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Black Leopard, Red Wolf

(The Dark Star Trilogy #1)

Marlon James

3.44 · Rating details · 17,875 ratings · 4,156 reviews

In the first novel in Marlon James's Dark Star trilogy, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child.

Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: "He has a nose," people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always wo ...more

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Paperback, 640 pages

Published February 4th 2020 by Riverhead Books (first published February 5th 2019)

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· 17,875 ratings · 4,156 reviews

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Feb 28, 2019 jessica rated it it was ok · review of another edition

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NO THANK YOU NOPE.

to say this isnt for me is an understatement, but to claim this is a book for the masses is just a straight up lie. this has been pitched as one of the most buzz-worthy books of 2019 and i had really high hopes for this. but it takes a very particular kind of person to enjoy this story, and that person is definitely not me. i have a lot of thoughts about this, so bear with me.

honestly, this is the most pretentious book i have ever read. its so fa NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NO THANK YOU NOPE.

to say this isnt for me is an understatement, but to claim this is a book for the masses is just a straight up lie. this has been pitched as one of the most buzz-worthy books of 2019 and i had really high hopes for this. but it takes a very particular kind of person to enjoy this story, and that person is definitely not me. i have a lot of thoughts about this, so bear with me.

honestly, this is the most pretentious book i have ever read. its so far beyond high-brow, its in an obnoxious league all on its own. james employs every literary device possible to transform his words into riddles, half-truths, and vague mysteries. as a reader, i dont mind having to sometimes work for a story. some of the best stories take patience to dissect deeper meanings. but what is really happening here is marlon james hiding behind his fancy words and complicated sentences to distract the reader from the lack of substance and development. the rhetoric in this story is dense, convoluted, and bogged down with false promises of something worth reading. the prose is evasive and meandering, dragging the reader around and around in circles without an end in sight. its honestly a disorganised and conceited mess.

also, the amount of lewdness in the book is obscene. im not easily deterred by things sexual in nature, but this is too extreme for me. a big neon flashing trigger warning is necessary for the following: rape, gang rape, pedophilia, bestiality, incest, mutilation of bodies, graphic murder, physical and emotional abuse, repetitious orgies, torture, misogyny, etc. and none of it has any relevance to the plot or progression of the storyline. i understand that mythology doesnt shy away from such brutality, but there is a difference between being aware and just being down right offensive. and this book is the latter.

such a lack of humanity ensures there is nothing redeemable or relatable about this book. had this been a simple story about a tracker and a shapeshifter in search of a missing boy, deeply rooted in african mythology and cultural folklore fantasy, i would have loved this to bits. the concept is phenomenally creative. but this book is nothing that it claims to be.

so if you want to read a book that deceivingly promises a story lush with cultural richness and imaginative fantasy, but is polluted with haughty notions of grandeur and overwhelmingly unnecessary vulgarity, then look no further because this is the book for you.

okay. rant over.

↠ 1.5 stars ...more

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Feb 20, 2019 Roxane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book is a lot--a labyrinth within a maze, an enigma within a conundrum. Beautifully intense prose that doesn't allow for lazy reading. Immense physicality--a very embodied narrative. The length is... a lot. I don't mind a long book but if you're expecting this to be a traditional fantasy novel you're going to get smacked in the face. The plot is meandering and elusive. There are a hundred characters and settings. Epic is truly the word for this book in terms of scope, narrative, ambition, e ...more

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Feb 04, 2018 karen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dear-hero-imprisoned, oh-no-biiiiiiirds

looking for great books to read during black history month...and the other eleven months? i'm going to float some of my favorites throughout the month, and i hope they will find new readers!

oooh, goodreads choice awards semifinalist for BEST FANTASY 2019! what will happen?

as you can see, i am very far behind in my reading challenge, and this book is largely to blame. i have been looking forward to this book for a whole year, and i’d planned on spending the day of its release reading all 620 page ...more

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Feb 01, 2019 chai ♡ marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: poc-rep, adult-sff, adult, lgbtq-rep, fiction, 2019-releases

book: *is an epic fantasy*

me: hm. ok

book: *is set in a fantasy version of Africa and is deeply rooted in African mythology, complete with vampires, witches, necromancers, shape-shifters and double-crossing ex-boyfriends while on a mercenary job*

me: oh shit. ohgh fuck!!!!!

