Strange Light: Ler Mahia

by Yvette Oloo

In a world divided between the tradition-bound Innercity and the technologically advanced Outercity, Agina Akongo Odero stands at a crossroads. When an advanced matchmaking app pairs her with the charismatic Otiende Okomo Oneko, sparks fly, and Agina unexpectedly finds herself on a journey of love and self-discovery. As their relationship deepens, she must confront her fears, embrace her destiny, and make choices that will shape her future.

Strange Light weaves a tantalising blend of romance and sci-fi fantasy, exploring themes of identity, cultural heritage, and the courage to embrace one's true self. Set in a world filled with adventure, magic, and technology, the story delves into the dynamics of power and love within a context that is both familiar and fantastical. Perfect for fans of Black Speculative Fiction and those seeking a captivating love story with a twist, this novel promises to enchant and engage readers with its unique and powerful narrative.

641 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 31, 2024

About the author

Yvette Oloo is an international bestselling author who enchants readers with her unique blend of romance, science fiction, and fantasy—her favourite genres. Initially aspiring to write historical romances, she found herself facing writer's block. She later embraced her cultural heritage, which allowed the stories to flow naturally.

Yvette draws inspiration from how other cultures incorporate their living culture into imaginative tales. For instance, African stories often feature ancestors and superstitions. She chose to share elements that resonate deeply with her, inspiring her to write beyond a love story. With a background in architecture, Yvette infuses her novels with intricate details and imaginative settings.

When she's not writing, she enjoys exploring different cultures, practising holistic wellness, and indulging in books, movies and shows. She is also a Space Transformation Coach. Her work is influenced by Asian cultures, particularly storytelling through shows and movies, novels, manga, manhua, and manhwa, as well as the rich creativity found in Black Speculative Fiction. As a poet, she sometimes weaves poetry into her narratives.

Her debut series, Strange Light, captivates readers with its mesmerising blend of magic, technology, and heartwarming romance. Yvette is committed to creating inclusive and powerful stories that resonate with readers from all walks of life.

Stay connected with Yvette through her website yvetteslight.com and social media for updates on her latest projects and upcoming releases.

Reviews

[E.M. Swift-Hook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agina comes from a traditional family that lives in Innercity, protected from outside gaze by a technologically generated wall, but eschews technology on the whole. Otiende is a global celebrity. He lives in Outercity and his family stepped away from their traditions to embrace technology in full. They knew each other as children, both coming from Elder families who once had magical powers, but have long since lost touch.
When, unexpectedly, Agina gets a message from True Match, an app that is highly effective in picking life partners for people, she is surprised. After all her stated preference is for women and she had been married to one for years before they divorced. She also doesn’t recognise Otiende. But he recognises her.
Their meeting triggers something in Agina, who begins a new life both in her relationship with OT and in coming to terms with newly awoken powers over both nature and technology.
There is a lot to love here. The book, a spectacular blend of tradition and science fantasy, offers insights into East African culture that the rest of the world might not know about - like the Kenyan Nadi Bear or the Kom Nyaluo stool on which Agina sits at a pivotal point in the plot, a seat of power, symbolically linking her past, present and future.
Diverse elements are blended into a fascinating future earth kind of setting and the reader gets to explore them and the deep philosophy which Agina holds to with such passion, whilst being swept along by her and OT's blossoming romance. I really enjoyed those aspects and the story being told. However, there were a couple of rather big problems with this book for me.
Firstly the formatting. Sometimes I turned a page on my Kindle only to find a chunk of text missing. What was on the new page didn’t follow on from where the previous page finished and the context made it clear something had been missed out. This happened a lot and whilst it was usually fairly easy to pick up what was probably missed out, it meant my reading immersion was broken and I’d find myself paging back and forth to see if I had accidentally turned two pages instead of one. Secondly, there were quite a few issues with the writing itself - sudden changes of tense, words missing, wrong words used, that kind of thing. But I liked the story being told, found the concepts intriguing, and the relationship beautifully and carefully developed. So I give this book three and a half stars.
This is a book that might appeal to those who enjoy science fantasy romance with an evocative African theme.

[Eddie Pittman · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

At a glance:

“Strange Light: Ler Mahia” is a romance novel in a science fiction/fantasy world that is more science-fiction than fantasy. It blends elements of several genres, and, at its core, is a love story. The author explores several themes, the most prominent being the intersection of nature and technology. There is also a theme of not wanting to be a leader/ being an outcast and forced to lead.

