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Masters of the Confluence
In colonial Africa, the prevalent justice systems left much to be desired. Retribution was brutal, heavy and swift. The ruling elite used slavery keep their citizenry on a pretty tight leash. Nigeria was no different.
From the meanders and tributaries of the Niger delta, "felons" were tricked into the mythical labyrinths of Arochukwu and subsequently, shipped abroad. Established empires flourished, enriching themselves on other people's freedom, or lack of it.
This 19th century story takes the lineages of Onitsha and Eso on the quest to rehabilitate themselves in a new world. With deceit belied in romance, they triumph in the face of invasion. Anashi struggles to keep her dignity by fending off two love-struck cousins who must kill to possess her.
From the meanders and tributaries of the Niger delta, "felons" were tricked into the mythical labyrinths of Arochukwu and subsequently, shipped abroad. Established empires flourished, enriching themselves on other people's freedom, or lack of it.
This 19th century story takes the lineages of Onitsha and Eso on the quest to rehabilitate themselves in a new world. With deceit belied in romance, they triumph in the face of invasion. Anashi struggles to keep her dignity by fending off two love-struck cousins who must kill to possess her.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
302 pages, Paperback
First published February 7, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 16, 2010
A book that is very close to my heart.
of course, since i actually wrote it, my ratings does not count for much. Why don't you be the judge?
of course, since i actually wrote it, my ratings does not count for much. Why don't you be the judge?
January 8, 2010
No beginning, no main character and no end. A strange story? Probably. But this is precisely how it goes, this Masters of the Confluence, where, in nineteenth-century Nigeria, Onitsha gives start to a long mission in search for the freedom and honor of his lineage.
It isn't quite an easy book to read. With a story that includes multiple generations, this is not a linear tale, but a kind of memory for multiple events. And that is why we can never follow a single character, because things change and before we notice, we are following the story of a new generation.
This is, therefore, a book of moments. Moments of struggle, pain, violence and sadness but also joy and dreams. Hard times, but of courage. War, slavery ... and love. And then we get to the last chapters, and when we have a more complete story, that of Alabo and Anashi, we finally create a connection with his strange form of love, even though we can't fully understand how their story ends.
I would not recommend this book to all kinds of readers. With a history so vast, it is a difficult book to follow. But it is still a book with much to teach about the culture and traditions of a people fighting for their place in the world and therefore I liked it and enjoyed reading it.
(NOTE: I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.)
It isn't quite an easy book to read. With a story that includes multiple generations, this is not a linear tale, but a kind of memory for multiple events. And that is why we can never follow a single character, because things change and before we notice, we are following the story of a new generation.
This is, therefore, a book of moments. Moments of struggle, pain, violence and sadness but also joy and dreams. Hard times, but of courage. War, slavery ... and love. And then we get to the last chapters, and when we have a more complete story, that of Alabo and Anashi, we finally create a connection with his strange form of love, even though we can't fully understand how their story ends.
I would not recommend this book to all kinds of readers. With a history so vast, it is a difficult book to follow. But it is still a book with much to teach about the culture and traditions of a people fighting for their place in the world and therefore I liked it and enjoyed reading it.
(NOTE: I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.)
November 20, 2009
This book had a wonderful story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the culture and the goings-on of the African trinity of tribes and people. It was captivating in a way, and I really did enjoy the way it read the way someone would speak the story.
Before the story begins, the author specifically tells you that you shouldn't read it if you are looking to follow the life of one central protagonist, and he tells you that the story moves slowly. I was expecting a story to be as slow as something written by J.R.R. Tolkien, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it moved more quickly than that for me.
He also warned that the book promised no ending, but I didn't realize how literally he meant it. That was my major peeve with the book. The book ended the exact same way it began ((however, he uses different perspectives for it and different descriptions)), but it felt so unfinished, as if there should be more to the story. It left me craving more, and I was angry that I didn't get more. It seems like there should be a sequel to this, but I highly doubt the author ever intends to continue with a sequel which is just as well.
