book reviews |
book reviews |
Multi-volume, multi-genre author and poet, Tolu’ A. Akinyemi introduces us to his collection of short stories about men, women and relationships, “Inferno of Silence”: The first collection of short stories by this multitalented author entwines everyday events that are articulated in excellent storytelling. The title story “Inferno of Silence” portrays men’s societal challenges and the unspoken truths and burdens that men bear, while “Black lives Matter” shows the firsthand trauma of a man facing racism as a footballer plying his trade in Europe. Stories range from “Return Journey” where we encounter a techpreneur/ Poet/Serial Womanizer confronting consequences of his past actions, to “Blinded by Silence,” where a couple united by love must face a political upheaval changing their fortune. These are completed with stories of relationships: “Trouble in Umudike” – about family wealth and marriage; “Everybody don Kolomental” where the main character deals with mental health issues; and “In the Trap of Seers” when one’s life is on auto-reverse with the death of her confidante, her mother, as she takes us through her ordeal and journey to redemption. This is a broad and very inclusive collection. Reading these stories was very interesting. I enjoyed the vicarious involvement in the lives of primarily Nigerian characters in the stories. Other than a short hop from Spain, across the Straits of Gibraltar, to a small town in Morocco, I have never been in Africa. I know that experience does not represent the entire continent in any. I was surprised and not surprised to learn men face many of the same challenges around the world. I could relate to a lot of the experiences from my own life. I enjoyed this book and recommend it as a good reading experience on multiple levels. I award 4.5 stars to “Inferno of Silence”. You can buy this book:
https://smile.amazon.com/Inferno-Silence-Tolu-Akinyemi-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/-inferno-of-silence https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/inferno-of-silence-tolu-a-akinyemi https://www.kobo.com/inferno-of-silence https://books.apple.com/inferno-of-silence You can follow the author: https://twitter.com/toluakinyemi https://www.tolutoludo.com/index.html https://www.facebook.com/ToluAAkinyemi/ https://www.instagram.com/tolutoludo/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/toluakenyemi Africa, Nigeria, Nigerian, men, women, relationships, technology, marriage, family, airplane, flying, business, religion Copyright © 2020 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction
43 Comments
Mark
9/6/2020 05:06:23 pm
You are very welcome. Thanks for joining me from the United Kingdom.
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9/7/2020 09:27:09 am
I have spent a major part of my life as an avid reader. As a child, I used to be a voracious reader and my love for reading knew no bounds. Also, In my University days, I used to write a lot of articles on personal finance and I was a loud voice and advocate for youth development back in my country, Nigeria.
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Mark
9/7/2020 09:35:10 am
You and I have the love of reading books in common. I think a writer has to love reading books. Some of us make the transition to writing and some of us don't. I fall into the latter group.
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9/7/2020 10:02:28 am
Good to know you’re an avid reader and the splendid work you do at the Word Refiner could only have been carried out by a voracious reader. And you’re right that not all readers transition into that writing space as some of the best bibliophiles I know around are not writers but are always happy to read books. I’m a part-time writer with the efficiency of a full-time writer, even though I have a full-time job working as a Consultant for a Global Investment Bank and managing my small business cum publishing firm. If I was in writing for the money, I would have quitted by now. However, if the big break comes, that would be a booktiful icing on the cake for me.
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Mark
9/7/2020 10:14:24 am
Thank you. My brain seems to be wired differently from a lot of people. Quite a few find a misspelled word or two in a book occasionally, I find misspelled words in every book I read, except one. Once a year I find a book that doesn't present any spelling errors. Those errors jump off the page at me and challenge me to fight. My average of once a year has held for the last five years. I read 50 - 60 books a year.
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9/7/2020 10:39:09 am
The inspiration for the book came from a place of wanting to write impactful stories. I’ve always had the knack of always packing more than a punch in my writings. I wanted to write stories that will touch the heart, stories that are relatable, filled with everyday struggles that we all go through. Mental Health, Toxic Masculinity, Political Upheavals, Racism, Love gone sour and I feel very fulfilled that this collection of Short Stories hit the mark and the feedback has been excellent. My work has no impact on this collection but maybe some of my everyday interactions because of the colour of my skin could have influenced some plot setting but my work is very much distinct from my art. Good to know that you like “Booktiful”. I’m a fan of unfamiliar words and I try to string words together at my leisure too. It might interest you to note that my latest poetry collection title is “A Booktiful Love”. Writers always have various voices playing out in their heads and I hope this spoken word video https://youtu.be/zXRguuNXFyQ resonates the message too.
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Mark
9/7/2020 11:03:50 am
I agree, you did hit a bullseye with this collection of short stories. It felt very personal at times.
