Review: Nubia: The Awakening by Omar Epps and Clarence A. Haynes

Nubia: The Awakening is a story that hurtled into my life! Epps and Haynes tell the tale that mirrors the past and present: greed, suffering but always hope.

 Set in the late 21st Century, the main characters are from Nubia, off the coast of West Africa. Brought to New York as refugees during a climate crisis, they are forced to live in lower Manhattan which now often experiences flooding. It was interesting that the main characters, Zuberi, Uzochi and Lencho, had little to no contact with one another before the story began – despite living in a neighborhood that prizes community. Their connection to one another slowly intertwines as the plot thickens which only makes for a more intriguing read! 

The book sets up discussions around change, especially in relation to the climate crisis, the role of authority/government and class division. Epps and Haynes explore a New York that is divided between air and land – those who ascend to the sky city known as Up High are those that make it. The world has become clinical and factual with little room for free thinking, as seen through Uzochi’s determination to ascend.

  One element of the book that I was most fascinated by was the history of Nubia, but mostly the fact that the young characters did not know the depths of this history nor the importance of the Nubian gifts. The characters had to discover firsthand what it means to hold their gifts. The gifts were not given to a ‘chosen one’ but to all true Nubian young, further creating a wonderful union that I hope Epps and Clarence will take further in books to come. 

Pierina Campbell