Muntu
Ivory's Story
A killer is on the loose in Eugen Bacon’s speculative novel Muntu.
Ivory heads an investigation into a possible serial killer who murders men, leaving behind ashes and the men’s partners in catatonic states. With few leads and a superior breathing down her neck, Ivory turns to a medicine woman from a remote part of the country in the hopes that a spiritual approach will provide answers. The medicine woman’s tactics guide Ivory in confronting the horrors of her childhood as an orphan, connecting her to the tradition that is her birthright.
The novella takes its time to get up to speed and exhibits drastic tonal shifts in its opening chapters. However, the layers build upon each other well until legend and reality combine, seeded by small details that gain significance over the course of the book. Ivory’s opal necklace, which rejects people by burning them, is the most impactful of these. It connects her to the Valley of Dreams, a place ripped from time after Muntu, who also wore the necklace, was burned at the stake for loving the chief’s daughter. His death becomes the catalyst for all that comes after.
The investigation is a vehicle to Ivory’s self-understanding. While the mystery is given its due in both process and detail, it takes a backseat to the novella’s exploration of Ivory’s personal history through spiritual elements represented by the medicine woman and the Valley of Dreams. Ivory’s embrace of these elements is made plausible because the novella presents spirituality as being on equal footing with traditional methods. The astral journey that Ivory undergoes is a particular standout in which colors, landscapes, and alien worlds collide.
Muntu is a surreal novel that brings together mysticism and murder.
Reviewed by
Dontaná McPherson-Joseph
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