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9/7/2020 04:20:44 pm
Good to know it felt personal while you read it. That was the whole idea of the book. A collection that was relatable and people could feel at a personal level. Rewrite Agency, a design company based in Lagos designed the cover. See website link here https://rewrite.agency/
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Mark
9/7/2020 04:52:23 pm
The cover is powerful and well executed. I knew what to expect before opening the book.
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9/8/2020 04:04:55 pm
The decision to settle for the title wasn’t hard. I had to decide between Black Lives Matter and Inferno of Silence. However, I settled for Inferno of Silence, as I feel a lot of men suffer in silence and a refreshing book detailing those emotions would do a world of good. The reason I chose the title for the story. A lot of men are and have been consumed in the “Inferno of Silence” and that was an accurate portrayal of the story. The character names were easy to develop as one factor that determined my choice of names was the cultural background of the characters and I made sure the major Nigerian tribes were a major feature in terms of character names as I wanted to write a collection of short stories that would have a diverse outlook as much as possible.
Mark
9/8/2020 04:10:19 pm
I think you made a good choice for the title. It will last and resonate for years and decades to come. The image of destruction and burning of a furnace is memorable.
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9/8/2020 04:30:40 pm
Good to know the title resonated with you. And with the pronunciation, practice makes perfect. So, you never know, you might get better at it. Inferno of Silence is my most recent book, together with my collection of Poetry “A Booktiful Love”. A Booktiful Love is a collection of poems that deal with the entirety of human experience in its various forms. This collection has been widely received to wide acclaim.
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Mark
9/8/2020 04:34:54 pm
A lot of books in multiple genres. That is a good route to success in the long run. The more you write the more you will sell. 9/8/2020 04:44:19 pm
I have entered the Poetry Society, National Poetry Competition in the past. I have not won any awards yet, but I have entered my new books for a couple of awards running in 2021 and I am looking forward to at least getting a few shortlists in the bag and a win might be a great way to cap off a very booktiful year for me.
Mark
9/8/2020 06:29:42 pm
Best of luck to you in the competitions. There is no chance of winning unless you enter. You are halfway there. A win would be a wonderful way to close out the year.
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9/9/2020 04:25:15 pm
Many thanks for the booktiful wishes. Yes, I have plans to write a novel someday. I hope my poetry writing allows me to attain the iconic status of a novelist. Otherwise, I might just die as a roaring Poet, Storyteller and Essayist. The genre that interests me the most is Literary Fiction with a focus on African stories.
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Mark
9/9/2020 04:41:25 pm
Excellent.
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9/9/2020 05:22:16 pm
I’m a great fan of brevity of words in writing. Passing across impactful messages without having to write unending chapters is such a delight. Hence, Short Stories, Essays and Poetry will always appeal to me over writing a novel.
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Mark
9/9/2020 05:35:56 pm
I have no doubt that writing a novel will be a good experience. The longer form will allow you to explore more of the themes and characters that you bring to life.
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9/10/2020 04:36:24 pm
I need to reduce being lost in the complexities of life and get a full grasp of the publishing industry as I am planning to sign a few authors to The Roaring Lion Newcastle Imprint before the end of this year. I went headlong into self-publishing and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It’s all beginning to make sense and come together now, which is truly fulfilling. Also, I doubt if I would have been able to write and get my books published as much as I have done if I went the route of traditional publishing.
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Mark
9/10/2020 04:51:04 pm
Good for you, tackling the intricacies of self-publishing. You are following in the footsteps of many authors. These authors turn around and offer to assist other writers with getting their book published.
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9/10/2020 05:30:48 pm
I think platforms like Amazon KDP and Ingram spark’s Lightning Source have given millions of people the opportunity to fulfil lifelong ambitions of becoming writers, which is an excellent thing. Someone had to upset the Apple the cart and I believe this has led to a positive transformation of the publishing industry and make the sector far more accessible to a lot of writers than it would have been hitherto possible. Even in countries like Nigeria, we have ebook reading platforms like Okadabooks, Bambooks etc that have stepped in to fill a void within the industry. Traditional Publishers can continue to live in a bubble that eBooks are trash but the world is becoming more and more diverse and readers continue to embrace the accessibility that published books in various forms enable.
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Mark
9/10/2020 06:07:15 pm
The transformation has been positive for authors and independent publishers all over the world. Not so much for the traditional publishers. Authors still have to be on the lookout for the scammers, the nicer ones are content with taking your money, the really nasty ones want to steal the intellectual property rights of unsuspecting authors.
