50 Fun Facts About Children of Blood and Bone

In Children of Blood and Bone, Zélie inherits her late mother's magic as which kind of maji?

A Reaper commands the spirits of the dead, a power Zélie shares with the parent she lost when King Saran's soldiers came for the maji.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which physical trait marks a person as a divîner able to become a maji?

White hair marks every divîner, and Prince Inan is alarmed when a streak of it appears on his own head once his hidden magic stirs.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which real language, outlawed by King Saran, do the maji use to cast spells?

Yoruba is the tongue of incantation and prayer in Orïsha, and Tomi Adeyemi asked her own mother for help naming the spells.

A gift-shop display of African gods in which country gave Tomi Adeyemi the idea for Children of Blood and Bone?

Brazil was where Adeyemi studied West African mythology on a fellowship, and the shop's sacred, beautiful images of African deities stayed with her.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which wealthy, heavily patrolled city is the capital of Orïsha and home to King Saran?

Lagos keeps its real-world name in the novel, and its palace is where the princess steals the scroll that sets the quest in motion.

Tomi Adeyemi has said Children of Blood and Bone was written partly in response to which modern protest movement?

Black Lives Matter shaped the book's brutal royal guards, and the author's note asks readers who wept for its characters to mourn real children killed by police.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which protective older brother of Zélie joins her quest to bring magic back to Orïsha?

Tzain is the cautious one of the siblings, and it is he who vaults the capital's wall on the family's giant ryder to snatch Zélie from the guards.

In Children of Blood and Bone, what is the name of the horned lionaire Zélie raised and rides across Orïsha?

Nailah is a ryder, one of the huge horned cats that Orïsha's people keep as steeds, companions and fighters.

Viewers of which late-night host's show voted Children of Blood and Bone their first-ever summer book club read?

Jimmy Fallon launched the Tonight Show Summer Read in 2018, and Tomi Adeyemi came on as a guest that July to discuss the winning novel.

In Children of Blood and Bone, King Saran is finally killed in the temple battle by which person close to him?

His daughter Amari drives a sword through his heart, moments after he turns on his son for secretly being a maji.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which maid and best friend of Amari is killed by King Saran after touching the scroll?

Binta's death is what drives the princess to steal the scroll and flee the palace, setting the whole quest in motion.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which artifact do Zélie and her friends win in deadly arena contests fought on water?

The sunstone is one of three sacred objects the ritual needs, and nobles had been dangling it as a prize for divîners forced to fight to the death.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which metal that sears a divîner's skin is used to restrain the captured Zélie?

Majacite also turns up in the game pawn Prince Inan clutches as a keepsake, which Zélie tells him to let go of.

In Children of Blood and Bone, what are the ordinary citizens of Orïsha who cannot do magic called?

Kosidán include the ruling class that crushed the maji, though in the sequel some of its nobles suddenly gain powers of their own.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which sacred temple of the maji do Zélie and her companions seek out with the scroll?

Chândomblé was once tended by an order of high priests, and only one of them is still alive when the travellers arrive.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which priest unlocks Zélie's powers in a rite and then dies holding off the guards?

Lekan buys the travellers time to flee the temple, and in the film adaptation the role went to Idris Elba.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which admiral does Inan accidentally kill after she catches him using magic?

Kaea is King Saran's second-in-command and the only person the tyrant truly loves and trusts.

In Children of Blood and Bone, what can Prince Inan do once contact with the scroll secretly makes him a maji?

He can sense feelings and memories as a Connector, a gift he first uses to track Zélie before it shows him everything she has suffered.

In Children of Blood and Bone, Zélie's family makes its home in which floating fishing village on the coast of Orïsha?

Ilorin is set on fire by the crown prince's soldiers early in the story, which leaves Zélie with no home to go back to.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which mentor of Zélie reveals she is a Seer who foresaw the quest to restore magic?

Mama Agba teaches the girls of the village to fight so they can defend themselves, though she hopes they will never need to.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which young Healer leads the hidden divîner camp where Zélie's brother is held?

Zu is no older than thirteen, and she is cut down by the king's guards while trying to make peace with them.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which Burner sets himself ablaze to take the king's guards down with him?

Kwame's fiery sacrifice at the divîner camp terrifies Prince Inan, who decides magic is too dangerous to bring back.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which foreign mercenary leader sails Zélie's group to the sacred island for the ritual?

Roën first meets Zélie by picking her pocket, yet he takes the job because deep down he believes in the gods too.

Why do Zélie and her brother travel to Orïsha's capital at the start of Children of Blood and Bone?

To pay a new tax on divîner households they go to trade in the market, and instead collide with a princess on the run.

In Children of Blood and Bone, what does Zélie discover about Princess Amari when she wakes after the final ritual?

She has magic of her own now, a sign the ritual did far more than give the divîners their powers back.

In Children of Blood and Bone, whose death at the island temple reawakens the magic Zélie lost under torture?

Her father's blood and spirit feed her power after the king orders him killed, even though Zélie has already surrendered the artifacts.

