There is something I’ve never told you about our king,’ Father was saying as we walked around the palisade. We were three abreast, and I was in the middle. He looked at me. ‘Even Guduza doesn’t know about this too, Owethu, but I think this is the right time for both of you to know about it, as there is now something else happening in the kingdom which I can’t right now give you the full details of, and please don’t ask me what it is.

Owethu, a young man from a family of respected ironworkers, and his father are attacked one morning by supernatural creatures, the Mihlolo. With the body of a human and the face of a hyena, they are an fearsome.In this mythical past, a missing queen and a brutal king form the stunning backstory of this first tale from the Blademakers of the Langabi series.

Christopher Mlalazi has produced an African epic fantasy. Fast paced and vivid, the richly detailed people of Langabi, in love and in battle, must endure a punishing fight to survive and secure their freedom and their land. This quest is a searing tale of manipulation and monsters, which will leave you hungry for more.