A Fledgling Abiba by Dilman Dila

Publisher – Guardbridge Books

Published – Out Now

Price - £7.60 paperback £1.49 Kindle eBook

An orphaned teenage girl tries to survive on her own and understand her magical powers while a sorcerous plague sweeps the country. She may hold the key to its cure, but what she really wants is somewhere she can call home and family.

Its all about the journey in a tale. External or internal – the real story is what our characters find along the way. Be it adult or youngsters everyone needs to face themselves and when the odds are stacked ask who are you really? In Dilman Dila’s fascinating novella A Fledgling Abiba we get a young character in a dangerous world start to find the shades of grey that exist does mean some dilemma for a character more used to seeing the world as good and evil.

Kuri is staying with an abusive auntie who fears that her ward may be possessed by evil spirits and yet very happy setting Kuri all the work. Having survive one ordeal with priests she is fearing another when she is struck by a constant image of a dead man walking calling her name. Is this her long lost father? Kuri escapes her home/prison and starts a journey that will place her in danger with evil magicians, malignant forces, shapeshifters; those who fear magic and also learn more about her own powers and background.

What jumps out at me reading this is Dila’s storytelling ability to paint a world that is quite varied. As Dila notes in the introduction this is a story using in particular references from Luo and Bantu language and aspects of various African cultures. The framework of a young person with new magical powers going on a quest is I bet many of you dear readers will recognise but the world will for many western eyes be not quite what we expect. Dilman though kindly makes allowance for our lack of experience with this and as Kuri herself is learning about the wider world we are pretty much having to do the same of her to make sense of things. What comes apparent is the wider world is not one at ease with itself and we start to see a darker force may be corrupting the land not just making various magicians turn evil but in a particular fatal disease that is taking hold too. Kuri has to make alliances with the unexpected; start to use her powers and deal with various prejudices some of which could result in her death. It’s a fast-paced episodic novella where each adventure makes us understand the world better and see Kuri mature in both her powers and her understanding of the world.

Some people hear the words young adult and think immediately argh forgetting that this simply means suitable for younger readers, and I really liked how Dilman adds nuance and also some wider cultural commentary. The villains are in particular shown as people who got corrupted doing things for the right reasons and we find Kuri’s own mother may also be in that bracket which definitely shatters Kuri’s very clear lines of good and evil. Instead, we see a world of working out the best course of action. Women being maltreated comes across several times in a patriarchal society and the dangers of exorcism practises and in particular how disease is shunned rather than treated. Kuri has to hide with a young mother and her ailing daughter hiding her secrets and deciding if she should help someone who will not be happy to know magic keeps her daughter alive. Plus, for Kuri her magic can also make someone inn thrall to her wishes too adding more danger and of course temptation to become evil herself.

This chewy morality and look at real world issues though is overlayed in a dazzling mix of adventure, emotion, and humour. The action is fast paced but never frenetic and the range of characters and situations never feels one note. At the heart if Kuri who is good natured and her drive to decide what the right thing to do makes her a very sympathetic lead character. One fascinating element that the story itself smiles at is how the magic users internalise a lot of raw power and all of them have to deal with…erm…fire farts. This is played straight but Kuri having to learn to control this and deal with burnt clothing does give what could have often been quite a dark tale a much-needed sense of levity.

All of this combined made this a really enjoyable reading experience. Fr those like me less familiar with these mythologies I found the approach used really helpful and eye-opening. I love the nuance and complexity weaved skilfully in the story that as well as entertaining you makes you think about the themes being explored. Well worth a read!