We’re thrilled to share the cover of Moses Ose Utomi’s debut novella, The Lies of the Ajungo, forthcoming from Tordotcom Publishing in March 2023. Set in a secondary world reminiscent of Saharan Africa, The Lies of the Ajungo follows one boy’s epic quest to bring water back to his city and save his mother’s life.
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 the city’s 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.
Buy the Book
The Lies of the Ajungo
Said the author, Moses Ose Utomi:
“This cover puts me through the journey of writing The Lies of the Ajungo all over again. Just a glance and I can feel the desert heat, the sand between my toes, the weight of Tutu’s burden, the hope yet hesitation in his young heart as he realizes that it’s just him against a vast, vast world. Alyssa Winans has captured everything about this book that I love and want to share with readers.”
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Moses Ose Utomi (he/him) is a Nigerian-American fantasy writer and nomad currently based out of Honolulu, Hawaii. He has an MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and short fiction publications in Fireside Fiction, Fantasy Magazine, and more. His debut books, Daughters of Oduma and The Lies of the Ajungo will be coming out in early 2023. When he’s not writing, he’s traveling, training martial arts, or doing karaoke—with or without a backing track. You can follow him on Twitter (@MosesUtomi) or Instagram (@profseaquill).
I almost had the opportunity this year to be in Queretaro for work during this week, but it was not to be. I would really love to experience this celebration. The imagery is so fantastic and beautiful, and it sounds like a truly wonderful way to respect those that came before us. Maybe next year I can convince my boss…
Fabulous, thank you for explaining everything! I learned a lot.
Thanks!
We had an author talk at our local library, from a lady professora, daughter of a farmworker, who went to HS with one of our librarians, got a scholarship to Stanford, a Ph.D., and an anthropogy job at U of Minn. Not bad!
Anyway, she was born in Michoacan near Lake Pátzcuaro to tribal parents (Purépecha or Tarascans) and I asked her about pre-Hispanic roots of the Day of the Dead. She said definitely — the padres Christianized a tribal custom.
Her Mom picked strawberries in the Santa Maria valley until she retired, and put all 3 of her kids through college. She said she got awfully tired of eating “free” strawberries as a girl!
@5, yeah, the Spaniards & Catholics were good at that. The pyramid at Queretaro was a very important Toltec holy site dedicated to a female deity. It was covered with dirt at some point and lost, but women continued to go to the mound and pray. When the priests got wind of that, they put a statue of Mary on top to make everything OK.
What an excellent read, I learned a lot. Well done!
Thanks for the interesting article. Somebody (elsewhere) had posted a rather interesting/well researched article about Samhain (in which the conclusion was actually that there really isn’t as much in common between Halloween and Samhain as sensationalists like to say, and that a lot of the spooky traditions come from medieval Catholicism and not ‘paganism’ (usually code for something else depending on who is making the claim)) but I was also wondering how the Day of the Dead played into this since they clearly had their own tradtions as well that have certain commonalities, but arose independently and I can definitely see how they got glommed on.
I have to admit, the Halloween Triduum is actually one of my favorite liturgical times.