As far as technicalities go, there were a lot of grammatical and spelling errors throughout the book that I felt were obvious enough to be caught by whomever edited the piece. Those errors occasionally made it difficult to understand what I was reading, but I was sometimes able to figure it out through the use of context clues.
I found myself also wishing that there had been more words in the glossary that could have helped me better understand some of the vocabulary that left me floundering a little. I think a small family tree in the back with the glossary could have been a nice touch as well.
All in all, each character had her or his own personalities that were easily distinguished. There was much character development throughout the three generations of people that were depicted, and that was very good. I also liked that there were strong female characters along with the strong male characters, but each gender also had some among their ranks that were weak leaders in their own right, just as any gender and grouping of people may have.
I found it sad that Onitsha's dream only lasted until his only living son, Wawa, was murdered. Osha, Wawa's only child, allowed the trinity of villages to prosper, but he ruled it as a king when Onitsha's dream had always been to have free peoples who ruled themselves. Having been a slave who had escaped to begin the trinity, he disliked the idea of one person ruling over all.
There were very happy points and very sad points. Over all, the theme of the book was sad, but the book itself was very well done from the storyteller.
Before the story begins, the author specifically tells you that you shouldn't read it if you are looking to follow the life of one central protagonist, and he tells you that the story moves slowly. I was expecting a story to be as slow as something written by J.R.R. Tolkien, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it moved more quickly than that for me.
He also warned that the book promised no ending, but I didn't realize how literally he meant it. That was my major peeve with the book. The book ended the exact same way it began ((however, he uses different perspectives for it and different descriptions)), but it felt so unfinished, as if there should be more to the story. It left me craving more, and I was angry that I didn't get more. It seems like there should be a sequel to this, but I highly doubt the author ever intends to continue with a sequel which is just as well.
As far as technicalities go, there were a lot of grammatical and spelling errors throughout the book that I felt were obvious enough to be caught by whomever edited the piece. Those errors occasionally made it difficult to understand what I was reading, but I was sometimes able to figure it out through the use of context clues.
I found myself also wishing that there had been more words in the glossary that could have helped me better understand some of the vocabulary that left me floundering a little. I think a small family tree in the back with the glossary could have been a nice touch as well.
All in all, each character had her or his own personalities that were easily distinguished. There was much character development throughout the three generations of people that were depicted, and that was very good. I also liked that there were strong female characters along with the strong male characters, but each gender also had some among their ranks that were weak leaders in their own right, just as any gender and grouping of people may have.
I found it sad that Onitsha's dream only lasted until his only living son, Wawa, was murdered. Osha, Wawa's only child, allowed the trinity of villages to prosper, but he ruled it as a king when Onitsha's dream had always been to have free peoples who ruled themselves. Having been a slave who had escaped to begin the trinity, he disliked the idea of one person ruling over all.
There were very happy points and very sad points. Over all, the theme of the book was sad, but the book itself was very well done from the storyteller.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2010
Masters of Confluence by Nduka Onwuegbute
I was not sure what to expect when I first started reading this one, not knowing very much about African History, but I was surprised by this frank look at life in the Niger delta during life in the colonial times of the 19th century. You are quickly drawn into the plight of the character Onitsha, an exiled royal in the servitude to another Nigerian warlord. Onitsha decides to reclaim his birthright, by stealing back the power symbol of his family and escape to re-establish his clan in the fabled land of his fore fathers.
The journey is wrought with danger not just from escaping their former captors, but the sometimes unforgiving African landscape, and the clans along the way. Onitsha does find the fabled river and follows it to the land of his ancestors and establishes a new family dynasty, but not without loosing many of his family.
As the generations turn and they are discovered and influenced by unsavory characters from the British Empire. These players introduce the the clan to the idea of commerce outside their borders, to make war on their neighbors and enslave them as their fore fathers once were, and to sell them to the colonial slave traders. Now their idyllic life in the Niger delta is threatened by their own brutal overlord, who is driven by jealously and the feelings of inadequacies of being rule, because he is the only of spring of Onitsha's son, and his mother being a slave.