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Feb 07, 2019 Emma rated it it was ok · review of another edition

It seems rather simplistic to say the book isn’t enjoyable, especially since I doubt that’s what the author was aiming for in the first place, but it’s certainly no easy fare either way. While it’s sold as a fantasy novel, it’s styled more in the vein of the classical poetic tradition, an inventive and challenging blend of imagination, myth, and history. Of course, the African foundation brings with it different types of stories and forms than those which underly the Greek/Roman mythic tradition It seems rather simplistic to say the book isn’t enjoyable, especially since I doubt that’s what the author was aiming for in the first place, but it’s certainly no easy fare either way. While it’s sold as a fantasy novel, it’s styled more in the vein of the classical poetic tradition, an inventive and challenging blend of imagination, myth, and history. Of course, the African foundation brings with it different types of stories and forms than those which underly the Greek/Roman mythic tradition but the same fundamental questioning is at its heart. Like Ovid’s Metamorphoses, it’s an interconnected compilation of stories, featuring representations of violence and transformation throughout. Here, the overarching narrative is the tracking of a lost child, but this is a book of movement and journey, change and discovery. There’s so much more to it than this one tale, instead it’s a meandering exploration of an unknowable world.

And yet, it's precisely this which is its downfall. The pacing is uneven and the whole experience one of crazy disorganisation. It reads like a dreamscape, full of portent and stark brutality. The writing is often staccato, list-like, with small, well-crafted sentences that are a perfect foil for Marlon James’ ability, showcasing his striking imagery and unusual connections. Yes, it’s beautiful at times, but, for me at least, emotionless. There’s so much power in the description, so much said with so little: ‘my father was looking to win, not to play’. How much history and painful knowledge is in those few words? How much does it say about the relationship between father and son? And yet because the structure reads like this happened and this happened and this happened, I could see these moments and what they’re supposed to mean, but I couldn’t feel them. Interactions are like theatrical exchanges, more statements than conversation, everything performative and apparently profound. Characters have limited realism, some act as symbols, some merely a means of upping the violence levels still further. When read all at once, it’s an endless and eventually numbing litany of misery and horror that loses any meaning.

What’s even more distancing is the sordid humanity. The more myth I read, and I mean real myth not the sanitised Disney versions, the more it feels like an endlessly repetitive orgy of rape and violence, both human and divine. And this is no exception. The misogynistic narrator is obsessively sexual and the book is filled with references to and descriptions of abuse, rape, gang rape, borderline bestiality, and other sexual weirdness that seems to have no real relevance. Right in the opening pages Tracker taunts his jailor for wanting to have sex with a child. I don’t usually do trigger warnings but this book should have big flashing neon signs. Actually, I don’t really know how much of this stuff was in the book as a whole was but it felt like too much. Altogether tiresome and unnecessary. It takes a lot to make me flinch but the amount of times I wondered why the hell I was continuing to read this book was way more frequent than I’d usually put up with. And why? Because it’s Marlon James. Because he’s this cool-as-shit writer and I’m the one missing something. Maybe I am, but I can’t bring myself to care that much.

Would I recommend it? No. Not as a novel to sit down and lose yourself in. As an exploration of folklore and myth, sure. As an example of a particular style of writing, definitely. All I’d say is before you pick up this book, know what you’re getting into.

ARC via publisher ...more

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Feb 11, 2019 Tatiana marked it as dnf · review of another edition

Recommends it for: those who appreciate high-brow lit, NOT GOT fans

Recommended to Tatiana by: promise of Afro-centric fantasy

Shelves: tres-annoying, 2019, foreign-lands, fantasy

I surrender.

I can handle many things as a reader:

The highly stylized, dense prose, when you don't really understand what's going on but just have to immerse yourself in a narrative until it starts making sense.

All the raping and gore and general fixation on penis as THE center of everyone's world.

Messiness of time lines.

James uses every tool in his toolbox of pretentious literary devices. If he wants to dedicate half a page to explaining that Leopard smells like ass, ok, fine, go for it (#higha ...more

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Feb 09, 2019 Read By RodKelly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

By now, one can easily identify certain features that define the "Jamesian" style: cinematic violence, shameless sexuality, perverse, sharp humor and wit, flawlessly rendered settings, and virtuosic, rhythmic language. There is also the strong presence of the fantastic: ghosts and spirits, obeah women and demons who haunt the pages of his visceral stories.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf finds Marlon James at the peak of his powers, unafraid to shed the cloak of realism that won him the Man Booker prize By now, one can easily identify certain features that define the "Jamesian" style: cinematic violence, shameless sexuality, perverse, sharp humor and wit, flawlessly rendered settings, and virtuosic, rhythmic language. There is also the strong presence of the fantastic: ghosts and spirits, obeah women and demons who haunt the pages of his visceral stories.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf finds Marlon James at the peak of his powers, unafraid to shed the cloak of realism that won him the Man Booker prize in favor of a full-blown, epic fantasy saga. (And at a time when genre-snobbery is at an all-time high.) In the hands of this master novelist, the genre's conventions are blown apart and reassembled as something bold and subversive, aware of its capaciousness but incredibly nuanced and carefully built. It is a novel that resists categorization and description, set as it is in an impeccably and exhaustively researched world of folklore and myth drawn from regions of Central and West Africa, and exploratory of contemporary themes of gender equality and political corruption, queer identity and the exploration of love (and glorious sex 🤷🏽‍♂️) between black men. The characters in this novel are sublimely realized. So much care went into their conception and I was stunned by the depth and range of emotion MJ was able to coax from his sundry band of flawed creatures.

