Lord of the Kongo: A Novel

by Peter Forbath

A decade before Columbus set sail for the New World, Portuguese explorers seeking a route around the southern tip of Africa to the Indies discovered the Kongo. To their astonishment, the vast, rich land, many times bigger than Portugal, was ruled by a fierce warrior tribe, highly sophisticated and wealthy enough to scorn the trade goods the Portuguese had brought with them for barter with the natives and as presents to their chiefs.
Based on real historical events, Lord of the Kongo is the story of a young Portuguese page and cabin boy, Gil Eanes, whose gift for languages, boundless curiosity, and true grit win him the friendship of Mbemba, one of the two sons of the ManiKongo, the great king.
Sent by his captain on a dangerous journey inland to visit the fabled capital of the Kongo and pay his respects to the king, Gil is stranded when his ship sails without him and survives by his wits in the dangerous world of Kongo court politics, eventually fathering a son by the beautiful Nimi, one of the ManiKongo's princesses, and winning the trust of her brother Mbemba, whose fascination with the written word and with the teachings of Catholicism is already leading him on a remarkable journey that will pit him against his warrior half-brother in a clash for the throne, divide the kingdom into warring factions, and eventually, with the return of the Portuguese in greater numbers, turn Mbemba into King Affonso I, the black Catholic ruler of a Portuguese puppet kingdom, the covert purpose of which is to provide slaves for the newly discovered Portuguese territories in South America.
In the end, Gil's friendship with Mbemba and Mbemba's curiosity about the European world begin the cycle of tragedy that will destroy Gil, his son Kimpasi (who becomes a Portuguese-educated Catholic priest), and everything Gil cherishes about the land that has become his home. This cycle of civil war, dynastic struggle, and undisguised slaving, all played out amid the burning pyres of the Inquisition, will eventually depopulate the Kongo and turn it into the "Heart of Darkness" it became.

Genres: Historical Fiction

512 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Even for us, portuguese, it reveals a brand new idea of inimaginable situations that could really happaned during tha "Discoveries", on the XV century. Enjoy reading this book, really.

[Susanne]

Mir hat das Buch gut gefallen. Es war mal etwas ganz anderes. Die Geschichte über die Entdeckung des Kongo könnte so oder so ähnlich wirklich passiert sein. Und das lässt einen traurig zurück. Als Leser begleitet man zwar den Portugiesen Gil, fühlt und erlebt alles mit ihm. Aber dennoch fühlt man auch das Schicksal der Einwohner des Kongo, für die sich Gil einsetzt. Es gibt interessante Einblicke in die Lebensweise im Kongo. Da alles gut beschrieben wird, kann man sich auch alles gut vorstellen.
Obwohl man sich historisch gesehen denken kann, wie die Geschichte verläuft, hat das Buch interessante Wendungen, die das Lesen nicht langweilig werden lassen.
Das offene Ende hat mich allerdings etwas ratlos zurück gelassen.

[Kym Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sadness of colonialism. This novel depicts the horrific reality of violence, manipulation, and slavery. Good read!

[Diamante García · Rating 1 out of 5]

Indigesta mezcla entre Tarzán, los relatos de los conquistadores españoles, algo del Corazón de las Tinieblas de Conrad y el folletín histórico. No obstante ni sus personajes protagonistas, ni secundarios , ni sus reiterativas descripciones, su pobre acción o su vocabulario mediano son especialmente hirientes ya que se enmarcan dentro de los convencionalismos de la casi siempre mediocre novela histórica. Incluso hacia el final de la novela, en la resolución de la acción hay cierta habilidad que te hace olvidar en parte los constantes clichés e inverosimilitud que salpican la mayoría de páginas de esta pretendida epopeya. Una historia , la de la colonización del Congo portugués, realmente interesante, pero al final tan mal desarrollada como olvidable.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

White man ..bad..slavery. But probably inevitable due to Chinese inventing gunpowder in combo with discovering the new world. It was a good story that you dot ften here of the "guns from Europe to africa" leg of the slave trade triangle.

[Duane Enoch · Rating 2 out of 5]

12-17-13