This story has a bit of everything from action and adventure, to villains and unrequited love. I quite enjoyed it once I got into it, and got used to the African names and terminology (would have helped if I would have discovered the glossary earlier, tragic when publishers decide to put these at the backs of books, rather than the front). It was nice to learn more about African History, as my knowledge in this area is limited. Although, this is historical fiction, it most likely a rather accurate portrait of what life would have been like at the time.
I was not sure what to expect when I first started reading this one, not knowing very much about African History, but I was surprised by this frank look at life in the Niger delta during life in the colonial times of the 19th century. You are quickly drawn into the plight of the character Onitsha, an exiled royal in the servitude to another Nigerian warlord. Onitsha decides to reclaim his birthright, by stealing back the power symbol of his family and escape to re-establish his clan in the fabled land of his fore fathers.
The journey is wrought with danger not just from escaping their former captors, but the sometimes unforgiving African landscape, and the clans along the way. Onitsha does find the fabled river and follows it to the land of his ancestors and establishes a new family dynasty, but not without loosing many of his family.
As the generations turn and they are discovered and influenced by unsavory characters from the British Empire. These players introduce the the clan to the idea of commerce outside their borders, to make war on their neighbors and enslave them as their fore fathers once were, and to sell them to the colonial slave traders. Now their idyllic life in the Niger delta is threatened by their own brutal overlord, who is driven by jealously and the feelings of inadequacies of being rule, because he is the only of spring of Onitsha's son, and his mother being a slave.
This story has a bit of everything from action and adventure, to villains and unrequited love. I quite enjoyed it once I got into it, and got used to the African names and terminology (would have helped if I would have discovered the glossary earlier, tragic when publishers decide to put these at the backs of books, rather than the front). It was nice to learn more about African History, as my knowledge in this area is limited. Although, this is historical fiction, it most likely a rather accurate portrait of what life would have been like at the time.
March 6, 2014
He saw her silhouette and knew it was Anashi; there was no mistaking her physique. No one else in the village had her unique shapely curves; her height was shared with a smattering few, but the contours or the graceful way she glided was distinctive to Anashi and no one else.
It's my first giveaway win, sure, but it has a 'pull' anyway. Drumming on youtube
This is going on to Hayes in Italy next. I will jot down thoughts as I read and edit later:
Okay here we go... There is a guide/author's note entitled How To Read This Book, which I chose to ignore in case of spoilers (not to mention feeling pretty well patronised. To my mind it was as if I had been given a paint by numbers plan of action to accompany a Picasso) and I dived straight into the beginning which is highly noticeable by it's absence, or rather, it's barest existence.
So back I flipped to this authors note:
What you will not find in this book ...
There is no protagonist. There is focus on different characters at different stages of this book. There is a beginning, or the semblance of it.[...:]
---
Later - found this an abstract read but not without it's good side or points of interest. For me though, I would have preferred a less mystic/pomo writing style *shrugs* as there is an exceptional story hiding in there somewhere.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2011
I won the first book ever!!!
from: Nduka Onwuegbute
to: Annett Christoph
subject: Masters of the Confluence: You Won!
message: Hello Annett,
I am pleased to inform you that you managed to win a preview copy of my book, "Masters of the Confluence". Congratulations on that front.
Your copy of the book will be posted within the next few days, and I hope you enjoy reading it. I am posting from the UK so please allow reasonable time for delivery.
Once again, congratulations!
-nduka-
from: Nduka Onwuegbute
to: Annett Christoph
subject: Masters of the Confluence: You Won!
message: Hello Annett,
I am pleased to inform you that you managed to win a preview copy of my book, "Masters of the Confluence". Congratulations on that front.
Your copy of the book will be posted within the next few days, and I hope you enjoy reading it. I am posting from the UK so please allow reasonable time for delivery.
Once again, congratulations!
-nduka-
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews