The God Who Begat a Jackal

by Nega Mezlekia

Nega Mezlekia is a new and exciting talent. His first novel is both magical and lyrical, set in a timeless vision of Africa, it is steeped in folklore and mythology. The ethnic, religious and class struggles of pre-colonial Africa form a vivid backdrop to a story of forbidden love between a slave and his mistress.

Genres: Ethiopia, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Africa, Canada

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Nega Mezlekia (Amharic: ነጋ መዝለክአ; born 1958) is an Ethiopian writer who writes in English. His first language is the Amharic language, but since the 1980s he has lived in Canada so speaks and writes in English.

Nega was born in Jijiga, the oldest son of Mezlekia, a bureaucrat in the Imperial government. Although initially supporting the revolution that deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, he grew strongly critical of the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam. As a late teenager he abandoned his mother and siblings and set off with his best friend to join one of the armed rebel groups. In 1983 he left his position at Haramaya University to accept an engineering scholarship and study at Wageningen University. After two years in the Netherlands he was still unable to return home so moved to Canada instead. He has still never returned to Ethiopia.

He recounted his life story in his first book, Notes from the Hyena's Belly. Published in 2000, his book won the Governor General's Award for English language non-fiction that same year.

Mezlekia followed it up with the novel The God Who Begat a Jackal, which concerns an old Ethiopian myth. Although he still is a practicing engineer he indicates that he misses that sense of myth and spirituality from his youth.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Corinne Wasilewski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although there's nothing wrong with Mezlekia's handling of language, his storytelling in this novel could use some improvement. I found this book very hard to get through. Here's why:
1. Poor choice of narrator. Terefi is a minor character (so minor I had to go back to check on his name!) who is experiencing little of the story first hand. That means the majority of the book is telling, not showing and extremely tedious reading.
2. Way too many pages were spent on details of warfare which did little to advance the story and made for extremely tedious reading.
3. The characters are simplistic and fail to change as the story progresses. Change comes only at the end when they have lost everything and are on the verge of losing even their lives. I don't call this change, though. I call it 'do or die'. Tedious, so very tedious.
4. A cliched plot about forbidden love with a little twist at the end. No new insights here. Same old, same old. Tedium, thy name is 'The God Who Begat a Jackal".

Don't waste your time on this one.

[C Wegman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging read that adeptly translates an oral tradition of storytelling into written prose.

Humor, melodrama, eye-rolling moments, and well developed characters poetically come together to expose universal lessons of greed, power, faith, romance, adolescence, lust, prejudice and the underlying struggle for personal security.

Any fan of fables and myths should thoroughly enjoy this novel.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only as a monk or a fortune teller could one expect to harvest the rewards of learning...
This one was very meandering it reached a point where I did not know what was actually going aside from that the weaving of folk lore and historical events was quite pleasing to me.
I enjoyed the overall story.

[The Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whirling dust devils carrying war-making Abettors, warfare and sieges, love and sacrifice, magic and gods all dance across the landscape of medieval Ethiopia. At the heart of the story are two lovers who cannot be together because marriage between a slave and the daughter of the local warlord Duke is not permitted. I love magical realism in novels (and a good story about loyal lovers struggling to be together never goes amiss, either) and this one was packed full of magic, gods, superstition, mystical figures wielding great powers all contrasting with the people who try to do the best they can in life, but ultimately lose out. Harsh, brutal, compelling.

[Jamie Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much of this book was soooo good. It was engaging, fun, mystical and suspenseful. However parts seemed to be written almost as an afterthought. I would have loved to see Mezlekia expand this book into a trilogy, as it seemed there was so much more he wanted to write. Instead, so much of the book was rushed. I kept checking to see if I was reading an abridged copy. Alas I was not.

All this being said, I cannot wait to start Notes From the Hyena's Belly, and the many other books NM is sure to write.

[Hues of Literature · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely an interesting story – one that I truly enjoyed! I grew up hearing African folklore stories (queue Anansi the Spider) but this story was a first for me. Mezlekia uses wonderful prose and vivid storytelling to take you back in time to what is modern day Ethiopian in this story about love, caste systems and war. Plus, throw in some magic and animal-esque characters based on religious mythology and you have the perfect story in my humble opinion. Even though it is told from the main character’s perspective, Mezlekia also provides additional perspective from other characters of the same events. Aster’s strong, defiant, yet feminine perspective sheds light on women’s rights in family and feudal systems especially in pre-colonial Africa. I highly recommend The God Who Begat a Jackal for you next book read.

[D Corbishley · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first 20 pages are good, but then the book takes a major turn to dull and tedious. The author initially creates a character with so much possibility and then strips her of all uniqness until it's a burden to read.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The God Who Begat a Jackal" is an epic fable set in feudal Ethiopia, or at least a place very much like feudal Ethiopia but with a magical twist. I am greatly torn between appreciating what a unique and nuanced story the author has told and wishing I had enjoyed it more. Timeless themes include the evils of social structures that deny people freedom and dignity and the inescapable spiral of war-mindedness. The writing is wry, wise, and sensitive to human complexity, but the characters barely come to life.

[Ilyhana Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is for people who love telling and listening to stories, not necessarily truthful, maybe even whoppers. It's a story about a culture steeped in storytelling, stories of fantasy that may have once held a grain of truth.
And so it gradually draws the reader in until you realise you are being had, but then it's too late so you may as well read on.
It's very entertaining.
There is a serious undertone here though, that asks the reader to acknowledge that cultures actually exist where fantasy rules the collective psyche.

[sisraelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the very beginning this book was so captivating. Especially for someone who grew up in Ethiopia hearing of all the different spiritual beliefs and occurences some "experienced" in the rural parts of the country it makes it more believable and allows you to relate. Nega Mezlekia has truly restored my faith in supporting Ethiopian authors based on the meritt of his work. His more political book "Notes from the Hyenas Belly" is also recommended!

[Sam (Hissing Potatoes) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is told in a combination of typical narrative but mostly a heavy dose of folktale epic. Don't expect much in the way of character growth, because that's not the purpose of the book. However, the gorgeous writing and dense worldbuilding carried me through and still made me invest in the characters. I loved the mythic hyperbole and how well balanced it was to seem absurd at times but still make sense in the context of the story.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unusual fable.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like a myth.
Sweet story with powerful implications for the world today.

[Penny]

gave it a good shot.