Ntemfac A.N. Ofege. Namondo. Child of the Water Spirits. Bamenda, Langaa publishers. November 2007. Available from Michigan State University Press and Amazon.com
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.
Intro:
In the Beginning……
Darkness lay upon the firmament before Ovase Lova came. The night grew from the earth and spread steadily to the heavens. The darkness was pitch-black, savage, forlorn, and forbidding.
Nothing grew within the fastness of that night, but the flames that rose, raved and roared, the molten lava, the rising waters, and a rebellion of terrifying creatures and demons.
The intrepid monsters within the abyss were engaged in unbounded bivouac, feasting upon the mess within, gouging out each other’s eyes, crushing the bones, and eating of the flesh.
Chaos reigned in the firmament.
Now on http://msupress.msu.edu/bookTemplate.php?bookID=3382
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