and Admiral Kaea, the three travel to the temple of the maji, Chândomblé. The temple's remaining priest, Lekan, tells them that they must use the scroll, the bone dagger (which he gives them), and an artifact called the sunstone to perform a ritual to renew the connection between the maji and the gods, who are the source of all magic. He performs a rite on Zélie so she will be able to complete the connection, and then he sacrifices himself to hold off the guards as the trio escapes. Unknown to anyone else, contact with the scroll has given Prince Inan magical abilities to detect the feelings and memories of others. Kaea catches Inan using these abilities to track the trio and Inan accidentally uses his magic to kill her.
The trio finds themselves in Ibeji, where the sunstone is used as a prize for deadly aquatic arena games. They agree to compete and Zélie uses her powers to win the sunstone. Now in possession of all three artifacts, the group continues on their way until Inan catches up to them. In the chaos that follows, Tzain and Amari are captured in the forest by an unknown group. Inan agrees to help Zélie rescue their siblings. During the rescue, they learn that the group is really a settlement of divîners, some of whom have had their powers reawakened when they were exposed to the scroll before it was taken by the King's forces.
Upon hearing of the group's mission, they divîners decide to hold a festival for the Sky Mother where the remaining divîners will be able to touch the scroll. By this time, Inan, who has developed romantic feelings for Zélie, has agreed to help restore magic. However, Saran and his guards find and destroy the camp, also capturing Zélie. During the fight between the guards and the divîners, Kwame, a maji able to control fire, uses his magic to self-immolate and takes out guards with him. This display of powerful magic scares Inan, who changes his mind again and wants to repress his magic, knowing that his father would kill him should he ever reveal that he is a maji. Saran tortures Zélie to learn how to destroy the scroll, removing her magical ability in the process.
Tzain and Amari assemble a team and break Zélie out of prison. Zélie does not reveal her power loss and they hire a group of mercenaries, commanded by Roen, who allow them to infiltrate the secret island and temple to perform the ceremony. Once inside, however, they are ambushed by Saran and Inan, who are holding Zélie and Tzain's father. Feeling helpless, Zélie agrees to give the artifacts up in exchange for her and her father's life. As Zélie leaves the temple, Saran orders her father killed anyway. The spirit and blood magic of her father reawakens Zélie's magic and she uses her restored powers to attack the kosidán. Inan uses her rage and magic to his advantage, as he provokes an attack that destroys the scroll. Without thinking, Inan then uses his magic to stop an attack on Saran. Saran then apparently kills his son for being a secret maji. Furious, Amari kills her father.
Unable to repair the scroll, Zélie uses blood magic and an incantation of her own devising to complete the ritual, which apparently kills her in the process. Zélie is then able to speak with her mother, speaking on behalf of the gods in the afterlife, who praises her and sends her back. The book concludes as Zélie learns that Amari now has magic.
The novel takes place in the fictional land of Orïsha, inhabited by two distinct people-- divîners, who have the capability to become magical maji and are marked by white hair, and non-magical kosidán. Eleven years prior to the events of the book, King Saran figured out how to switch off magic and ordered the slaying of many defenseless divîners, including the mother of Zélie Adebola. Since that time, divîners have been severely oppressed.
After visiting the capital city, Lagos, to make enough money to pay off an increased tax on divîners, Zélie and her brother Tzain help a noble girl flee the clutches of local guards. This girl, who turns out to be Princess Amari, the daughter of King Saran, has stolen a magical scroll that can restore the magical powers of any divîner who touches it. The reason Amari stole the scroll was that after her servant and best friend, Binta, touched it and her powers came to life, King Saran killed her. Like her mother before her, Zélie is able to awaken her magical powers as a Reaper, giving her the power to command undead spirits.
Pursued by a contingent of guards led by Amari's brother Prince Inan and Admiral Kaea, the three travel to the temple of the maji, Chândomblé. The temple's remaining priest, Lekan, tells them that they must use the scroll, the bone dagger (which he gives them), and an artifact called the sunstone to perform a ritual to renew the connection between the maji and the gods, who are the source of all magic. He performs a rite on Zélie so she will be able to complete the connection, and then he sacrifices himself to hold off the guards as the trio escapes. Unknown to anyone else, contact with the scroll has given Prince Inan magical abilities to detect the feelings and memories of others. Kaea catches Inan using these abilities to track the trio and Inan accidentally uses his magic to kill her.
The trio finds themselves in Ibeji, where the sunstone is used as a prize for deadly aquatic arena games. They agree to compete and Zélie uses her powers to win the sunstone. Now in possession of all three artifacts, the group continues on their way until Inan catches up to them. In the chaos that follows, Tzain and Amari are captured in the forest by an unknown group. Inan agrees to help Zélie rescue their siblings. During the rescue, they learn that the group is really a settlement of divîners, some of whom have had their powers reawakened when they were exposed to the scroll before it was taken by the King's forces.
Upon hearing of the group's mission, they divîners decide to hold a festival for the Sky Mother where the remaining divîners will be able to touch the scroll. By this time, Inan, who has developed romantic feelings for Zélie, has agreed to help restore magic. However, Saran and his guards find and destroy the camp, also capturing Zélie. During the fight between the guards and the divîners, Kwame, a maji able to control fire, uses his magic to self-immolate and takes out guards with him. This display of powerful magic scares Inan, who changes his mind again and wants to repress his magic, knowing that his father would kill him should he ever reveal that he is a maji. Saran tortures Zélie to learn how to destroy the scroll, removing her magical ability in the process.
Tzain and Amari assemble a team and break Zélie out of prison. Zélie does not reveal her power loss and they hire a group of mercenaries, commanded by Roen, who allow them to infiltrate the secret island and temple to perform the ceremony. Once inside, however, they are ambushed by Saran and Inan, who are holding Zélie and Tzain's father. Feeling helpless, Zélie agrees to give the artifacts up in exchange for her and her father's life. As Zélie leaves the temple, Saran orders her father killed anyway. The spirit and blood magic of her father reawakens Zélie's magic and she uses her restored powers to attack the kosidán. Inan uses her rage and magic to his advantage, as he provokes an attack that destroys the scroll. Without thinking, Inan then uses his magic to stop an attack on Saran. Saran then apparently kills his son for being a secret maji. Furious, Amari kills her father.
Unable to repair the scroll, Zélie uses blood magic and an incantation of her own devising to complete the ritual, which apparently kills her in the process. Zélie is then able to speak with her mother, speaking on behalf of the gods in the afterlife, who praises her and sends her back. The book concludes as Zélie learns that Amari now has magic.