Defying the Western belief in one definitive version of a story, BLRW is structured as an oral epic in which stories lead to more stories which lead to yet more, ultimately providing the reader with a conundrum of reliability: who tells the truth and whose story is being told? Marlon James chooses to leave that entirely up to the reader. There are many elusive layers of detail to sift through from the very beginning: a test of endurance, almost asking "do you really want to hear this story?" But once past its shadowy prologue, the story proceeds in a frenetic rush of action that totally engages the senses, creating an insanely, compulsively addictive reading experience.

Read this for the beautiful depiction of queer love that is the true heart of the novel, a total subversion of masculine isms and male sexuality in literature. Or read it for the dejected women who rail against a corrupt patriarchy, giving voice to the trauma and abuse suffered at the hands of thoughtless men. Read it for the thrill of the quest, the adventure, replete with monsters and demons, cities in the sky and markets where witches trade in baby parts, among countless other darkly fantastic elements. The immensity of adventure in this novel lends itself to an immensity of purpose which takes familiar novelistic themes and fantasy genre tropes, and radically molds them into a form both new and hypnotic in its scope and imaginative fearlessness. ...more

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Nov 03, 2019 Nilufer Ozmekik rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: maybe

In the middle of the book, I wanted to close it forever and HIT THE ROAD WITH MY JACK (I meant Jack Daniels bottle) DON’T WANT TO READ THIS NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE!

Or they tried to make me go rehab or read this book! And I said no, no, no (for both of them!!!!)

So I left my two stars, take my cannoli and take the longest swag from my Chardonnay to recover!

I’m not sure I’m reading the same book with the lovers and fans. Maybe after writing so much teasing reviews, the publishers start to pull pran ...more

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Feb 03, 2019 Jennifer (Insert Lit Pun) added it · review of another edition

I felt oddly removed from this book at the beginning, and by the end I was crying every other page. So there's that. ...more

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Feb 14, 2019 Feyzan - The Raven Boy rated it did not like it · review of another edition

DNF at 40%

it's a pretty good book, I suppose. if you like them dipped in dog shit, cows piss and utterly rotten.

If i were the publisher and someone had brought this book to me, I'd have advised them to consider getting some help. I don't know what is wrong with Marlon James, but I am pretty sure something is malfunctioning in his brain. Whatever the case, I am really curious to know what was going on in his life when he decided to write this book, and what kind of head space was he in when he DNF at 40%

it's a pretty good book, I suppose. if you like them dipped in dog shit, cows piss and utterly rotten.

If i were the publisher and someone had brought this book to me, I'd have advised them to consider getting some help. I don't know what is wrong with Marlon James, but I am pretty sure something is malfunctioning in his brain. Whatever the case, I am really curious to know what was going on in his life when he decided to write this book, and what kind of head space was he in when he thought it would be a great idea to write about child molestation, rape and murder. I mean this dude has crossed all lines.

This book comes with a trigger warning for everything known to men and more.

There is Rape on every single page.
Homophobia.
Incest.
Pedophilia.
Teleiophillia.
Child abuse.
Mutilation of bodies, specially of children's.
Cannibalism.
Violence.
Kidnapping.
Torture.
Foul language.
Gritty murders.
General disgust arising from superfluous description of genitalia, smell of butt cracks, weird creatures that rape with their huge penises etc.

If it were a stand alone book, I might have forced myself to finish it, but it's a fucking trilogy. I can't, I just can't.

To be absolutely clear this book is disturbing and disgusting.

Now let's move on to the plot and the writing.

Plot was interesting. If it weren't filled with disgusting, gory, creepy shit, I would have enjoyed it. However, i can't say the same for the writing and the structure of the book. It felt like the book was being complicated for the sake of being complicated, like there were stories within a story, (inception level shit) and characters that only talked to each other in riddles.

Almost nothing was grounded in reality. It's was excruciating and painful to read because there was nothing I could relate to.

Edit: After recieving hate on my initial review, I decided to add this note to clarify myself.

