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The Alchemists of Kush

by Minister Faust (Goodreads Author)

4.26 of 5 stars 4.26 · rating details · 31 ratings · 7 reviews

Two Sudanese "Lost Boys."

Both fathers murdered during civil war.
Both mothers forced into exile through lands where the only law was violence.

To survive, they became ruthless loners and child soldiers, before finding mystic mentors who transformed them to create their destinies.

One, known to the streets as the Supreme Raptor.

The other, known to the Greeks as Horus, son of O...more

Kindle Edition, 428 pages

Published July 1st 2011 by Narmer's Palette (first published June 13th 2011)

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May 31, 2012 Craig DiLouie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Minister Faust's ALCHEMISTS OF KUSH is a fantastic read, told so well that after I closed the covers I missed the characters as if they were real people. The book contains two parallel stories (The Book of Then and the Book of Now) about Sudanese “lost boys.” Both lost their fathers to war and were separated from their mothers. Each ends up mentored by a man who gives him the means of self transformation. One is a teenager living in Kush, the Northeastern district of modern Edmonton, Canada, whe...more Minister Faust's ALCHEMISTS OF KUSH is a fantastic read, told so well that after I closed the covers I missed the characters as if they were real people. The book contains two parallel stories (The Book of Then and the Book of Now) about Sudanese “lost boys.” Both lost their fathers to war and were separated from their mothers. Each ends up mentored by a man who gives him the means of self transformation. One is a teenager living in Kush, the Northeastern district of modern Edmonton, Canada, where many African immigrants live. The other is Hru, son of Usir and Aset, also known as the Egyptian falcon god Horus, who lived 7,000 years ago along the Nile. The whole is speculative fiction with a social realism objective.

Minister Faust, an artist, author and activist, tells The Book of Now with his singular voice and a huge amount of energy that keeps the story humming. The story is about Raphael Garang, a boy who conquers the demons of his past and gains the ability to change himself, and his journey of self transformation had me turning pages as if it were a thriller. Raphael has a chance encounter with another boy who would become his best friend and a man who would become a mystic mentor, introducing him to a philosophy of self-transformation called the Alchemy, which the author based on the mystic society Nation of Gods and Earths of the 1960s. This transformation doesn’t happen overnight; Raphael has a lot of baggage, and is immature has hell, resulting in him making as many messes himself as are thrust upon him. In many ways, he’s his own worst enemy–just like most of us, I think–keeping him from achieving his potential. Minister Faust creates his characters with love, and they interact with a charm that will tickle you, with the narrative swept forward with an energy I can even now hardly believe the author could sustain for so many pages.

The Book of Then buttresses the modern narrative, and this is where the speculative fiction shines as we are introduced to Hru and his trials in the Savage Lands. The stories contain many parallels, and the Alchemy uses the myth of Horus as a mystical text, further tying them together. These parts of the book are told in a leaner, crisper style, in keeping with the voice of myth.

THE ALCHEMISTS OF KUSH is a great book with charming characters, interesting story of self transformation, and enough philosophy and mysticism to keep you thinking long after the book is over. Highly recommended.(less)

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Jul 08, 2011 Ian Samuels rated it 4 of 5 stars

Let's be open about this right off the bat: The Alchemists of Kush is, above all else, a novel of ideas. They're specific ideas that emanate from a real-world movement called the Nation of Gods and Earths, which despite its religious-sounding name and Afrocentric vocabulary is about neither religion nor (arguably) nationalism, but rather a secular paradigm of self-cultivation and community activism. The "alchemy" of the novel -- so-called because of its focus on transmuting its students from ine...more Let's be open about this right off the bat: The Alchemists of Kush is, above all else, a novel of ideas. They're specific ideas that emanate from a real-world movement called the Nation of Gods and Earths, which despite its religious-sounding name and Afrocentric vocabulary is about neither religion nor (arguably) nationalism, but rather a secular paradigm of self-cultivation and community activism. The "alchemy" of the novel -- so-called because of its focus on transmuting its students from inert and unconscious lead into self- and communally-aware gold -- is a version of this movement, and Faust uses parallel stories to explore it. One is an allegorical myth with ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) trappings, the other a contemporary coming-of-age story set among immigrant youth in Edmonton.

There are, of course, a lot of ways in which this could have gone wrong; the "novel of ideas" can be, and far too often is, a horribly arid exercise in cheap melodrama, heavy-handed messaging and two-dimensional characterization. Fortunately, Faust evades those traps. Alchemists' characters are three-dimensional and engaging -- even the allegoric-mythic ones -- and their dilemmas, flaws and triumphs are affecting, and sometimes powerfully shocking. In the end, you don't even have to necessarily buy into "alchemy" to understand the agonies and trials of the protagonist, Sudanese "lost boy" Rap Garang, or those of his mythic counterpart Hru or of his guru, Sbai Moon.

