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In this fictional epic set around the war for Biafran independence from 1967 to 1970, also called the Nigerian Civil War, young Chance, sent to America for safety, returns home to create a Biafran town with his American friend, Turnkey. This is the story of Turnkey and Chance becoming friends despite their initial doubts and the origin story of the prejudices behind those doubts. It is also a story of nefarious networks left over from war. Bucknor, a young Biafran like Chance, uses these channels to realize his dream to live abroad. He, too, returns to mete out justice and reparations.
Sweeping and thorough, the novel digs deep into its main characters' projects through the histories of a wide-ranging supporting cast. Its language is saga-like and dramatic, evocative of the oral tradition, painting pictures with metaphors and idioms. Characters give long speeches and hold in-depth conversations with developed and distinct voices. Its pace, like its characters' ambition, is driving toward a vision. The men struggle to balance romance with their vocational aspirations, which the book mirrors in some domestic spats between lovers. The result is a convincing extended fable, portraying Biafran values of dignity, integrity, and self-supporting freedom, and the challenges these values face.
Focused on building suspense as storylines weave together, the book also expresses the spirit of the age in historic figures and events. The villain characters are not short-changed. Their stories show, in greedy deals, the systemic corruption the heroes are up against. The vehicle for change is an exchange of ideas. In the end, the place Chance, Turnkey, and Bucknor design (sometimes together, mostly separately) is not unlike the novel itself—a physical manifestation of ideals wrought by a combination of happenstance and hard work.