I know it's an oxymoron to use fantasy and reality in the same sentence, I am not an idiot to not see that. My point is that almost all fantasy books have some real elements, either in the world building or in the characters, to make readers feel at home. However, this book felt like a course in quantum physics. I couldn't feel anything for anything and I mostly blame the superfluous writing for it. A simpler writing style and plot structure would have made a great difference.

PS: My negative opnion is like a grain of salt in the sea of positive reviews so it shouldn't matter what i think about this book. You are allowed to love this book just as I am allowed not to. Take a chill pill and move on. No need to send hateful comments and death threats.

Things I liked about this book:

1. Plot.
So the plot was alot like NoTW and GoT, and it was the main reason I kept pushing myself to read it but the structure and writing was way too complex for me to fully immerse into it. I think a TV or movie adaptation would be a better way to consume this story.

2. African myths.
Lets be honest the only reason I picked this book was the fact that it was based around African myths and mythical creatures. I was super excited and went into it with high expectations, which also played a role in intensifying my disappointment for the book. But I really enjoyed the mythical aspect of the book and I really want to learn more about these myths and creatures.

3. Concept.
OK so the concept, as explained by the Marlon James himself, seemed pretty unique and intriguing. The whole idea of telling the same story from three different perspectives is bloody genius, in my opnion. However, the execution was bad or you can say it wasn't for me.

FAQs
Am I curious to know the ending?
- Yes, I am.
Will continue reading?
- No, I'll watch the movie instead.
Will I recommend this book?
- I won't. But if you are into dark, gritty, complex books then you can give it a shot. I recommend you to read a few pages (if possible) before purchasing the book to familiarize yourself with the writing style, 'cos this shit ain't for everyone. ...more

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Feb 20, 2019 Michael rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019, recs

I read and reviewed this book for Lambda Literary, where my full review can be found; my thoughts also can be found on my blog.

Full of violence, suspense, and mystery, Black Leopard, Red Wolf charts the adventures of an unforgettable pair of mercenaries as they hunt for a lost boy. Taking place in a fictional continent based on Iron Age Africa, the colossal, six-part tale hybridizes fantasy, historical fiction, and epic. In terse but intricately constructed prose, Tracker, or “Red Wolf,” recount ...more

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Feb 21, 2019 Spencer Orey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: magic-forests

Imagine the X-Men in a fantastical ancient Africa, on a wild roadtrip through nonstop magical terrors.

It started a bit slow for me, but by 200 pages in, I was hooked. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. Can't wait for the sequels and the movie.

The violence in this book (especially the ceaseless sexual violence) can be very challenging and disturbing, but I think it makes a strong point that written violence should feel disturbing. It shouldn't be easy to gloss over the battles. Vio ...more

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Mar 24, 2019 ☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Maniaks. Boring porn & torture addicts. Lovers of disjointed ramblings.

Recommended to ☘Misericordia☘ by: I was deluded by GOT-themed marketing.

Shelves: crap, shit, deliria-diary, junk, i-won-t-finish-it, pretentiousness, worst-books, don-t-try-this-at-home, i-shouldn-t-have-started-it-damn

Eh, is this book for serious? Was everyone reading some book other than the one I did?

This is supposed to be some kind of African Game of Thrones. At least it's often hyped as such.
Instead, I got something like an obscene cross between:
~ the Aboriginal myths of the African tribes,
~ blatant YA intermixed with hopelessly flat adult situations seemingly happening on each page,
- pointlessly gorish description of a bunch of adventures happening all over the place,
~ writings of some emigree who hasn ...more

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Feb 17, 2018 Meike rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: jamaica, 2019-read, usa

Now a Finalist for the National Book Award 2019
Fuck the gods!, as the protagonist of this epic would put it, this clearly is a 5-star-read, and I don't even like fantasy! James takes his readers to an ancient, otherwordly Africa, where themes of Greek and African mythology merge into a sprawling tale about the battles between different tribes and kingdoms, all of them with their own beliefs, powers, and cultures. We join our narrator Tracker, who possesses the gift of a heightened sense of smell Now a Finalist for the National Book Award 2019
Fuck the gods!, as the protagonist of this epic would put it, this clearly is a 5-star-read, and I don't even like fantasy! James takes his readers to an ancient, otherwordly Africa, where themes of Greek and African mythology merge into a sprawling tale about the battles between different tribes and kingdoms, all of them with their own beliefs, powers, and cultures. We join our narrator Tracker, who possesses the gift of a heightened sense of smell, in the quest for a young boy -but the first sentences already give away the ending: "The child is dead. There is nothing left to know." The focus of this novel is on searching, and in more than one way.