Faust also has a gift for agile, poetic and economical prose; one of the primary pleasures of Alchemists is just watching him put language to work, evoking whole scenes or complicated swells of emotion in a few swift, calligraphic brush-strokes. There's humor and joy aplenty to be found amid the struggles of the contemporary story, and the Kemetic myth is packed with enough vivid, haunting imagery to put a dozen fantasy novels to shame. And artfully woven in through all the other strands, there's even a solid guide to further books, comics and movies touching on similar subjects. It's an impressively multi-layered performance that will, I think, repay many more re-reads.

More information at this link: www.ministerfaust.com.(less)

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Jun 29, 2011 Nathan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Expectations are a funny thing. For the sake of this analogy, consider Starbucks as an example. In my mind, speculative fiction, urban fantasy in particular, has been a lot like Starbucks. (I agree there are exceptions, of course, so untwist your chainmail BVDs.) A coffee purist might be quick to dismiss the ubiquitous coffee purveyor; bitter, over-roasted beans, calorie-laden menu, a macchiato that is anything but. However they have mastered two things: training the world to drop a five-spot n...more Expectations are a funny thing. For the sake of this analogy, consider Starbucks as an example. In my mind, speculative fiction, urban fantasy in particular, has been a lot like Starbucks. (I agree there are exceptions, of course, so untwist your chainmail BVDs.) A coffee purist might be quick to dismiss the ubiquitous coffee purveyor; bitter, over-roasted beans, calorie-laden menu, a macchiato that is anything but. However they have mastered two things: training the world to drop a five-spot n a cuppa joe, and meeting expectations. True, they might not be the platonic ideal of COFFEE, but it will be the same when you order it, whether you order it in downtown Seattle or the Great Wall of China. Likewise, it seems that urban fantasy has been largely a brooding loners, predominately Caucasian, confronting supernatural threats of a European nature — not that there’s anything wrong with that. Like Starbucks, it fills the need but rarely excites me for long.

Granted, it’s a tortured analogy.

So, Mr. Coffee Snob, what does this have to do with this review?

Everything.

The Alchemists of Kush by Minister Faust is no Starbucks. In fact, it blew my expectations clean out of the water, so much so that I hesitate to call the novel speculative fiction at all! This, despite the fact that the bulk of the book is split between two parallel stories with 7,000 years separating them. In one set of alternating chapters, Faust tells us the story of Hru, a boy who survives the destruction of his village only to encounter the Swamp of Death and the forces of the mysterious, and aptly named Destroyer. In the other chapters, we get the story of Raphael “Supreme Raptor” Garang, also an refugee, now living with his mother in Edmonton, Canada, in a neighborhood that contains multiple transplanted African ethnic groups. Both young men get taken under the wing of a spiritual mentor who helps them find their own inner strength, transforming them metaphorically from lead to gold.

While the Book of the Then has all the hallmarks of fantasy, with magic and fantastic beasts, the Book of the Now could be straight up YA fiction with no fantastic elements at all. We fall even further from the folds of speculative fiction when it is suggested that the Book of Then is the basis for the spiritual teachings that the Supreme Raptor receives, acknowledging that story as metaphor and not literal truth. This begs the question, “What is the truth?” And more importantly, in matters of faith, is literal truth more important than the message being taught?

I’ve talked about the importance of faith elsewhere recently, so this idea was fresh in my mind as I read The Alchemists of Kush. And as the novel is, at it’s heart, about a spiritual awakening, it felt perfectly timed that I discovered the book when I did.

The twin stories and characters had me drawn in immediately, and it didn’t hurt that there was ample name dropping of favorite musical artists (Gil Scott-Heron among them) and comic book characters (Static and King Peacock). The narrative voice for each section was different enough as well that it helped sell the story within a story. I found myself so invested in the characters that when Supreme Raptor makes bad decisions, I found myself wincing in empathy. And thank you, Mr. Faust for giving us heroes that are real enough that they make bad decisions and have to learn from them.

In fact, without a traditional antagonist in the contemporary timeline (I know, no villain in an urban fantasy? Heresy! Glorious, glorious heresy!), the Supreme Raptor sometimes pulls double duty as his own worst enemy. And while some problems are solved with violence, it is rarely the easy solution it appears to be. More often than not, a calm head needs to prevail, and problems need to be solved with words with hard work to back them up.

