About

TJ Young & The Orishas series written by Antoine Bandele.

TJ Young & The Orishas book cover

Blurb

TJ Young has been surrounded by magic his entire life, yet he has never tapped into it… until now.

Fourteen-year-old TJ grew up normal in a secret community of gifted diviners in the heart of modern-day Los Angeles. His powerful sister was ordained to lead his people into a new age of prosperity, but her mysterious death in Nigeria threatens to destroy the very foundations of TJ’s world.

Desperate to pick up where his sister left off and uncover the secrets behind her questionable death, TJ commits himself to unlocking the magical heritage that has always eluded him. So he enrolls in Camp Olosa—a remedial magic school for the divinely less-than-gifted in the humid swamps of New Orleans.

But little does he know, TJ is destined to cross paths with powerful spirits of old thought lost to time: the orishas.

Delve into this young adult fantasy based on the mythology of the West African Orishas, where TJ will encounter unlikely allies, tough-as-gatorhide instructors, and the ancient secrets of the orishas.

Review

The Gatekeeper's Staff

Fantasy series featuring magical academies is one of my favorite tropes no matter how old I grow. I enjoyed reading "The Gatekeeper's Staff", which had good characters, worldbuilding, and a decent plot. Especially liked that this was African inspired setting, a welcome change from the usual stuff I read.

Writing was easy to understand and I'd say the pacing was good as well. Single POV character (TJ Young), would probably have been better with a few interludes/chapters from other characters.

The main plot revolved around TJ attending a magical camp after his sister's death. TJ's mother, sister and younger brother were all capable magicians but TJ barely had any spark. Of course, it turned out that he had different but more powerful capabilities.

Tone was lighthearted overall, helped by generous amount of humor. There were plenty of plot twists - I liked some but too many of them at the end just made it confusing for me.

The Windweaver's Storm

Similar to the first book, the main plot was set up in the first few chapters. After some preparations and scares, TJ and his friends finally reach the Ifa academy. I'd say the author did a great job with the magical institution. Not so much with instructors and classes though, only some were interesting enough.

I was enjoying the book until halfway when teen drama spoiled the plot a bit. It was probably realistic, but I'd rather read about friends sticking together and solving the bigger threat at hand. It also didn't help that TJ had trouble trusting people after the debacle in the first book. To be fair, the author did handle these issues well later on. The ending was okayish.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟☆

What others are saying

From R.L. McIntyre's review on goodreads:

As a fan of mythological inspired stories especially magic camps, this one is a must-read. This book explores West African Orisha mythology and does a great job of doing so in a way that even if you have no clue of the culture you can understand and be fully immersed. There is even a pronunciation guide which I 100% loved having.

From Lucia's review on goodreads:

This is great follow up to first book, Gatekeeper's Staff. Really enjoyed how characters developed and adjusted to new situations. Loved to see more mythology related content, and how world expanded.

Bingo

/r/Fantasy/ 2022 bingo categories:

  • Cool Weapon
  • Published in 2022 (The Windweaver's Storm)
  • Urban Fantasy
  • Set in Africa (HM) (The Windweaver's Storm)
  • Self-Published OR Indie Publisher (HM for The Windweaver's Storm)
  • BIPOC Author
  • Family Matters