In the central storyline of the book, Tracker joins a gang of characters who aim to find the mysterious boy for their powerful client - but at that point, they don't know who the boy really is and what they are getting themselves into. Among this illustrous group are a witch, a killer with superhuman strength, a magical buffalo, and of course Tracker's lover, the shape-shifting Leopard (and yes, Red Wolf is Tracker himself, but you have to find out why by reading the novel! :-)). The group roams the lands in search of the boy, encountering all kinds of people and creatures along the way.

Ultimately, angry and sensitive Tracker, who has no family, is searching for purpose, for meaning. He himself seems to be unsure whether he is good or even striving for what's good, but he clearly perceives the vacuousness in the hate and violence around him. He is lost and trying to be found - but by what? My guess is that this question may be central to the whole Dark Star Trilogy.

Another captivating aspect of the book is the way James adds more and more stories to that of Tracker: There are no shifting points of view, rather, other perspectives are revealed through storytelling. Yes, there are numerous stories the characters tell each other, thus creating a written text that heavily relies on oral traditions. The people choose to reveal themselves to Tracker, and often, they prove to be unreliable narrators, omitting important details or giving false Information. This narrative technique adds a lot of suspense to the overall story and depth to the characters.

On top of that, James shines with his inventive language - he manages to give his characters unique voices that do not only convey thoughts and information, but reflect the spirits of the speakers. In fact, I would claim that it's the characters who make this story so addictive: Sure, the chase for the boy is suspenseful and the narrative arc is very smart, but the fascinating, often contradictory personalities of Tracker, Leopard, Sadogo and the others are what glues the reader to this text.

Asked when the next installment of the trilogy will be published, James answered: "Well, my publisher thinks in two years." I really hope it won't take longer! :-) ...more

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May 03, 2019 Lori rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Blood, Sex and Magic
If you’re not put off by the violence and gross bits, then it’s a perfectly normal epic quest adventure.

description

The plot is like a wild run amuck-garden full of enchantment and evil. The writing is lush almost to the point texture or smell. Equally true for the sensual application of clay as for the torture by those hyena-bitches.

The narrative fragments in places, but some people like it when the camera shakes. Besides, the fellows are cute with their jealous fight and the buffalo i ...more

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Feb 07, 2019 Marchpane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: big-books, 2019-releases

Black Leopard, Red Wolf is an epic sword-and-sorcery fantasy novel from Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James. This is not literary fiction dressed up in genre clothing! What it is: fantasy at its freshest and most exciting, deeply rooted in African history and myth.

Lone wolf Tracker and a rag tag bunch of shapeshifters, witches and mercenaries reluctantly team up to locate a missing child, encountering along the way all manner of winged demons, evil spirits, slavers, white scientists, an Black Leopard, Red Wolf is an epic sword-and-sorcery fantasy novel from Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James. This is not literary fiction dressed up in genre clothing! What it is: fantasy at its freshest and most exciting, deeply rooted in African history and myth.

Lone wolf Tracker and a rag tag bunch of shapeshifters, witches and mercenaries reluctantly team up to locate a missing child, encountering along the way all manner of winged demons, evil spirits, slavers, white scientists, and warring royals. Their quest takes them all over a spectacularly imagined fantasy world, where all is not what it seems. It’s a dark, dizzying, vibrant, surreal immersion into African folklore; a grotesquery of nightmares.

The book is structured as a picaresque which reduced to its most simplistic terms consists of: Tracker and his band of travellers arrive in location – describe location’s physical features, politics, culture – encounter some bad guys – describe bad guys’ physical features, magic powers, motivations – BADASS ACTION SEQUENCE – and repeat. Obviously, it’s much more sophisticated than that, but you get the idea. It's an odyssey. The cycle occurs more times than is strictly necessary for the overarching narrative to unfurl, but really this is the kind of book that’s about the journey more than the destination. You’re not just reading to find out how it ends (though there is that too) but for everything that happens along the way; for the incredible, vivid world that is wrought; for the characters and creatures that inhabit it. In this way, it is much closer to older storytelling forms - oral tradition, ancient folktales and myths - than to the three-act structure of most contemporary novels.

Potential criticisms of Black Leopard, Red Wolf – side characters are underdeveloped, political machinations are both murky and simplistic – are mitigated by the fact that this seems to be all part of James’s master plan for the trilogy and will be redressed in parts 2 & 3. Meanwhile, this book manages to subvert almost every fantasy trope. Tracker himself is less ‘hero on noble quest’ and more like a world-weary PI from a hard-boiled noir, albeit one with enhanced abilities. From there, his character develops in fascinating and heartbreaking ways.

