Get Your Copy HERE

For my own peace of mind, I chose to stop chasing answers to questions that have never really had one. As a skeptic, I’ve resigned myself to avoiding certain topics altogether; like the meaning of life, the nature of God, whether hell is real or the mysterious powers that live just beyond what our eyes can see.

The one part of my people-pleasing I’ve deliberately chosen not to heal is my tendency to make decisions simply to keep the peace. It’s why you’ll rarely find me poking holes in a religious person’s logic. Honestly, life is hard enough, if someone finds comfort in belief, let them have it. We’ll draw the line when that belief becomes oppressive or crosses someone’s boundaries. Until then, live and let live.

I’m not sure why I’ve gone on this whole tangent, maybe it’s a form of compensation (or overcompensation?) for the thoughts I’m about to share on Franz’s Banda’s War. For a book that dares to explore such loaded themes as, free will and redemption, I think my nervousness is warranted. 

Still, here goes. My hope is to explain my point of view with clarity, honesty and the respect this work deserves. Let’s begin:

Humanising the Beginning

LOL! That immediately pulled up that Jacob Zuma meme in my mind. I digress.

Where it all begins, in the Garden of Eden, is painted in vivid colour, almost like it’s happening in real time. Personally, having grown up Christian, I’ve always found the events that supposedly took place, before life on earth as we know it, to feel far-fetched, almost mythical.

I remember the day in Form One when our history teacher, while introducing the Agrarian Revolution, mentioned the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. My ears perked up. “Wait, what? That’s the actual setting of the Garden of Eden? Mesopotamia.” That was the first time this biblical tale linked itself to something I could physically imagine.

As a kinesthetic learner, I tend to retain things better when they’re tied to real-world experiences. That was the day Eden stopped being an abstract myth for me. I never even cared to confirm it - LoL! So, I found it deeply affirming that Franz also placed this origin story on Earth. Now I have a more grounded setting in mind.

On to the mortals. No time is wasted before we’re told that Adam is handsome, but Eve…Eve is “beautiful to the extent of vulgarity.” And just like that, we get our first taste of the objectification of the female body.

Eve is described as having filled a void in Adam, becoming his perfect companion. But so far, we don’t quite know what Eve gets in return from this divine arrangement.

Now here’s a fun thing I just learned recently; apparently, men can literally switch off their brains. Go completely blank. Which honestly explains where they get time to  meditate on the lies they’re about to tell. LMFAO!

Anyway, Eve is introduced to us as free-spirited, curious even about the forbidden tree. Meanwhile, Adam had been told not to, and that was enough. He just filed that information under “taboo” and didn’t bother questioning it.

If I relate this setup back to my real life, it’s... familiar. Men often don’t sweat the small stuff or plan too far ahead, there’s a general reliance on women to do most if not all the emotional and logistical labour. And when things go sideways? Well, it’s usually the woman who’s to blame.

Maybe it was meant to be, by design. Because when you’re creating from a clean slate, you get to decide who gets what traits. So why create Eve as the curious one, the free thinker, the one who asks “why” , yet these traits are already being painted as troublesome from the start?

God Is a Dictator

The moment I’ve been dreading. Did God truly make humans in His likeness? Let’s swiftly skip over the assumed gender and the fact that heaven sounds suspiciously like a big boys’ club.

Now, if we were made in His image, why are we so terrified to assign Him flaws? Isn’t human to err? So then, it’s one of two things: either God isn’t all-knowing, which would make free will a valid concept… or He is…and knows how everything will unfold, yet chooses to watch it all play out like a cosmic Squid Game. LOL. One thing seems clear though, heaven runs under autocratic rule.

Lucifer, in my view, represents an essential counterpoint. He introduces nuance. He questions. He dares. By encouraging Eve’s curiosity about the forbidden fruit, he opens the door to skepticism, arguably one of life’s most important survival skills. Why must one follow orders blindly?

Even the existence of a law; one that bans something without clearly explaining why, says a lot about God’s leadership style. Let’s assume Adam and Eve were indeed told the consequences of eating the fruit. Still, the question stands: why would the knowledge of good and evil be a bad thing? Also… if the tree was so off-limits, why plant it right in the middle of paradise in the first place? But that’s a whole other can of theological worms. Let’s not get distracted.

