Monday, March 30, 2009

Review: Retro-Km


Action packed Retro-km begins with a stand-off rife with racial tensions and examples of self-determination, abandoned cities and the quest for the lost-found. Sisters and brothers who haven't evacuated the city fast enough become the prey of Cold Wind soldiers determined to enslave and keep them from knowledge of themselves.
Edward Uzzle's Ta-Amentan characters come to life very early on, acting as champions for the disempowered. With what some would consider a bold in-your-face approach to celebrating Kemetian roots and systems of self-restoration, a strong message continues to meet us throughout the story:
"Our roots matter. Let's get back to understanding that".

Appearing to be a self-edited indie work, the first edition of this book tackles the challenge of writing in the first person conversational point of view, shifting between present and past to weave a tale of self-determination throughout generations. Uzzle's highly imaginative technological innovations are both realistic, and practical for life in Ta-Amenta, a black utopia.
Ingenius in many ways, the book includes the naming of weekdays after appropriate Neter equivalents rather than Roman deity names, and his potent revelation of the significance in the myth of Ausar and Auset (known to some as Osiris and Isis) to the black community, makes this book a powerful read, though it is not for the faint of heart.

At times feeling cinematic, the fast pace and potent imagery of Retro-km weave a tale that both informs historically through Ta-Amentan cultural tradition based on Kemetic mythology and practices, and messages that fill in missing cultural blanks for people of color, that were left out of Western society's patched-up syllabus.

Retro-Km is a highly entertaining and enlightening first edition, that educates, and uplifts one to comprehend a more self-empowering understanding of the Creator (of many names), all without losing its edge, or the lure of serious page-turning action. This book is definitely for adults, as colorful language is exchanged between characters, and regard of the female physique is assessed from an adult viewpoint.


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