The focus on one character means that the book sustains much the same intensity and tone throughout its 600-plus pages. There aren’t the usual narrative tricks to propel you along, and we know from the beginning that Tracker at least survives to tell his tale. So it’s best to sink into the story, just let it unfold the way Tracker wants to tell it, and trust that James is in total control of his vision. Tracker has a way of skipping ahead, then circling back; of telling tales within tales, until you’re thoroughly disoriented and have forgotten how many levels deep into story-inception you are. But he also provides helpful recaps along the way, invaluable for keeping the threads straight in a book this long.

It’s interesting that James has chosen to give us only Tracker’s slippery first person POV here, rather than alternating POVs of different characters. We know from interviews that the trilogy will include other voices and perspectives, but we’re made to wait for them. Is Tracker telling the truth? Everything we think we know from Black Leopard, Red Wolf can be turned on its head in book 2 and that’s sooo exciting. I just hope he writes fast! ...more

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Jan 28, 2019 Ron Charles rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: spooky-creatures, special-needs

Stand aside, Beowulf. There’s a new epic hero slashing his way into our hearts, and we may never get all the blood off our hands.

Marlon James is a Jamaican-born writer who won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” his blazing novel about the attempted assassination of Bob Marley. Now, James is clear-cutting space for a whole new kingdom. “Black Leopard, Red Wolf,” the first spectacular volume of a planned trilogy, rises up from the mists of time, glistening like visc ...more

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Feb 10, 2019 Chris Morgan rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: abandoned

I really, really, really wanted to like this. At first I was deeply engrossed, but within the span of fifty pages, I had all but zoned out. The stream-of-consciousness style of writing with an overuse of pronouns over names, stop-start stacatto style sentences and abundance of coarse sex just rubbed me wrong. The setting is rich, but almost glossed over. Characters are archetypal and dialogue is often a tedious back and forth of riddles where nothing makes sense. James frequently uses peusdo-dee ...more

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Feb 13, 2019 PorshaJo added it · review of another edition

Shelves: did-not-finish

OK, I'm done with this one. I tried. Adding to my DNF pile, not to be revisited. I tried the audio. I love accents and this one was a heavy accent that required a lot of concentration on my part...and constant rewinding. I also had the print which I frequently had to use when I was confused. But it seemed I was more confused reading this one than I wanted to be. It's also very, very graphic. I'm not a prude but it just seemed to me a lot was unnecessary. I was so excited for this one but I've ma ...more

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Feb 10, 2019 Daniel B. rated it liked it · review of another edition

I have so many feelings about this one. Can't really see myself giving it a simple 1-5 rating. Needs a heck of a lot of discussion. ...more

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Feb 08, 2019 Perry rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: abandoned

Not only do I not wanna finish this novel. I don't even wanna wanna.

I was so looking forward to the experience. I sang the praises of Marlon James' A Brief History of Seven Killings. I refuse to suffer another 400 pages after surviving 300 pages, nearly half a doorstopper ravaged by the most, and most graphic of, gratuitous anal rapes/assaults of men, women, boys and beasts that have ever been rammed into a few hundred pages of literary fiction.

Mayhaps, this the way of this fantasy world, bu ...more

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Oct 29, 2018 BookOfCinz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series, edge-of-your-pages, marathon-read, all-the-feels, believe-the-hype, bookofcinzshelf, 2018-reads, cant-shut-up-about-this

“Black Leopard, Red Wolf” by Marlon James is the first book on the Dark Star Trilogy. This trilogy has already been dubbed in the publishing world as “the African Game of Thrones” and I will tell you why soon. The publication date for this is January 2019 but thanks to those amazing people over at Riverhead Books I get an early peek into this enthralling tale.

We meet the main character Tracker, a hunter who is know for his nose- once he catches the scent of a person he cannot let it go until “Black Leopard, Red Wolf” by Marlon James is the first book on the Dark Star Trilogy. This trilogy has already been dubbed in the publishing world as “the African Game of Thrones” and I will tell you why soon. The publication date for this is January 2019 but thanks to those amazing people over at Riverhead Books I get an early peek into this enthralling tale.

We meet the main character Tracker, a hunter who is know for his nose- once he catches the scent of a person he cannot let it go until that person is found, dead or alive. It is because of this specific skill Tracker is commissioned to look for a boy who disappeared under very mysterious circumstances three years ago. Tracker finds out he is not the only person looking for the boy, and the search turns into a team effort, but not everyone on the team can be trusted. The group that accompanies Tracker on his search is filled with mysterious characters all with secrets and hidden agendas.

Tracker and his team move from one city to a next, through enchanted forests and magical doors. Their journey is filled with curveballs and mythical creature intent on killing them. The group ends up getting divided, mistrust surrounds them, and Tracker cannot help but question why he decided to find this boy and who he can trust to help him complete his mission.

