Revealed: Leye Adenle’s secret love for sci-fi and dystopian worlds

Leye Adenle is a famous writer of crime fiction. Among his most popular works are ‘Easy Motion Tourist’ and ‘When Trouble Sleeps’ – both published by Cassava Republic Press – and both brilliant books which feature fan-favorite characters Guy Collins and Amaka. However, what many readers of his compelling stories don’t know is that he flirts with other genres, particularly sci-fi/fantasy. Of course, GeekAfrique sought him out to dish the details, and he kindly obliged.

By Abdulkareem Baba Aminu

GeekAfrique: We know you have a sci-fi/fantasy novel ready and rearing to go. What can you tell us about it?

Leye Adenle: Planet earth is under threat from a force as old as time itself, and it’s up to an unwilling Nigerian IT nerd to save humanity if only he would agree to learn how to do magic.

GeekAfrique: Will it have elements of a whodunit, a heist, or even darker crime elements from the genre you’re famous for?

Adenle: ‘The Beautiful Side of the Moon’ is a thriller. There are dark forces and forces for good, but like in all good stories, the lines are often blurred and it’s up to the reader to decide (ahead of the ending) who the real baddie is. In this story, nothing is really as it seems.

GeekAfrique: How long have you been into SFF, and what was the first book that got you hooked?

Adenle: I cannot remember the one I read first, but it’s between Jules Verne’s ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’, and Amos Tutuola’s ‘The Palm Wine Drinkard’. Yes, the latter is often described as fantasy, but as a child reading it for the first time, I saw sci-fi elements – or at least I thought I did.

GeekAfrique: What sort of sci-fi are you more into, and what currently excites you in that genre?

Adenle: I particularly like stories that explore the end of humanity as we know it: Dystopian fiction, apocalyptic stories, books that would make great disaster movies, really. I think I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about the meaning of life, rejecting 42 as the answer, how it will all end, and attempting to contemplate the dizzying vastness of the universe and the mesmerizing inconsequentiality of life on this tiny rock we call home.

As for what I’m currently enjoying, I’d say Nnedi Okorafor’s books. In her work, one finds originality that’s surefooted, unassuming, unapologetic, and thoroughly satisfying in its sheer brilliance.

“As for what I’m currently enjoying, I’d say Nnedi Okorafor’s books. In her work, one finds originality that’s surefooted, unassuming, unapologetic, and thoroughly satisfying in its sheer brilliance.”

GeekAfrique: When is ‘The Beautiful Side of The Moon’ coming out, and who’s publishing it?

Adenle: You’ll be the first to know when a release date is decided upon, but I can say it’s definitely 2022, from Ouida Books.