I don’t know how closely you follow my social media, but I have been working with Ingram Sparks for the last year or so to attempt to put more indie books on BookTok’s radar. They started their influencer program so that they could partner with Bookish creators like myself so that they could send us books to read and talk about on our platforms. The hope was that we would find new indie authors we love and that we’d help our audiences to fall in love with them too!

And it worked. At least for me. Yeah, there have been a few that I haven’t enjoyed, and I was honest about that in my reviews. But there have also been a few that became some of my favorite books! And I would add Antoine Bandele’s work to that second list!

Tj Young and the Orisha is one of my favorite series I have ever read. Let me tell you about it!

Tj’s older sister is one of the most gifted diviners—people gifted with power from the Orisha—of her generation. In fact, she is so gifted that their community largely believes her to be the chosen one spoken about in an ancient prophesy. So naturally, the entire community is shaken when she is killed in battle before she can even start to fulfill her destiny. The story starts a few weeks after her death, as TJ is wrestling with not only his grief at losing his big sister—and hero—but also the weight of everyone’s expectations of him. Because now that his sister is gone, it is even more apparent to everyone that he is nothing like her. He is less determined, less ambitious, and, well… seemingly less gifted.

In fact, with the level of power he has demonstrated, it’s unlikely he will even qualify to attend school and learn to harness his power. Luckily, because of who his sister is, he is given a chance to work on his gifts in a remedial summer camp where kids who are struggling a bit can get some extra help before that decision is made. Gatekeeper’s Staff—the first book in the series—follows TJ’s summer at camp, where he is learning to harness his power, fighting to carve out space for himself out from under his sister’s shadow, and searching for answers on what really happened to her, because he is certain he is not getting the full picture.

In this installment, we get an unbelivable coming of age story about a young Black boy fighting to belong. I read it in a single sitting and loved it so much that I immediately picked up the second and read that in a single sitting the very next day!

Windweaver’s Storm—book two—picks up as TJ’s year at the Diviner’s School, where he is learning to navigate his freshly unlocked power and developing the relationships he first began to build at camp the summer before. And as expected, things go wildly wrong. TJ and his friends end up in the middle of what looks like an impending war between the mortal world and that of the gods. And quite possibly, they are the only ones who can stop it. If it can be stopped, that is.

Look… this series is a game changer. I read A LOT of fantasy. And most of that is Black fantasy. I have read some of the best fantasy series' that exist, and I’m telling you, Antoine Bandele is a name you should know. A name you WILL know.

And he has graciously agreed to not only give THREE lucky winners a copy of both of these books, but he will also be throwing in a hardcover copy of Orishas Among Mortals—which is a collection of short stories following several of the Orisha—AND he is throwing in TEN free audio copies of the first installment in TJ and the Orishas.

Yeah, you read that right… with this giveaway, there will be THIRTEEN WINNERS.

Here’s what you need to know:

• To be eligible for this giveaway, you must be subscribed to this Bindery community. (All Bindery tiers are eligible, whether FREE or paid)
• To enter, drop a book recommendation with a non-european pantheon/magic system.
• I will be drawing all thirteen winners randomly from the comments this upcoming Saturday the 18th and the author--Antoine--will be shipping books directly to the winners. So please be watching for an email from one of us!

And while this is not required, I would love to be able to connect with you on all of my platforms, so feel free to give me a follow on:

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