Beneath the Darkening Sky tells the horrifying story of the life of Obinna. One night the rebels come to Obinna's village to wreak havoc; burning huts, randomly beheading the men and lining up the children, taking anyone higher than the size of an AK-47. Obinna and his brother Akot find themselves taken to join the revolution. Akot seems to take to training but Obinna refuses to really join the rebels, while he has been taken he never really accepts their ideals. It was a soldier called Priest that ultimately helps Obinna.

Beneath the Darkening Sky is a gripping story of a child taking a stand and not letting anything or anyone stifle his principles. Obinna has to go through a lot of horrible events but through it all he stands strong. He is uncompromising in a world that is twisted and corrupt, for a young boy he really is brave and determined to an almost unbelievable state. I don’t know how I would be if I had to live like Obinna but it’s clear to me that he was never going to change his mind and this almost lead to the books downfall.

I like a story of a man taking a stand against all odds, but this was clear from the get go and this made the book a little predictable and nothing really ended up surprising me. There are horrible things within this world and Obinna has to suffer more than any boy should have to suffer. I respect the protagonist but I find it hard to enjoy a novel so conventional. There are elements of this book that are raw and overly violent but this is only to portray just how much Obinna has to overcome. This is an interesting novel as long as you never let the predictability get in the way of an amazing story of an uncompromising young man stuck in a world that would break most people. ( )

"I'm not even sure how old I am anymore. Older than 11 and younger than 16. Years don't matter...we count age in kills", October 10, 2014

This review is from: Beneath the Darkening Sky (Paperback)
A highly compelling read, set in South Sudan. It opens on a night in a small village: nine-year-old Obinna is lying in his tent, afraid to go outside to the lavatory in the dark. He's a typical kid - school, rivalry with his brother, good parents ...and then the rebels turn up and he will never be the same again.
Taken away into the bush and forced to join in the bloodthirsty raids and harsh camp lifestyle, we gradually see the innocent child transformed:
"I spoke as a child and I thought as a child and I understood as a child. How could I know what they were making me into? all I knew was fear and death. ..If I could outrun fear, if I could be brave, I'd outrun them. But I haven't got anywhere. it's made me one of them."
Excellent, thought-provoking novel. ( )

A difficult but good book

When the rebels come to Obinna's village, they do more than wreak terror for one night. Lining the children up in the middle of the village, they measure them against the height of an AK-47. Those who are shorter than the gun are left behind. Those who are taller are taken. Obinna and his older brother Akot find themselves the rebel army's newest recruits. But while Akot almost willingly surrenders to the training, Obinna resists, determined not to be warped by the revolution's slogans and violence. In the face of his vicious captain's determination to break him, Obinna finds help in a soldier called Priest, and in the power of his own dreams. Very graphic and violent ( )

I learnt about this title from a brief interview with Get Reading organiser Cheryl Akyl and Majok Tulba and was immediately interested. When Tulba was nine the Sudanese Armed Forces invaded his village and murdered many its people, including members of Majok's family. Separated from his parents during the attack, Majok fled the village with his younger brother, and other boys too small to be forced into the SAF. He spent most of his time moving between refugee camps along the border of South Sudan and Uganda before being granted an Australian visa in 2001 aged just sixteen. Beneath The Darkening Sky is a compelling fictionalised account of what may have happened to him had he been forced into service, a fate that is all too real for some.

Obinna, having been forced to witness the beheading of his father and the rape and beating of his mother, is bundled into a truck, along with his older brother and friends, forcibly recruited to serve the Sudanese rebel army. These scenes of brutal violence, witnessed through the eyes of an 11 year old boy, are a confronting launch into Africa's civil war and Obinna's journey as a boy soldier.

The first person point of view works beautifully in this story, Obinna's observations, his thoughts, his hopes and fears are so simply expressed, and all the more powerful for it. Obinna effortlessly evokes emotion in the reader, certainly a great deal of empathy but also a range of emotions from veering between admiration to disgust. Though Obinna does his best to retain his humanity in such a desperate situation, he eventually succumbs to the intense psychological and physical pressure to become a soldier. Not wholly, but still he wields a gun with the rebels as they continue their rampage through tiny Sudanese villages.

The casual disregard for human life, the nonsensical political rhetoric and the sheer horror shared in Beneath The Darkening Sky is hard to comprehend. That the author himself witnessed such atrocities and heard first hand accounts of much worse is even more disturbing.In Beneath the Darkening Sky there is little difference between the actions of the rebels and the government forces though the author resists preaching about the political/social climate of Africa allowing Obinna to remain grounded in his experience. A quick Google search will provide a history of the conflict and confirm that this novel, while a fictionalised account, reveals more truth than imagination.

Beneath the Darkening Sky shines a light on the experience of thousands of children in Africa with raw intensity. A confronting, haunting, powerful read, I highly recommend it. ( )