That alone would make for a compelling reason to read The Alchemist of Kush, but it’s by no means the only reason. The characters are rich, their battles hard fought and heartbreaking. And the resulting affirmation of of love, community, pride, responsibility, and family makes this the caliber of book I would love to see as required reading at the high-school level.

Final verdict, highly recommended.(less)

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Jan 30, 2013 Adrian Mallabo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Please do yourself a favor and find the time to read this book. Minister Faust is a friend of mine, but also he's a mentor and the man who got me into writing in the first place. I read this book not knowing what I was going to expect, but by the end of the last page I really felt like I was transported in his world, living amongst his characters, and sharing in their dark timees and triumphs. The man writes prose with an almost rhythmic passion and voice. When I was finished, I sat through lunc...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Daniel Roy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, fantasy, young-adult

Disclaimer: Although I became fan of his novels long before meeting him, I'm a good friend of the author, and have read this novel as an advanced reader in the summer of 2010. That being said, I believe an honest review is more useful than a blanket endorsement in the name of friendship, so here is my review, as honest as I can make it.

"Alchemists of Kush" is an odd beast, and I mean this in the best manner possible. It's a rare novel that almost totally discards the tropes of the urban fantasy...more Disclaimer: Although I became fan of his novels long before meeting him, I'm a good friend of the author, and have read this novel as an advanced reader in the summer of 2010. That being said, I believe an honest review is more useful than a blanket endorsement in the name of friendship, so here is my review, as honest as I can make it.

"Alchemists of Kush" is an odd beast, and I mean this in the best manner possible. It's a rare novel that almost totally discards the tropes of the urban fantasy and young adult genres, and distinctly walks to the beat of its own drum. And what an enticing beat it is! This is a story without an antagonist, or should I say, where the main character is his own worst enemy. It's wonderfully self-aware, reads like a sermon at times and a hip hop song at others, and is infused with a heady dose of wisdom and humor.

At its core, "Alchemists of Kush" plays it part fable, part hopeful tale of a positive street culture that emerges out of a downtrodden community in Edmonton and overtakes despair and division. After so many tales of youth violence and crime, of African immigrants and Muslims being depicted with the rough brushstroke of stereotypes, it's refreshing to read a tale that gathers the urban youth of Kush, and weaves into their lives the power to better themselves and construct a better world. It's delightful to see young Black Canadians, young Muslims, stand proud in fiction, laugh and love and struggle for justice.

Minister Faust's writing is the sharpest of his three novels in this one. His writing was always infused with a great humanity and a sense of rhythm, but here it shines with hip hop joy. No words are wasted, and his metaphors are crisp, often surprising, always inventive. The Minister's passion is apparent in every word, and you can sense that he has articulated a lot of his own hopes and opinions into a story he cares deeply about. In some ways, "Alchemists of Kush" is the Minister's sermon to the disenfranchised youth of the world.

Are there imperfections? Yes, sure. I didn't like the "Then" story as much as the ones taking place in modern times, though I don't know if that's the fault of the "Then", or a statement on how much I liked the "Now". Ultimately, I found the past storyline was resolved too quickly, and didn't truly connect with the modern-day tale. Also, there are times when I wished Raphael was a bit more self-aware, and stopped undermining himself; but it sure got me hooked, and his character arc was ultimately very satisfying.

But beyond all this, I was left with the profound impression that I had read something unique, both in its genre, its overall point, its construction and the sharpness of its prose. It's a strong argument in favor of self-publishing, despite the troves of poorly-edited near-fanfic messes out there: here is a novel of immense originality, with a purpose and a message, which would have been forgotten under yet another vampire teenage love story if it hadn't been for the courage of an established author to walk his own path, and not diminish his artistic vision.

Here's hoping young men and women, African immigrants or not, whether in Edmonton or elsewhere, pick it up, take notice, and begin the transmutation of lead into gold. Transformed!(less)

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Dec 29, 2012 Reva Harris rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was uneven for me. It has great concepts and a strong narrative, but the pacing and language wasn't quite my cup of tea.

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Dec 09, 2012 Nadine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh how I enjoyed this book while my son napped on my stomach.

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Shelves: kindle

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About Minister Faust

Minister Faust is a long-time community activist, writer, journalist, broadcaster, public speaker and martial artist in several disciplines.

Minister Faust refers to his sub-genre of writing as Imhotep-Hop--an Africentric literature that draws from myriad ancient African civilizations, explores present realities, and imagines a future in which people struggle not only for justice, but for the stars...more

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