We pick up the story about 500 years after the events of The Lies of the Ajungo in the City of Truth with our main character, Osi, who attends a ceremony against the instruction of his higher-ups. He witnesses the ascension of the newest Truthseekers and a catastrophic attack by their enemy, the Aleke and the Cult of Tutu. He manages to save the city against the attack thanks to his heroic and quick efforts. The Speaker honors him by raising him to Truthseeker status and entrusting him to seek out their vengeance on the Aleke after training for one year. Armed with a mission that Osi doesn’t quite agree with (though he can’t explain why), he embarks on this journey and is ultimately captured by the Aleke and his army. Confronted with the truth he’s been seeking, Osi must decide if he will betray his people or his new allies in the battle to come.

This novella takes on a significantly darker tone than Ajungo and it is PERFECT for what Utomi was trying to accomplish with this narrative. Osi and Tutu are both characters who have to deal with seemingly insurmountable challenges in their young lives, but they have very different approaches and attitudes. Osi is much more naive and easily swayed – he wants to believe that there is a way to establish peace among their nations that won’t result in massive, innocent bloodshed, but he’s continuously proven wrong at great cost to himself and the people around him. 

This story is gruesome, gritty, and painful: it forces us to confront the stories we’ve been told throughout our lives and to question who is in charge of writing history. There’s a bonus in the author’s note at the end for readers that provides context for the style of writing and the shape of the story, and I can’t recommend this extra reading enough! I’m so eager to see what Utomi has cooked up for the final installment in this series!