“Those beasts of prey represent our worldly troubles,” Brother Ego goes on to explain. As Ekon mulls his failures towards the novel’s start, kindly Brother Ego quotes a bit of wisdom from an elder: “ Nightmares hunt like beasts of prey, vanquished in the light of day.” What makes Beasts of Prey sing, though, are the emotions Gray plumbs below the surface. She envisioned the knifelike teeth and bottlebrush tail, the way each of its black claws had curled in the earth as it tensed.”
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And the Shetani is certainly a fearsome beast to behold: “The creature she’d laid eyes on had been a thing built from nightmares, a mass of raw pink skin stretched tight over tendons and bone.
The night sets in motion the series’ monster-hunting framework. That’s also when Koffi and Ekon meet, as Koffi runs from Ekon and other Six soldiers. On the night he’s scheduled for induction into the elite Sons of the Six, his ceremony derails due to a fire at the zoo. His anxiety is ever-present, causing him to repeatedly tap and count to calm his body and mind. But he prefers books and learning to the fierce ways of his lineage.
She and her mother are indentured servants at a Night Zoo in fictional Lkossa, run by the cruel, unscrupulous Baaz Mtombé, but they’ve almost paid off their debt.Įkon is part of the Okojo family, born to be warriors. We first meet her tending her assigned creature, hopeful for the first time in years that she’s about to start a new chapter.
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Koffi has magic she doesn’t quite understand yet how to wield. Days before publication, Netflix announced that it had bought adaptation rights for feature film development. It’s undeniably powerful storytelling, skill that’s fueled a cover reveal and advance excerpts on Oprah’s web site, a Barnes & Noble-exclusive edition with bonus content and places on multiple “most-anticipated” lists for fall, books’ biggest season. She weaves the markers of daily life, history and culture into scenes that crackle, painting her characters’ existence for her readers as clearly as she depicts physical action and emotional depth.
It’s a thrill-packed premise that Gray elevates with crisp prose, surefooted pacing and detail-rich worldbuilding. Gray’s story is about two Black teens in a pan-African nation who team up to battle a monster in the jungle that their community has feared for years. It’s also the start of a trilogy that promises to not only make bestseller lists, but should snap up awards and–most importantly–hook, entertain and satisfy readers. But it quickly becomes unclear whether they are the hunters or the hunted.You might not know Ayana Gray’s work, but that’s all about to change.īeasts of Prey, the 28-year-old’s fantasy debut, is one of the hottest young-adult books this fall.
Koffi and Ekon form a tentative alliance and together enter the Greater Jungle, a world steeped in wild, frightening magic and untold dangers. Desperate to redeem himself, Ekon vows to hunt the Shetani and end its reign of terror, but he can’t do it alone. Koffi’s power ultimately saves Ekon, but his choice to let her flee dooms his hopes of becoming a warrior. But on the night of his final rite of passage, Ekon encounters not only the Shetani-a vicious monster that has plagued the city for nearly a century and stalks his nightmares-but Koffi who seems to have the power to ward off the beast. As the second son of a decorated hero, Ekon is all but destined to become a Son of the Six-an elite warrior-and uphold a family legacy. But the night those she loves are gravely threatened by the Zoo’s cruel master, Koffi unleashes a power she doesn’t fully understand, upending her life completely. There’s no such thing as magic in the broken city of Lkossa, especially for sixteen-year-old Koffi, who indentured to the notorious Night Zoo, knows the fearsome creatures in her care and paying off her family's debts to secure their eventual freedom can be her only focus.