Last Gate of the Emperor
Ratings1
Average rating5
15
Ratings1
Average rating5
From Kwame Mbalia and Prince Joel David Makonnen comes an Afrofuturist adventure about a mythical Ethiopian empire. Sci-fi and fantasy combine in this epic journey to the stars. Yared Heywat lives an isolated life in Addis Prime -- a hardscrabble city with rundown tech, lots of rules, and not much to do. His worrywart Uncle Moti and bionic lioness Besa are his only family... and his only friends. Often in trouble for his thrill-seeking antics and smart mouth, those same qualities make Yared a star player of the underground augmented reality game, The Hunt for Kaleb's Obelisk. But when a change in the game rules prompts Yared to log in with his real name, it triggers an attack that rocks the city. In the chaos, Uncle Moti disappears. Suddenly, all the stories Yared's uncle told him as a young boy are coming to life, of kingdoms in the sky and city-razing monsters. And somehow Yared is at the center of them. Together with Besa and the Ibis -- a game rival turned reluctant ally -- Yared must search for his uncle... and answers to his place in a forgotten, galaxy-spanning war.
Reviews with the most likes.
I loved the multimedia opening to the story. Yared's voice is strong and funny. There were a lot of new words and concepts thrown at me in the beginning. I was afraid I wouldn't remember them and get lost later in the story, but that wasn't a problem at all. As I continued the book, it was clear what all the words and concepts are and how they fit in the story. The author's note at the end put a whole new perspective on the book and amazed me at how he was able to weave real history into this futuristic story.
