Ahead of Shaka Rising’s South African release, Luke W. Molver, the book’s author/illustrator spoke with South African newspaper The Independent.
From the article:
“Shaka is one of South Africa’s most well-known historical figures, and the story of his rise and fall hits all the notes of a great epic: familial strife, political intrigue, folklore, myth, blood-splattered action – everything that makes for a gripping narrative.”
He said that because of the traditions of oral storytelling in Zulu culture, the various agendas of Shaka’s rivals and the biased and unreliable accounts from white settlers, the research for Shaka Rising was quite extensive.
“Shaka is an unusual iconic figure from history in that we know so little verified fact about the man himself. He is part history, but also part myth and this lends itself to some great storytelling possibilities.”
Read the full interview at The Independent