A Conspiracy of Ravens
You know the saying about “what you are looking for in Sokoto, you found in your sokoto”?
Well, for the non-Nigerians among us: Sokoto is a state and city in northern Nigeria and from city of Lagos, where I reside, it’s as far north as you can imagine. The word “sokoto” in the Yoruba language means trousers. So figuratively, you travel to the ends of the earth, but what you seek was right under your nose all the time.
So perhaps this metaphor is a tad theatrical, but I think it makes the point.
I’ve always said that my first reading love is fiction. I read lots of non-fiction, because there are so many incredible books out there and subjects I want to learn more about, but my place of comfort will always be fiction.
With fiction, I tend to enjoy books by women and about women the most. However, I also have phases where all I read is by a particular author, a specific genre or about a certain theme. After I visited India in university, for several years, I read mostly books from or about the subcontinent. This led to my discovery and lifelong love for Anita Desai, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Jhumpa Lahiri.
Then, for a spell, it was all Doris Lessing books. A few years ago, I needed lighter fare with a sharp eye for the humour in everyday situations and stumbled upon Barbara Pym and Nancy Mitford.
When I was expecting my first child, I flew through books and hankered after fast-moving plots. This is when I decided to try a Lee Child book and delved into the world of Jack Reacher.
Since then, I read several Jack Reacher books every year as I find them to be invigorating after serious, heavy books. Also, when I find myself being too busy or distracted to read, a fast-paced thriller will always pull me back in.
So, at the start of this year, I already found myself submerged in an ocean of deadlines and activities, despite my goal for the year was to “enjoy myself.”
I decided to shop my To-Be-Read bookcase and pulled out a book that I had meant to read for the longest while: A Conspiracy of Ravens gifted and autographed to me by the author Othuke Ominiabohs. I opened it and to my shock discover that it was given to be in 2016!!
Well, I shouldn’t be all that shocked, because I have much older books than that which I haven’t read yet. But STILL!! At the time, the author Othuke had told me that I would love his book. In my experience, every author says this.
But after turning the final page last night, I have to agree with him.
I wasn’t certain that I would enjoy a book about militants from the Niger Delta. And hmmm a hostage situation? That’s been done so many times before.
However, time and time again, I have realised that a good writer who knows how to tell a story well will suck you into narratives about subjects that you aren’t interested in.
From the first page, Othuke pulls the reader into a world of intrigue. We start off in Addis Ababa, move to Kano and then to Abuja in quick succession.
Each chapter takes us to a new location and introduces us to a new set of characters, filling us in on their backstory. At a point, I worried about keeping them all in my head.
The story initially trots along, rather than move at the lightening pace I prefer. For the first five chapters or so, a series of new characters are rolled out one after the other out. I still didn’t know where we were headed, except that it was to a place of chaos.
It was interesting that the author, rather than fictionalising the corporations and government agencies in the book, chose to feature actual entities like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Department of State Services (DSS) in the story. Although this is clearly a work of fiction, this reference to real life companies and ongoing situations in Nigeria’s past and recent history lends a news-like quality to the story.
2016 was a different world from the one in which we currently live and the kind of violence depicted in this book is unfortunately now commonplace in Nigeria. However, I can imagine that reading this book when it came out, it might all have felt like fantasy to me. Now, in 2022, one is struck by the prescience of the author in imagining where Nigeria now finds herself.
Othuke creates vivid worlds with economy, a quality I particularly appreciate in a writer. There is no long-winded, overly descriptive prose here, but with a few masterfully-chosen words, you are right there in the creeks of the Gbaramatu kingdom.
I’m not sure that we needed to be introduced to the wide array of characters at the start of the book, because some of them show up sporadically after that and in name only. The book would not have lost anything (but indeed would have been a tighter read) by cutting out some of the earlier pages that feature these going-nowhere characters.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading Odufa, the author’s first book.
I don’t remember what kind of reception A Conspiracy of Ravens received upon its publication, but I doubt that it was enough. This book is more than just another deftly-written thriller. It’s an excellently-written social and political commentary with heart. It pulls the curtains on the decay that has permeated Nigerian politics, infecting even the most idealistic players. However, love still manages to show up in the most unexpected places and this leaves us (me) filled with hope and optimism of a better tomorrow for my beloved country.
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