Imaro I: The Epic Novel of a Jungle Hero

Imaro - 1980s #1

by Charles R. Saunders

Imaro was, his name -- Imaro of the Ilyassai, Imaro the outcast, Imaro the legendary hero of the jungle continent. This is the epic, action-packed, novel of how Imaro achieved manhood, won his rights among the people, and began his long march against the fantastic and unearthly terrors of that alternate-Africa known as Nyumbani.

Imaro's saga will be compared with that of Conan and other heroes of history and legend and will rise above them for authenticity, for vivid conception, and for gripping reading.

Although this is the first book entirely about Imaro, episodes from his adventures have already won places in best-of-the-year collections and highly praised anthologies, and have won for Charles R. Saunders the 1980 Small Press Award for Best Writer of Fantasy.

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 3, 1981

About the author

Saunders was born in 1946 in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania and emigrated to Canada in 1970. He has published science fiction and screenplays, two of which have become feature films. Saunders has also written a radio play, as well as other non-fiction works. He later worked as a journalist in Halifax, Nova Scotia and is the author of two recent works of historical non-fiction: Share and Care: The Story of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children and Black and Bluenose: The Contemporary History of a Community.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable collection of interlocking tales about Imaro. I enjoyed how the menace throughout the stories evolved into a world encompassing evil leading up to the next book.

[Steve Dilks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I really did. After reading an uncollected Imaro story, "Death in Jukun", in a fantasy anthology and hearing so many great things, it seemed like a done deal. Alas, it was not to be. I found my enthusiasm floundering by the third story.
For the uninitiated, IMARO is a collection of stories originally published in the Gene Day fanzine, DARK FANTASY, during the mid 1970s. Saunders wrote them as a reaction to the Conan tales of Robert E. Howard, which were proving popular at the time.
The edition of IMARO that I managed to track down is the 1980 DAW imprint.
After the lengthy origin story, which does well enough on its own merits as a non-generic piece, I quickly realised that this was not what I had been expecting. I stuck with it, thinking that I might get a flavour of a mythological Africa unique to the fantasy field. And, to be fair, there are flashes of that scattered throughout the book. But, after a while, I found the long names and the pronunciations just a little wearisome. Especially as the plots of the stories are so thin that you wish he had concentrated more on developing them than devising faux tribal languages. I found Imaro himself to be something of a cardboard cut out, stony faced and devoid of charisma. When he isn't busy feeling sorry for himself he is just full of hate and revenge. Bereft of emotion, the stories seem to plod in a mechanical way. The saving grace is the novella, "Slaves of the giant-kings", which at least shows some fire and spirit. The evil giant kings of the title are particularly monstrous and memorable. Saunders builds a real atmosphere of creepy horror around them. Captured and enslaved, Imaro is forced to draw from vast reservoirs of untapped strength in scenes worthy of Howard. Of all the Imaro stories I have read, this one definitely stands out. Ironically, Saunders chose to omit this tale from later editions for personal/political reasons. A shame, as I think this is one of his best. The remaining two stories in this "fix-up" are somewhat unwieldy and lazy in execution, resorting to thinly disguised sword-&-sorcery cliches. There is even a comedic sidekick in the form of a know it all Pygmy (dwarf) who is thrown into the mix and seems destined to accompany the sullen giant into new adventures.
For all the fervour over a "new look at sword-&-sorcery set in a mythological Africa", I still found many heroic fantasy action cliches at large. IMARO had potential- so much more than is given here. But, because of the author's relative inexperience, the whole thing just falls flat.

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another edge case that I wish for a 1/2 star option. If I could, I would say 3.5; however, the simple reading pleasure makes me round up versus down. This might be a bit off topic, but I sometimes enjoy Goodreads not having a 1/2 star rating. I simply ask myself, did I enjoy this book enough to round up, or should I round down? It’s economical.

Imaro is a work of Sword & Sorcery that I have been meaning to get to for some time. It’s easy to say this is Black Conan, but it’s not.

Yes, both are barbaric. Both are mighty warriors that defeat sorcerous foes with their mighty strength. That is where the similarities end, but come closer together by books end. That I should explain:

Imaro is a figure of sorrow. Abandoned by his mother at a young age to her tribe out of necessity so she can warn them of danger before leaving as she must. His mother is an exile for the crime of mating with one not of her tribe. Imaro is a bastard, called Son-of-No-Man. He strives for acceptance, gets it, but casts it away, to find acceptance with a gang of outlaws, only to lose that.

Imaro is angry. Always angry. Conan has anger, sometimes hot, focused anger, but he also has great mirth.

Mirth and joy are absent in Imaro, he is all anger and glum. The best he seems capable of is contentment, but he is hollow and almost powerless without anger driven towards vengeance. For this trait, I initially wanted to give a 3 star rating; but...I don’t want to give spoilers, however, Imaro is not static, he is dynamic and by book’s end, he begins dipping into more emotions than he showed through 98%, giving me hope and increasing my opinion of the character.

I read the Daw paperback version. There is an updated version that I must seek out. Both versions are a collection of tightly connected short stories. The third story, from my understanding was removed and replaced by a different story. That is good, as the third was the longest and my least favorite.

I have volume 2 of this and intend on returning to the world of Imaro before years end.

[Mohammed Abdikhader Firdhiye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great and original Sword & Sorcery set in ancient alternate africa.
Imaro is inspired by Robert.E Howard but Charles.R Saunders is his own man with his taut prose,fascinating alternate Africa,he can also write action scenes as well as the best in this kind of fantasy.

A hidden gem. A must for every fan of S&S/Heroic fantasy.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic fantasy series set in ancient africa. These stories have all you need; lost cities and races for the hero to battle. Very recommended

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard book to rate. Was it massively enjoyable? OFMG yes — I didn’t want it to end. Was it good in the way that most people understand the term “good” to mean when assessing literary merit? Uhhhh....

My only real complaint is that I wish it ended a page or two before it did. There’s a nice spot where the characters and emotions resolve effectively, but then it trucks on so that a sequel is explicitly necessary, yet it feels weirdly artificial, like it might as well have just been an ad for DAW books by Charles Saunders. I dunno.

At any rate, I believe the Nightshade rewrite axes out the final novella anyway, so this complaint has been rendered moot in the currently available editions.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imaro recontextualises and improves on problematic white characters like Tarzan whose whiteness and superiority can feel icky to a modern reader. (why exactly the King of the Jungle is a white nobleman!?). Imaro is a warrior, an outcast and all too ready to fight. While more modern black fantasy authors like Nalo Hopkinson or Nnedi Okarofor are more direct in tackling issues of race within their worlds, Saunders is content to simply have his characters be black and focus on telling a rollicking, fast-paced story full of revenge, bloodlust and anger. Would have been 4 stars but the individuals "books" that seperate the story grow a little repetitive by the end.

[Tome Addiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Sword and Sorcery story a modern African-themed story with a Conan-styled character.