Share this!

C.T. Rwizi Creates Diverse African Fantasyscape in Scarlet Odyssey

Imagine Africa as it is meant to be: lush and filled with palpable magic, unaffected by outside influence, with its own unique technological advances. The world of SCARLET ODYSSEY is vast and immersive, simultaneously ancient and modern, and boldly inspired by the complex and diverse cultures and languages that shape the African continent today.

Eighteen-year-old Salo, failing to conform to his society’s expectations, is forced to journey thousands of miles away from home to redeem himself and save his people.

Though he is the son of a respected warrior chief, he dreams of becoming a mystic. However, his tribe considers books and magic a woman’s pursuit and expects him to embrace his father’s legacy. But everything changes when his tribe is attacked.

Salo joins forces with an unlikely band of misfits—a shunned female warrior, a mysterious nomad, and a deadly assassin—and their friendships grow as they learn to work together, despite their cultural differences, to save the world around them.

With its innovative blend of fantasy with technology and science fiction, SCARLET ODYSSEY is a wholly original story that’s grand in scope, with four points of view from characters of diverse backgrounds, traversing across a continent fragmented into many different tribes and clans, each with their own language. Yet the novel is also intimate with its powerful emotional core, as it addresses head-on the struggles of a young man coming of age and harnessing his own power in a society that doesn’t honor his choices.

This is SCARLET ODYSSEY, an epic fantasy, a masterful debut and series launch by C. T. Rwizi, a young Black African writer based in South Africa.


About C.T. Rwizi

C. T. Rwizi was born in Zimbabwe, grew up in Swaziland, finished high school in Costa Rica and got a BA in government at Dartmouth College in the United States. He currently lives in South Africa with his family, and enjoys playing video games, taking long runs and spending way too much time lurking on Reddit. He is a self- professed lover of synthwave. Scarlet Odyssey is his debut novel.

C.T. Rwizi Author Photo