One common factor that makes up fantasy novels is the imaginative prowess of the writer. The sceneries, monsters, abilities, gods and magic-laced objects are requirements for fantasy novels. The reader is transported to a world where everything is possible as opposed to real-world events and probability. In his newest book, The Creed of the Oracles, Ebi Robert follows this same path, where he creates a world and makes impossibilities possible. However, Robert beautifies this world with another amazing ornament: “Intelligence”. This is what keeps his world spinning and it’s the currency that characters in the book use to be able to achieve their goals, good or bad. What role does Ebi Robert give to intelligence in his novel? Which characters display this intelligence and what did it get them? Is intelligence a factor that beats just “fantastic beasts” and abilities?
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines intelligence as the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations. Maybe by reading the Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, Ebi Robert created truly trying situations for his characters that will make passionate readers drop the book, and start clapping for them. Intelligence is made a currency by the author and the characters that are intelligent in this world are the only ones that establish themselves as lovable and achieve their aims. Although Ebi Robert subconsciously does not create dumb characters, there are does who do not make the mark, and as a result, do not get to "get" (since it's the currency in the world) whatever it is they want. Characters like Fainfruil (a lawyer), Lord Zucks (Headman of Maggi’s Hill), Laina (disciple of Zucks), Brighten (A fifteen-year-old disciple of Zucks), Natt and Fyne (robbers) and Erecious (the protagonist) are masters of financial experts in handling this currency as they get what they want throughout the novel.
So what does intelligence get these above-listed characters? To begin with, Frainful, your average “dirty” lawyer is smart enough to “sway the mind of the vector”, break every moral rule and yet kept advancing his case. What should have been an outright loss, became a win. His intelligence is at the greatest display when he cross-examines the victim of a case and gets her to turn on herself. His carefully selected words display the level of intelligence that Ebi Robert set as the standard or currency for attaining anything in his fictional fantasy world.
For Lord Zucks, intelligence got him his position in Maggi’s Hill. A representation of great philosophical thinkers, Lord Zucks makes decisions only after thorough analysis. Even in his causal argument with the blind Olandus, the reader will be drawn into this intelligent mind of his. Also, for him to pick a temporary successor, he devises a riddle that seems easy enough but that would take only an intelligent mind to think up and another intelligent mind to decipher. By presenting such a riddle, he ensures that his institution would be in safe hands till he returned from his errands from the gods.
Next is Laina, the character behind what is easily Ebi Robert's greatest quote in the entire novel, “...and that was how fifty died”. Laina is a disciple of Lord Zucks and it is Laina that Zucks chooses to follow him on the journey. Laina's first display of incredible wisdom is in convincing Olandus that the number “one” is greater than “fifty”. Sound arguments which can be summarized as the removal of one causing fifty to become forty-nine, establish Laina as an intelligent character. Blessed by Ebi Robert, Laina goes on to decipher the riddle of the gods that even Zucks himself cannot decipher. Laina, till the end of the novel, is what keeps Zucks going, lending his intelligence constantly and timely to Zucks on their mission.
Finally, the protagonist displays ultimate intelligence. Erecious is able to answer the final riddle of the gods that hundreds of free men (I bet even you the reader) have tried but failed woefully. His ability to think way outside the box makes him the champion. Erecious with his intelligence is able to bring a golden age to men, the world all over.
In conclusion, Ebi Robert’s The Creed of the Oracles is about a world that has intelligence as its foundation. The intelligence of the writer seeps into the book as the intelligence of a creator duplicates the creation. Characters that are not intelligent, find themselves losing, dying and remaining plain. Ebi Robert’s novel will keep the reader trying to outsmart characters, and continually keep them in awe of the level of intelligence displayed in the novel. Without intelligence, the characters cannot achieve their goals. Intelligence then is more prominent than impossible creations in Ebi Robert’s The Creed of the Oracles.
Profile of Reviewer:
Alexander Amabebe is a graduate of the Niger Delta University, where he studied English and Literary Studies. He is an independent researcher and a content writer at Online Global, a creative, digital marketing and consultancy agency. He is a poet, and a reader of Fantasy Genre, being a Fantasy Enthusiast.
Alexander considers himself a starter in all things, including literature and writing. He has written many poems. His work was featured in the 8th Edition of the Mariner Journal. He was a recipient of the Literary Award organized by Ink Potters in 2018.