CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE

Named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Tomi Adeyemi is a Hugo- and Nebula Award–winning Nigerian American writer and storyteller based in New York, New York. After graduating from Harvard University with an honors degree in English literature, she studied West African mythology, religion, and culture in Salvador, Brazil. Her first novel, Children of Blood and Bone, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Its highly anticipated sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, also debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Tomi’s Legacy of Orïsha trilogy is being developed into a feature film. Tomi can be found teaching creative writing online. In 2020, she was named one of Forbes’s 30 Under 30 in Media, and her website was named one of the 101 Best Websites for writers by Writer’s Digest.

Instant #1 Bestseller

TIME Top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time

Goodreads Choice Award Winner

“A phenomenon.” —Entertainment Weekly

“A fast-paced, excellently crafted hero’s journey.” —NPR

“Storms the boundaries of imagination.” —The New York Times

“Propulsive pacing and richly imagined world.” —Vox

“Bursting with action, adventure, and magic.” —BuzzFeed

“A masterpiece.” —Refinery29

“Impossible to put down.” —USA Today

“A miraculous achievement.” —The Guardian

“An epic accomplishment.” —Deadline

“An astounding feat of storytelling and world-building.”  —BookPage

1. What mythologies are you familiar with and what do you know about them? What role do mythologies play in their cultures?
2. What is a tyranny? Can tyrannies be justified? What are possible ways to change such a government?
3. Describe Zélie’s background and personality. What are her strengths and weaknesses? How does she change over the course of the book, and what causes the changes? Discuss why she characterizes her past as a “lifetime of mistakes” (p. 375). Do you agree with her assessment of herself?
4. Amari embraces Zélie’s cause wholeheartedly but Inan wavers. What makes the siblings different in this regard? Talk about Inan’s characteristics and how his father influences him. Analyze the symbolism of Inan carrying his father’s pawn.
5. Point to times and relationships in the novel where trust is a significant issue, especially among the four main characters. When is trust justified among the characters? When is trust betrayed? Why is trust such a central issue under a tyranny like King Saran’s?
6. Anger is also heightened under a tyranny. Who is angry in the novel, and why? Is the anger justified? How does anger fuel some of the important action in the plot?
7. What challenges do Zélie, Amari, and Tzain face in their quest to save their country? What physical obstacles do they have to overcome on the journey? What are their worst setbacks, and how do they deal with them?
8. Talk about the world building in the novel, which draws on West African history and culture but transforms them and adds magic. What kind of information and descriptions create the convincing, multifaceted fictional world? Find places where the author effectively weaves in information about the setting without slowing down the story.
9. Analyze the prologue and epilogue, and think about why the author chose to include them. Discuss the first line of the prologue and that of the first chapter. Discuss the last line of the last chapter and the last line of the epilogue. Explain how the lines relate to the novel as a whole.
10. Discuss the Author’s Note at the end of the book. What real-world parallels can you draw between the challenges in this book and the challenges minorities face today? Why do you think the author chose to portray these challenges through a fantasy lens?