Diké is a powerful warrior and the heir to a Kingdom. He is beloved by his village and even leads a warrior cult that terrifies their enemies. That is, until his younger brother attempts to get out of an impending marriage. What is intended to be a few days hiding in a hut, becomes a terrifying ordeal when Diké finds himself trapped inside the secret shrine of their village warrior deity. As he has entered an area that only powerful witchdoctors may enter, Diké becomes an outcast and is considered untouchable. No one may speak to him or interact with him. Now he must help the ghost of a murdered slave girl seek retribution against the false witchdoctor who has caused her to die, and Diké to be cursed with a journey to the ancestor’s realm.
A Dance for the Dead is written by MFA Nuzo Onoh. The book is fiction, but it focuses on historical ancestral traditions, the idea of being cast out of society, and the realms we cannot see. My one caution is that the characters are often named for a major physical trait, so you do have characters named things like Chicken Legs, and in one case Big-Bosom.
A Dance for the Dead is available now from Stygian Sky Media.
