Imaro

Imaro

By: Charles R. Saunders  

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Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Publisher: DAW

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
"Imaro could only shake his head in disbelief at what he saw." - I believe that I first read about Imaro via the blog of Martha Wells, so thanks for that. When a writer I really admire recommends another writer as really worth admiring, it generally sends me looking for the wishlist button. (Or even a paper and pen.)

Imaro is really worth reading, even if these kinds of fantasy/adventure tales are not your cup of tea. They aren't really mine, but I liked this book. I hear it compared to the Tarzan books quite a bit, but I would actually say that it reminded me more of the John Carter/Mars novels. That may simply be because I like Barsoom and was never really able to dive into Tarzan. In any case, Imaro is a book in a similar genre-- using African myth and legend to tell the story of an above-average hero who is somehow unable to find a safe home even as he conquers his enemies and grows in strength and skills. These kind of books seem to be less character-driven and more built around the idea of a central superior character whose traits give him the perspective to interact with all the exceptional elements of the world around him. Imaro is just that little bit stronger for the fact that Saunders also gave his character some depth. There's something of the Clint Eastwood cowboy in Imaro-- always alone, always haunted by violence, always set apart from his peers.

This book is really a collection of short stories which are woven together in a narrative. As noted in other reviews, some elements of the book have been altered since their original publication 30 years ago.

I enjoyed it, and I also enjoyed something different from this type of book than the typical golden age white adventurer lost in savage lands. Imaro is special in that the project is in itself important. I can imagine that this is a much needed book for parents of young children with an African heritage. Finally a view on African myth and history that tells a different story than the usual exotic perspective.

I was sorry to read that Nightshade Books, who brought Imaro back into print, stopped publishing the series with the second book. I do have to say that I wasn't terribly impressed with the quality of the book itself-- the pages were starting to fall out before I was halfway through the book. I have no idea if this is typical of Nightshade or not. The introduction was by Charles De Lint.

Recommended.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
A Wonderful Journey - Imaro is a great heroic tale. I love the imagery, and appreciate the references.

Customer Review: 2 out of 5
A "Black Tarzan" or something more? - I've recently got my hands (via Interlibrary Loan) on the reprinted Imaro "novel"; really a collection of short-stories laced together as a pseudo-narrative. This was initially published some twenty-five odd years ago and failed for a variety of reasons (some of them coincidental, some of them due to the poor marketing strategy of the publisher, DAW books--for some reason nobody wants to say that the quality of the books themselves might be a factor.) They've recently been republished in trade paperback form by a small-press company, Night Shade books. http://www.nightshadebooks.com

Anyway, I'm somewhat amused by the writer, publisher, and friend who wrote the introduction (none other than Charles De Lint) making the claims that Imaro was something really unique and extraordinary, that it specifically was not Tarzan and Conan, but black, because... honestly, that's exactly what it is.

Charles Saunders (the author) does for Africa what Robert E. Howard did for Europe and the Near East with the Hyborian Age, and for pretty much the same reason; so he can get the benefit of alluding (wink, wink) to real life cultures without feeling constrained to get every little detail right, as well as allowing him to freely mix and match cultures that in reality did not coexist at the same time. Sadly, Saunders, convinced he was doing something really unique in doing it for Africa, goes too far; he rather "cleverly" explains that cows are called ngombe, lions are called nganeh, etc. and then proceeds to use the Swahili words throughout. The only thing he's doing that's different from Howard, is that he's showing off the setting he's so proud of, the source material behind it that he's so proud of, and his knowledge of that source material, which he's also so proud of. Imaro reads like a rather self-congratulatory work of fiction. Although I'm sure some fans enjoy being exposed to African tradition (and are unwilling to go directly to the source material themselves for whatever reason) and that interests them, but it really bogs down the narrative and hurts the storytelling badly, in my opinion. Fiction--especially pulp, Sword & Sorcery, which needs to be fast-moving and exciting--is a poor vehicle for the rather ham-fisted polemic and social agenda that Imaro represents.

