Title: Sorrows of Udi
Reviewer: Olukorede Yishau
Publisher: Naphtali Baks
Pagination: 198
Ray Anyasi has many books to his name. A graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Anyasi last year released the first in a series known as Sorrows of Udi. This book – a fantasy cum epic – is the story of a kingdom against itself. Almost everybody who matters in the kingdom is messing up!
It is like modern-day Nigeria, where many people in positions of authorities prefer to do what pleases them rather than do what will glorify the nation. The only difference is that it is set in Udi, an obviously Igbo kingdom, with no easily-discernible period. But since there are no cars, no phones or other forms of modern conveniences, it can be safely assumed that it is set in pre-colonial Igboland.
It follows many characters, such as King Chuba, Princess Mmaeze, Akunne, Ifedi, Jidenna, Obinna, Obikwe, Obiageli and Izu. What unites all of them is bad behaviours.
The novel opens with King Chuba preparing his daughter, Mmaeze, for coronation as the goddess princess. The daughter is scared and feels not made for this role, which puts all the problems of the kingdom on her shoulder. She is also expected to live in a cave in the ancestral shrine where virgins are supposed to be at her beck and call. Her parents, too, are expected to treat her as their god and not their daughter. But the only challenge Mmaeze is willing to carry is Izu, her childhood crush and son of the palace’s chief cook— who the king once took away for years to break their bond. Now, it is clear to the king that the bond is unbreakable once Izu is still alive. She refuses to live in the cave so as to be close to Izu in the palace. As a god, Mmaeze is not supposed to have sex but her attraction to Izu is beyond physical so they eat the ‘forbidden fruit’. Her best friend, Obiageli, who encourages her to sleep with Izu secretly lets in King Chuba on her exploit. A livid king plots Izu’s death by asking him to go on an expedition, where others in his entourage have been ordered to kill him.
Izu tells the goddess princess of the assignment from the king and she explains some facts, which make Izu suspicious of the king. Anyway he embarks on the journey and tries to convince those mandated to kill him of the king’s evil intention for them all.
Obiageli’s motive for betraying her friend centres around her scheme to become a future queen by marrying the heir, who already has a betrothed.
Interestingly, the priests who are supposed to be men of value are discovered to be violating the virgins, thus rendering them unfit to serve the gods. To cover their tracks, the chief priest accuses one of the virgins of seducing a priest and getting her colleagues to mob him. The accused eventually commits suicide, a development, which pitches the goddess princess against the chief priest.
In another intriguing plot, Obigwe plans to usurp his brother’s right to the throne. He has a major backer in his future father-in-law but he is also faced by her dilemma. He wants the hand of another girl in marriage, a development which will automatically make him lose the support of his betrothed’s father.
On the loose is also a weakling, Ifedi, who feels killing girls is a way of revenging his failure with the opposite sex.
There is also a supposedly strong witch on the rampage. The witch doctors are unable to tame her, but one of them in his quest for power brings her into his home and is performing an experiment that will see him as the greatest witch doctor alive.
Generally, there is just chaos in the land. Harvest is bad. Arochukwu warriors are set to attack. Warriors are missing.
All this is narrated in a free-flowing and easy-to-access prose. Anyasi’s figurative language is rich and vivid. Above all, his absorbing tragicomedy grotesquely analyses the hazards of scheming and he succeeds in giving us a heart-breaking and mythic tale.
What becomes of the goddess princess, Izu, Ifedi, Obiageli, King Chuba, the chief priest, Jidenna and others?
Anyasi needs to release the volume two pronto because this is like stopping an action in the middle and leaving the observers hanging.
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