Book Review of The Smoke That Thunders
The Children’s Book Review
The Smoke That Thunders
Written by Erhu Kom
Ages 12+ | 304 Pages
Publisher: Norton Young Readers (2024) | ISBN-13: 978-1-324-05265-4
What to Expect: Urhobo (West African) Culture, Folklore, Magic, Female Freedom, Family, Friendship.
In this slow-burning adventure quest, readers will have the chance to immerse themselves in the vibrant and mesmerizing atmosphere of West African magic, myth, and culture as they watch Nabhori learn how to balance her emotions about family and her dreams for the future.
Nabhori loves her family, but she also feels stifled by their expectations: that she will do as she is told, marry a man she hates, and settle down permanently in Kokori to be a wife and mother. Although she has trained in secret to read, fight, and think for herself, she cannot see any way of escaping the restrictive future that has been laid out for her.
Then, the fox spirit messenger of a neighboring queendom’s God appears to her, and everything changes. The fox spirit is the messenger of the God Obassi, bringing her power, and with that power come terrifying visions—a young boy is being held captive, frightened and in pain, and he is screaming for her help.
With the fox to guide and protect her, Nabhori sets out to save him with an unlikely pair of companions—her wayward cousin Tamunor and Atai, the son of Obassi’s oracle. Nabhori is finally getting the life of adventure and travel she longed for—but with adventure comes great responsibility, and the fate of many kingdoms depends on whether she can save the boy in her visions.
As a protagonist, Nabhori is strong-willed, fierce, and resourceful, and readers will love the way she refuses to let any obstacle stand in the way of what she feels she must do. Although her desire for freedom and her impatience with the patriarchal society in which she was raised form an important theme in the story, the presentation of gender roles and expectations is balanced, helping readers understand that choices concerning gender and family are complex and that many different choices can be valid in any given situation.
The best aspect of this story, however, is the rich sensory detail that pervades every scene, from the tastes and scents of traditional foods to the colors and shapes of clothes and the different textures of the environments the children travel through as they journey across West Africa.
The Smoke That Thunders is a story any reader is sure to enjoy losing themselves in for many days.
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About the Author
Erhu Kome is an Urhobo writer of speculative fiction and fantasy. She was the first Nigerian female author to be shortlisted for the Nommo Awards for her novella, Not Seeing Is a Flower. She lives in Asaba, Nigeria.