To be fair, it took awhile for me to get into the book but after the first 70 pages it was smooth sailing. I think with the numerous characters and interwoven storylines of each character is becomes a bit hard to keep track of who is who. In true Marlon James’ fashion the book is filled with very graphic scenes both sexually and in the description of how persons died. If you can push through these scenes without your stomach turning, then you are good to go.

Honestly, Marlon James did not disappoint with his first installation of the Dark Star Trilogy. I was kept guessing the entire time. I cannot wait for the next installation in this series. I am hoping this series makes it to the big screen, I want to see these characters come to life. This is a must read for me!

Full review on www.bookofcinz.com ...more

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Mar 15, 2019 Alex rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

My mom got me a book of African folklore when I was a kid but she didn’t check it out very carefully, and the end of the story is that it was full of dicks. Fuuullllll of dicks. I learned a lot from that book. One guy threshes grain with his dick. The trickster Eshu-Elegba is gender-fluid with a ten-foot dick.

“It was a very sensual and sensory world," says Marlon James, who’s woven African folktales - their tricksters and their shape-changing and their dicks - into this magisterial first chapter My mom got me a book of African folklore when I was a kid but she didn’t check it out very carefully, and the end of the story is that it was full of dicks. Fuuullllll of dicks. I learned a lot from that book. One guy threshes grain with his dick. The trickster Eshu-Elegba is gender-fluid with a ten-foot dick.

“It was a very sensual and sensory world," says Marlon James, who’s woven African folktales - their tricksters and their shape-changing and their dicks - into this magisterial first chapter in the African Lord of the Rings. Or, people are calling it the African Game of Thrones because it’s cooler to say that, and also because there’s a lot of violence, and that’s fine too. James has mixed a lot of things up in his cauldron here. It’s definitely fantasy, anyway. You have your epic journey, your band of adventurers. There are memorable villains: the ceiling-walking omoluzu reminded me of dementors. There are magical settings: the Darklands are like Mirkwood.

James, the lauded author of 2015’s Brief History of Seven Killings, has written a fantasy epic that stands out because it’s African. Also because it’s full of dicks, and I mean that in a gay way because it is very gay, and between that and our hero’s signature catch phrase, “Fuck the gods!" which he says on nearly every page, half the fun of this book is imagining some Midwestern housewife picking this up by accident and her hair going gray overnight like a Victorian widow. I don’t know if the gay African fantasy market is underserved - seriously, I have no idea - but here you go, dudes.

Much of the African stuff is taken directly from folklore. Asanbonsam, a pink-skinned cannibal, is real. So are the Eloko (grass trolls) and the Impundulu (lightning vampire). James has tapped a rich vein.

It’s a little hard to keep track of the plot sometimes? James is one of these authors who think it’s tacky to just tell you what’s happening, they have to fancy it all up with words and whatever. It’s not my favorite thing. They’re looking for a kid and I don’t honestly care who he is, it’s a MacGuffin, let’s get on with the weird fights.

But the imagination is gripping enough to make up for it, and I think this will become a fantasy classic. There’s a whole treehouse city, and wait til you hear how it’s powered! (It’s awful.) Michael B. Jordan bought the rights to it, like, instantly, so you can expect to see that soon. It’s got nifty magic, exciting adventures, and memorable characters. And it’s full of dicks. ...more

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Jan 18, 2019 Eric Anderson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

You can watch my over-excited fangirl video review here!

What a wholly-immersive wild adventure this novel is! Going into it I knew Marlon James has a talent for writing intricate sweeping tales from having read his previous novel “A Brief History of Seven Killings". That book greatly enhanced his international prominence having won the Booker Prize in 2015. That same year I was one of the judges of The Green Carnation Prize and we also selected his novel as a winner - not just for the magnificen ...more

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Mar 25, 2019 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read2019, reviewcopy, ebooks, sci-fi-fantasy, 2019-sword, tournament-of-books

This may be an unpopular opinion.

After reading glowing reviews of this book and listening to several passionate reviews with the author about his research and intentions, I was excited to read this book. It was quite a slog for me but I kept coming back to it to try to see what others were seeing.

Around halfway, the parts did coalesce and I felt I could finally sink into the story, but it also grew in violence at this point. So I take issue with two major components - this reads like a mind-dum ...more

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Mar 14, 2019 K.J. Charles added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, its-not-you-its-me, dnf, african

DNF at 88%, which is to say after nearly 550pp.

