The Truth of the Aleke

 By: Moses Ose Utomi   

Location: FIC UTO

Genre: Fantasy- Fable

Series: The Forever Desert Series

 I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and as a non fantasy reader that is a big recommendation. The plot leaning into human rights and ethical integrity- with a cliff hanger made it unputdownable. I also clicked that it leant cleverly into the modum of hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil. 

I think this was even better than the first novella in the series, and a story with deeper character work and more nuance. The authors note at the end offers context to what this story is trying to accomplish, but at its core this is about power, evil, and what it's like to become disillusioned about what you thought was true and what you thought was right. Excellent.- Bethany

Moses Ose Utomi returns to his Forever Desert series with The Truth of the Aleke, continuing his epic fable about truth, falsehood, and the shackles of history.

The Aleke is cruel. The Aleke is clever. The Aleke is coming.

500 years after the events of The Lies of the Ajungo, the City of Truth stands as is the last remaining free city of the Forever Desert. 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 three centuries, attempting to destroy its warriors and subjugate its people.

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.

This review makes me think we all need to read this one- it sounds like our world today!

"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". Sahota