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9/10/2020 06:31:09 pm
Publishing with Amazon is quite straight-forward apart from the back and forth at times on things like cover image dimension issues and the stringent QA policies in place. I also sell my books on my website (https://tolutoludo.com/) to readers in Nigeria and UK at the moment. Once I’m able to guarantee a better and affordable delivery option, I will open up sales to more territories via my website. I have sold more books offline than any online platform could afford me. Nothing beats book signing events for me, selling my books on the shop floor at the Tynemouth market (Pre-Pandemic) and other places where humans converge.
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Mark
9/10/2020 06:58:14 pm
In-person events have been the lifeblood of many authors. The Covid pandemic caused the cancellation of all events, a few have been replaced by online happenings, but it's not the same, especially for zoom-weary people.
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9/11/2020 02:46:01 pm
Offering a large print edition will now be a top consideration as one of the key takeaways from this interview. Plans are underway to have some of my books in audio book format to cater for the ever-changing needs in today’s diverse world. I have been in contact with some audio book narrators however there has been no agreement signed yet. I’m sure before the end of the year, at least two of my books will be available in audio book format.
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Mark
9/11/2020 03:02:39 pm
With print on demand, physical books are not the big deal they used to be. Traditional publishers still order print runs of thousands of books at one time. They do this because it is the way it has always been done. The books have to be warehoused and distributed to the brick and mortar stores, which are disappearing almost as fast as the publishers. At some point in the (I hope) near future, book stores will have a machine to print a book onsite.
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9/11/2020 03:21:32 pm
As recent as a year ago, I used to order print runs in the thousands but I no longer have any need to do that now as sales have plummeted with the Coronavirus Pandemic and I only have to print a maximum of 100 copies at a time per book now. I love audio books but my love for paperback books is unrivalled. I don’t see any technological innovation overtaking my love for paperbacks. Recently, I bought 32 paperback copies of old Nigerian Classics, that is to tell you how much I love to read paperbacks.
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Mark
9/11/2020 03:37:56 pm
Have you ever heard of Big Bad Wolf? They sell English language books in huge book fairs all over the world. They purchase remaindered books at a discount and sell them very successfully. That may be useful for you.
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9/11/2020 04:32:56 pm
I’m hearing about them for the first time, thanks for pointing them to me. Writing spiritual poetry makes me feel like a god. There are times I feel so energized I feel like gliding in the sky. There might be times my nerves fail me when I feel vulnerable through my writings. Overall, I’m super stoked and excited about my writings.
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Mark
9/11/2020 07:05:11 pm
You are welcome. I have gathered great blogs and links to great blogs on my website, for the benefit of authors.
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9/12/2020 09:48:55 am
The goal of writing this book was to highlight the many issues men in face in relationships and marriages, lend my voice to racism and other issues affecting black people and mental health issues prevalent in today’s world, and the many other societal issues highlighted within the stories. On this point, the book has achieved its overall aim.
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Mark
9/12/2020 10:09:58 am
I think you met those interim goals pretty well. Men don't talk about many of those things much. Cultural attitudes take a lot of work to overcome.
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9/12/2020 11:16:51 am
Yes, I agree on more books leading to greater success as my backlist are doing well too. For a fact, many men have died in the Inferno of Silence.
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Mark
9/12/2020 12:10:49 pm
You are a blessed man, if the muse is so responsive to you.
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9/12/2020 03:10:38 pm
I’m guilty of both practices. There are times I under-write and other times I over-write too. I remember having to cut off some paragraphs in Inferno of Silence as the collection could survive without it.
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Mark
9/12/2020 04:11:39 pm
Every book you write will make you a better writer. No question about that.
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9/14/2020 04:19:54 pm
I cut out descriptions, especially if it’s unnecessary. I save parts that didn’t make it to the final version, but I doubt if it’s of any use to me now.
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Mark
9/14/2020 06:59:39 pm
Description is a good thing to cut out. Some authors, new ones in particular, try to use all of what they learned in the course of their research for the book. This can easily result in the dreaded information dump. This excessive verbiage can become boring for the reader and result in the book being closed for good. The action is slowed down to nothing, if the descriptions go for too long. To avoid this problem, a lot of writers give only the amount of description or backstory necessary for the moment. The pace must not stop for very long or the reading momentum is lost.
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9/15/2020 06:17:24 am
I agree with you that over-description serves no good. I enjoyed using action beats in Inferno of Silence as it helped to keep the story alive.
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Mark
9/15/2020 09:32:56 am
The newest book should always be the best book. Learning more and increasing skill is important for every writer. Because there is always an area that can use a level up.
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Who am I?An avid reader, typobuster, and the Hyper-Speller. I am a husband, father, and grandfather. Archives
March 2025
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