Postwatch (Cameroon)

Book Review II: Namondo (Child of the Water Spirits) by Ntemfac Ofege

Originally Published in Summit Magazine no. 006

Ntemfac A.N. Ofege. Namondo (Child of the Water Spirits). Langaa Publishers. November, 2007. 360 pages (Paperback). Available from Amazon.com ($24.95) and African Books Collective (£19.95)

Ntemfac A.N. Ofege forays into the customs and traditions of the Bakweri people, the often unfathomable dwellers of the lands below the Fako Mountain (Mount Cameroon), to put together a story that is beautiful in content, flowing in style, enthralling in meanders, fetching in intrigue and ethereal in plot. The plot of this book is bustling, fascinating and lingering. This page-turner keeps the reader wondering what next.

Namondo (Child of the Water Spirit) is the story of an exquisite, yet lethal, water spirit or mermaid. This preternatural creature takes on human form and comes to the land to do battle against an equally lethal cult – the Nyongo. Namondo uses her singular power – the magic ring of the water spirits to prevail. The maiden is, however, killed in the process. The ring of the liengu-la-mwanja must return to her son.

Book Review: Namondo Child of the Water Spirits) by Ntemfac Ofege

Originally Published in The Post Newspaper

Every one hundred years, or so, a book bursts unto the global readership and stays there for the next one thousand years and more. Ntemfac A.N. Ofege's Namondo (Child of the Water Spirits) is just that kind of book.

Ripe with transfigurations and transformations, this novel promises to be a spirited and lingering read for all those who navigate multiple cultures, languages, times and geographies.

How the immortal gods meddle in the affairs of men has always provided ambrosial reading.

Authors like Homer, who recounted such stories acquired immortality in their own right. It all starts in the beginning: "Chaos reigned in the firmament, until the ageless spirit Ovase Lova breathed and created dawn. Stars from his fingertips jeweled the heavens and newborn planets radiated throughout the vast universe."

Ntemfac A. N Ofege's New Book: Namondo (Child of the Water Spirits)

Ntemfac A.N. Ofege. Namondo. Child of the Water Spirits. Bamenda, Langaa publishers. November 2007. Available from Michigan State University Press and Amazon.com

Namondo

(Child of the Water Spirits)

The river gods dispatch Namondo, a liengu-la-mwanja or water spirit, to the land.

Mission : waste a deadly cult. The twin uses her magic ring to accomplish her task, but tragedy strikes at the last minute. The fearsome ring of the river must return to her son.

Namondo (Child of the Water Spirits) is a refreshingly different take of the perpetual battle between the good, the bad and the ugly.

Namondo’s story races, twists, turns and jumps from one emotion to another until the chilling conflagration on a bewitched train. This is mythology so vivid that it hums with life: powerfully descriptive, awesome, frightening, compelling, delightful, imaginative, penetrating and lingering.

The magic about Ntemfac A.N. Ofege’s impressive narration is this confident ability to weave such a sprightly tale, one combining yesterday and today; the dead and the living; tradition and modernity; scoundrel and righteous deities. Throughout the story, the reader will taste that uproarious extravaganza of Africa- vicious serpents and elephant-doubles.  Namond0 (Child of the Water Spirits) is simply a beautiful story well told.

Move over Things Fall Apart. Here comes the next generation of African writing.

Namondo (Child of the Water Spirits) can be ordered online.