Back to Lucifer. His defiance reveals something deeply uncomfortable, the rigid and tyrannical nature of the heavenly structure. That there were other angels who agreed with him? Who admitted they too felt oppressed? That alone suggests that the oppression wasn’t isolated; it had been normalized across the ranks. And when Lucifer finally rebels, he is exiled. Banished. The punishment is swift and dramatic. The way tyrants deal with dissent. 

To me, Lucifer’s story feels less like the fall of a villain and more like the silencing of a revolutionary. A threat to divine order. A man of the people. And honestly, to this day, I still don’t understand what was so wrong with knowing the difference between good and evil.

Existential Questions

First things first, Banda foresees Athella and her friend getting into a road accident and swoops in to rescue them. We also learn that he was once appointed captain of the Iron Clad, Lucifer’s army and together they caused major wars and calamities across the world.

But here’s what I’m left wondering: if the banished angels can foresee the future, doesn’t that mean the heavenly battalion can too? And if they can, why don’t they intervene? Why just let bad things happen to people?

Also, Banda is described as Lucifer’s most powerful right-hand man, feared even by the heavens. If he and the Iron Clad were that terrifying, were the heavenly angels less powerful? Couldn’t they reverse or counter what the Iron Clad unleashed?

And speaking of fearsome beings, Ariel, now Banda, is the only one among all the divinities who seems to experience guilt. Why only him? Not even those in heaven feel guilt for banishing their own ‘brothers’ to eternal exile? Where does guilt come from, then? What makes some carry it while others don’t?

And if atonement is even possible, what does it look like? More importantly, what happens to those already harmed by the actions you're now trying to atone for? What is their compensation? Does healing for one mean justice for the other?

At one point, Ariel returns to heaven, hoping for a chance to redeem himself. When he says he’ll take whatever sentence he’s given at trial, I can’t help but wonder, how many options are there? Could he actually be sentenced to death?

Honestly, with this book, I feel like I have more questions than thoughts.

On a Wishful Note

I enjoyed Banda’s War so much, because it gave me the rare chance to indulge in the “forbidden” thoughts of questioning life as we know it and the powers that lie beyond. These are thoughts I rarely get to voice. We live in a deeply religious society and the few communities of free thinkers I’ve come across, tend to be a bit too radical, often unwilling to hold space for the nuances that colour most aspects of life.

Franz, however, presents some truly thought-provoking ideas; and then takes his time, patiently and thoroughly, to explore them through storytelling. It’s clear he loves conversation. And it’s through those dialogues, between characters, that we’re guided through such a wide spectrum of perspectives. That alone gives me such a high.

Now allow me to play devil’s advocate… quite literally. LOL! I wanted so badly for Lucifer to be portrayed as good. If for nothing else, just for the plot. I found myself agreeing with him in the beginning. When he first rebelled against God, it felt justified. I hoped he’d be portrayed, not as a villain but as a free thinker. Someone who challenged the status quo without necessarily causing chaos.

But instead, he’s painted as the sole architect of destruction. I’d imagined him more as an instigator; stirs things just enough to expose human nature and then steps back. Like what he did with Eve. Consider him opposition. A necessary role to keep the heavenly council on its toes. Only if wishes were sins, I’d already be packing for purgatory.

And while we’re here… this might be controversial, but something I’ve noticed not just in Banda’s War, but across Franz’s writing: Why are the men so spineless? Banda, for instance, never really takes the lead. Even when he meets Athella. He’s older, supposedly wiser, yet still seems to orbit around her world. He operates on her schedule, follows her rhythm.

Yeah yeah…maybe he has a follower personality. But I won’t lie, I’m biased. I favour leaders. Characters who rise, initiate, command. Banda, for all his potential, felt more like a supporting act in his own redemption arc.

That said, I do understand this was a small book. Not everything could be explored in detail. I don’t blame it for what it didn’t unpack. Still, I’m left with the lingering feeling; that once Eve and Adam sinned and Lucifer and his army were exiled… the divine just sat back and watched earth unravel. Which brings us right back to the big question: What is the price of atonement and redemption…and can anyone actually afford it?