As well, if one can be allowed to make a genuine complaint about Howard's Conan, it's that he's often portrayed as a rather unflattering Mary Sue; he's too competent, overly idealized, lacks any noticable flaws, and rather obviously stands in for Howard's own wish-fulfilment fantasies of himself. Imaro takes these same flaws and amplifies them; Saunders makes no secret that if somehow Tarzan and Conan (to whom Imaro is often compared) were to appear suddenly in the same story with Imaro, Imaro would outclass them both.

That said, if you can get past these rather tedious flaws, the setting is imaginitive, and worth a read for that alone. But honestly, reading it, it felt constantly like I was being preached to, and that the author was showing off his research into African folklore rather than simply concentrating on telling good, interesting stories. I suspect that the claim that the one-month printing delay on the original printing of the novel (to avert a lawsuit from the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs over a poorly chosen tagline on the original cover) being the main factor in Imaro's less than impressive sales is as much wishful thinking as is Imaro's own super-competence.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Great Read - Imaro - A Bad Mutha Sucker! Yeah! - I discovered this author by accident. I am glad I did.

Imaro is a bad mutha. He is a big, find specimen of a brotha. He is an ancient African warrior in the tradition of what some may call sword and soccery. He battled humans, beasts, and sorcerers who conjure demons to fight in the defense of the underworld.

Imaro mama is an outcast amongst her people. She had the nerve to mate and reproduce with a man outside of the Ilyassai, their clan, though the men were free to mate and reproduce with any woman. As a result he and his mama were ostracized and had to move a distance away from their people.

When Imaro was five, she visited her people one last time. She wanted them to raise Imaro the Ilyssia way. In return, she promised never to come back. She left Imaro with people who only saw him as an outside and referred to him as "son of no father."

Anyway, he grew up without love and affection and acceptance. However, the elders kept their word to teach Imaro the Ilyssia way. He finally won acceptance from the Ilyassia, but it was too little too late. He left the Tamburure, the land of yellow grass. From that point on he would traveled all across Nyumbani, equivalent to the African(Kemet) continent, and met people who were very different the Ilyassia. However, an evil force was always just a few steps ahead, trying to destroy him.

I feel this story is about struggle and a sense of belonging. When the story ends, Imaro is still searching. At one point he thought he finally had what had been denied him his entire life, but for now, that has slipped away. The saga of Imaro continues. The story ends with a cliffhanger. I feel annoyed and anxious to know what happened to Imaro and how he handles life's challenges. So of course, I just ordered the sequel Imaro II.

I highly recommend this book. I certainly believe that he is in the same category as Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes, and Martin Delaney, and Octavia Butler. Actually I remembered some similar words from Steven Barnes book Great Sky Woman. So maybe Steven borrowed some of his ideas?

There are some similarities in Great Sky Woman, though the women remain in the clan for the warrior men of their clan, rather than being used as political bait.

Also Saunders uses the word Boma, which I was first introduced to when I read Steven's book, Great Sky woman. A Boma is a compound. It surrounds the living quarters of the clan.

I don't know who borrowed from whom. I will have to read the original Imaro, which was written almost 30 years ago to see who first came up the terminology.

If you are open to something different, I would recommend you give Imaro a try..

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Imaro... Imaro... Imaor... Imaro... - Ok, I am SO not a fantasy/sci-fi reader but something about this book's cover and the writing on back caught my attention. I looked up this book on Amazon and realized that it was something that I had to read! This book was really very, very good. I will admit that I didn't like the sorcery and that aspect of the story.

I think this story could have stood on it's own with Imaro just being the hurt hero that he is, without all the chanting and spells. I loved that it's based in Africa and uses the names and legends. I also loved going online and looking at pictures of Imario and Tanisha (man o man!!!!!) Whether you read fantasy or not I would highly recommend this book! I'm ordering the 2nd one and keeping my fingers crossed that they continue reprinting these so that we all can continue with this hurt heroe's story.

This book has great battles, amazing written visuals, great characters (flawed and otherwise), blood, gore, a little bit of the romantic stuff. Great read!!!!

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