What I liked:

As other readers noted, the standout aspect of this novel is by and in-large the world. I love the blend of technology and magic that is incorporated into the world building. There are details of transportation through fantastical means, but there is also reference to outer space and technology. This combination made me want to learn more about the world and how it functioned.

I really enjoyed the flashback scenes, particularly in Part I. The author did a good job characterizing the main characters through them. I found myself wanting more of those scenes where we really got to see how the characters reacted in certain situations. This was an excellent portion of the novel where we get to actually see how OT is as a character via his actions and not internal dialogue.

I also really enjoyed the beginning of chapters that started with “Text Messages” because it was a good point to introduce how the two main characters interacted with each other. I did have some qualms with it, but overall I really appreciated this inclusion.

Additionally, there were some unique details I don’t see a lot that really stood out to me. Particularly the development of the culture was interesting but I won’t say more to avoid spoilers.

What I didn’t like:

While I certainly loved the world and flashbacks, I struggled with the dialogue and details that contradicted or didn’t make sense with one another. For example, there is reference to a performance using their “traditional language” which I found odd because I was under the impression the characters were in their native country and were thus speaking their native language. What seemed to be the antagonists in the first sections of the novel (assassins chasing Agina) seemed to go unaddressed as it went on.

However, my biggest issue is the dialogue. All the characters seemed to speak in long-winded sentences and there was little use of contractions so it didn’t sound like real people. If they were speaking in their native languages I would have expected more slang and shorthand, but if it was explained that they speak the way they do because of being raised as royalty essentially, then others should be speaking differently. Also, many characters would often explain what they were doing accompanied by the very action so we are showed and told what is happening when we only need one or the other. This, in turn, harmed the pacing and bloated a lot of scenes with necessary bits.

Lastly, the longer the novel went on the more issues I saw in the text as well, with there being inconsistencies in spelling, and some formatting problems on Kindle. While not fatal to my enjoyment, I struggled to understand a lot of events and broke immersion.

Concluding thoughts:

I really love the parts this book excels in, and I can tell the author put in a great deal of time, love, and energy into this novel and world. I think that cutting excess dialogue, tightening up some of the world’s details, and differentiating the characters would make this novel great as well as reformatting the kindle edition.

Recommended to:

I’d recommend this to fans of romance and people who are looking for a unique world. I liked the novel, there certainly were parts that I didn’t love, but it didn’t make the reading experience unbearable, and I am overall happy I read this book.

[Tony Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Strange Light: Ler Mahia” is a distinctive work that combines traditional cultural values with advanced technology and a touch of magic. Reminiscent of Wakanda, the book draws on elements of African heritage and shamanistic magic, creating a world where tradition and technology have tension between them—and where these conflicts are explored within the context of a romance.

While the book is engaging, I found it longer than necessary. A bit of trimming would have kept the story tighter and more focused. The romance between the main characters is intriguing, particularly in how it intertwines with the world’s blend of tradition and technology. The relationship feels believable within the context of the unique world presented. However, at times, the story’s flow is disrupted by long, convoluted sentences and occasionally unclear thoughts, which can jar the reader's immersion.

This is a richly layered romance set against a backdrop of deep world-building. For readers seeking more than a light, “cotton candy” romance and who enjoy a touch of the fantastical and sci-fi, “Strange Light: Ler Mahia” is a compelling choice.

[K.B. Brookes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts by taking us into a new world with delicate drops of details where we know that this is science fiction, but we're not overwhelmed with world-building. Instead, we get to know our main character, Agina.

We soon discover that it is a romance with a childhood friends to lovers storyline. I was quite pleased that the flashbacks were of friendship, and the romance is when they are much older. Consent and the ability to set boundaries are well-portrayed in this book. It's an open door romance where they have sex on page. These scenes felt a bit too technical.

It's not long before the reader becomes aware there might also be elements of fantasy in this book. The combination of romance, science fiction, fantasy works well alongside the exploration of a traditional society alongside a highly technological one.

The novel spends a lot of time inside our main characters' heads, which leads to a lot of of tell, not show. It's for this reason that I gave the book four stars instead of five.

[Spinkly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that the book is a romance book in an African setting. You don't see that a lot in sci-fi fantasy. That was quite unique. Loved it for sure and would definitely recommend!