This full-colour graphic novel places Shaka’s rule against the slave trade that was expanding from the East African coast, and the Europeans spreading inland from the south. It draws on the recent research of Prof. Dan Wylie and explores the rise to power of a shrewd young prince who had to consolidate a new kingdom through warfare, mediation, and political alliances in order to defend his people against the expanding slave trade.

All the research is expertly repackaged by the young South African graphic novelist Luke Molver and author Mason O’Connor.

Molver explains: “I believe that people are inherently the same: we feel the same emotions, burn under the same sun and bleed the same red. Shaka Rising is an epic tale set in a different age, but its characters and themes are as familiar to us as sibling rivalry, the heartache of a lost love, or simply a yearning to belong. It is as much a coming-of-age tale as it is a saga of war and politics.”

Molver lives in Durban.

Story Press Africa is a proudly South African imprint. This book has recently been launched in the USA to much acclaim and LAPA is proud to help present it to South African audiences.