In Children of Blood and Bone, the ritual to bring back magic must be performed on a sacred island at which moment?

The solstice is fast approaching when the temple's priest explains the ritual, so the heroes are racing the calendar as well as the crown prince.

In Children of Blood and Bone, through what magical means do Inan and Zélie meet while he is still hunting her?

A dreamscape, a field-like world the prince creates without meaning to, lets the two enemies talk long before they join forces.

In Children of Blood and Bone, what name is given to King Saran's massacre of the adult maji, including Zélie's mother?

The Raid struck after the king found a way to cut the maji off from their powers, leaving them defenceless against his soldiers.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which slur for divîners do King Saran's guards carve into Zélie's back?

Maggot stays written in scar tissue even after a Healer stops the bleeding, a mark Zélie expects to carry for life.

In Children of Blood and Bone, King Saran's royal seal shows the most ruthless ryder, modelled on which real big cat?

The snow leopard-like beast, called a snow leopanaire, is stamped on the armour of the royal guards who terrorise divîners.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which goddess do Zélie and her late mother worship as patron of their maji clan?

Oya seems to greet Zélie in the afterlife once the ritual kills her, until the figure turns out to be her own mother.

In Tomi Adeyemi's Orïsha, the last priest of the maji temple hands Zélie which artifact for the ritual to restore magic?

A bone dagger joins the scroll and a third relic as the objects the ceremony demands, and all three must reach a sacred island in time.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which desert town has an arena where nobles force divîners to fight to the death?

Ibeji is where Princess Amari is forced to kill, which drags her back to the brutal training the king put her through as a child.

In Children of Blood and Bone, which lawless port beyond the monarchy's reach is where Zélie hires mercenaries?

Jimeta is free of the king's rule but full of criminals, and Zélie arrives there hiding the fact that she can no longer feel her magic.

Tomi Adeyemi studied English literature at which university before writing Children of Blood and Bone?

Harvard gave her an honors degree, after which she won a fellowship abroad to study West African mythology.

Tomi Adeyemi entered Children of Blood and Bone in which contest that pairs new writers with mentor authors?

Pitch Wars set the deadline that forced her to finish the second draft of the novel in a single month.

Which TV drama did Tomi Adeyemi binge while writing Children of Blood and Bone, until she thought she was a lawyer?

The Good Wife ran in the background while she worked through 45 drafts in eighteen months, to the point of exhaustion.

In Children of Blood and Bone, Orïsha is widely read as an alternate, pre-colonial version of which real country?

Nigeria is the country Tomi Adeyemi's parents emigrated from, and several of Orïsha's towns borrow the names of real places there.

Which Tomi Adeyemi novel, pitting Zélie against King Baldyr, concludes the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy?

Children of Anguish and Anarchy arrived in 2024, more than four years after the second book, and also topped the New York Times list.

Which actress, Tomi Adeyemi's dream pick, plays Zélie's mentor in the film of Children of Blood and Bone?

Viola Davis was the name Adeyemi gave back in 2018, more than six years before the film's cast was announced.

Which actress was cast in the lead role of Zélie in the Paramount film of Children of Blood and Bone?

Thuso Mbedu's casting was first reported in September 2024, months before the studio confirmed her alongside the rest of the ensemble.

Racist backlash over the casting of which film helped spur Tomi Adeyemi to write Children of Blood and Bone?

The Hunger Games saw fans object to the casting of Rue, played by Amandla Stenberg, who years later was cast as Princess Amari.

Tomi Adeyemi accused which romance novelist of copying the title of Children of Blood and Bone, then withdrew the claim?

Nora Roberts replied that her novel Of Blood and Bone had been titled and submitted first, and Adeyemi withdrew the claim after the two spoke.

Which Disney-owned studio dropped its film of Children of Blood and Bone after declining Tomi Adeyemi as screenwriter?

Lucasfilm chose to concentrate on its own franchises such as Indiana Jones, so the rights lapsed in 2021 and Paramount picked the project up.

Children of Blood and Bone won which young adult prize voted on by Worldcon members alongside the Hugos?

The Lodestar Award went to the novel in 2019, only the second time the prize had been handed out.

Which narrator's 18-hour reading of Children of Blood and Bone won the 2019 Audie for best audiobook?

Bahni Turpin was praised for giving every character a distinct voice and for carrying the incantations in the story's sacred language.

Which fantasy novel did Tomi Adeyemi name as a primary inspiration for Children of Blood and Bone?

An Ember in the Ashes shares the honour with Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older, both fantasies written by and about people of colour.

In the film of Children of Blood and Bone, which actor plays King Saran, a part Tomi Adeyemi imagined for Idris Elba?

Chiwetel Ejiofor took the crown, while Elba joined the same cast as a priest instead.

In Children of Blood and Bone, the pawn Prince Inan carries as a keepsake comes from which chess-like board game?

Sênet is played with small pieces on a board, and the prince clings to his pawn as a reminder of the king who raised him.