There is so much amazing about this book. African inspired fantasy, huge sense of culture, intriguing cast of characters, lots of really chewy stuff to think about, lovely use of language, and some really striking ideas and turns of phrase (the human-centipedy equivalent of what Europeans would call 'black magic' is 'white science'). It is horrifically violent, including much on page gore, slavery, rape and child abuse of the most horrifying sort, DNF at 88%, which is to say after nearly 550pp.

There is so much amazing about this book. African inspired fantasy, huge sense of culture, intriguing cast of characters, lots of really chewy stuff to think about, lovely use of language, and some really striking ideas and turns of phrase (the human-centipedy equivalent of what Europeans would call 'black magic' is 'white science'). It is horrifically violent, including much on page gore, slavery, rape and child abuse of the most horrifying sort, but there is a sort of fable/dreamscape feel to it that makes it just about bearable. Huge amounts of misogyny in both the society and the narrator, but this is increasingly challenged throughout the book in what's clearly shown to be a steep learning curve. Queer characters (all cis men) front and centre, though in a very homophobic gender-essentialist world (which the author is using absolutely deliberately--this is not a lazy 'that's just how the world is' set-up).

But it's way too long. The plot doesn't even start till about 30%, the journey scenes are meandering, the conversations repetitive to the point of screaming, the motion of the story goes in long slow loops that are constantly interrupted by other stories and stories within stories. Clearly this is a deliberate style to give the sense of an oral fable or indeed a dream. But also--and again intentionally--our narrator is this deeply damaged, loveless, affectless individual who doesn't like engaging with people or want to reveal his feelings. That keeps the reader at arms length throughout the book--making the brutality more bearable, but unquestionably meaning it's hard to care, or to get to know the other characters as seen through his eyes. That combines with the dreamscape sense to make it very hard for me at least to engage emotionally with the book at all.

The narrator starts to change in the last third, as we see him falling in love and the hard shell breaking. This is really interesting as we suddenly get a more descriptive sense of the world, a far stronger impression of the other characters and of the narrator's inner life. Loved that part. And then the narrative jumps to someone else giving a precis of how (view spoiler) and then we're suddenly several years later when everything has gone to shit again, and I'm afraid that was just one narrative shift too many for me.

It is quite possible I'm trying to impose my sense of how a story should be told onto this book rather than appreciating it for what it is. It is also possible that I'd have more inclination to spend another few hours in this world if I didn't find the extreme violence so ghastly. YMMV; I just can't. ...more

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Feb 23, 2019 Kyle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-fantasy, favorites, lgbtqia

I don’t even know where to begin...

Trigger Warnings: EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF... and then some!

(Seriously, take my review with a grain of salt— I like obscene and weird shit, and that’s certainly not the majority’s cup o’ tea. I like a multi-layered story that may seem pretentious on the surface, but deeply nuanced under the grimy film on top.)

*What follows is not a coherent review, but just tidbits I jotted down while reading:
-The first 100 pages were like a very long Prologue. I don’t even know where to begin...

Trigger Warnings: EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF... and then some!

(Seriously, take my review with a grain of salt— I like obscene and weird shit, and that’s certainly not the majority’s cup o’ tea. I like a multi-layered story that may seem pretentious on the surface, but deeply nuanced under the grimy film on top.)

*What follows is not a coherent review, but just tidbits I jotted down while reading:
-The first 100 pages were like a very long Prologue. The main story doesn’t really kick in until then.
-Exhaustively researched mythology and folklore from the entire African continent.
-Marlon James has literally made an EPIC fantasy, heavily influenced by Africa, it’s various countries, cultures, peoples, creatures, and customs.
-Surrealism, sex, horror, love, religion, sex, absurdity, violence, gore, sex, magic, wonderment, evil, more sex.
-It’s so fucking weird, I love it!
-This book is bursting with stories— it starts with a tale being told to the “Inquisitor”, and then branches into stories stacked upon stories like a literary tower; and more stories nesting inside other stories like a freakish matryoshka. There is a LOT to take in, with more characters, names, places, and history to remember if not giving your complete attention. It can become overwhelming if you let it, but after a while of reading consistently and thoroughly, I managed alright. The map and list of characters at the beginning of the novel help ease a bit of the confusion, also.
-It gets exponentially more mystifying and confounding (and remains so, in all honestly), but the overall plot is strong, full of mystery, intrigue, and dramatic absurdity, and I was wholly invested in it. It’s richly layered in terms of how storytelling is utilized, but also in language and dialogue. Every character is an unreliable narrator, and with the heavy amounts of double-speak going on, my brain was getting whiplash.
-There is an applaudable level of diversity here— LGBTQ, race (almost every character represented is dark-skinned: African, Middle Eastern (?), South Asian (?)), many strong, yet flawed, female characters.
-Come the end, I had laughed, I had cried, I had cringed, I had cringed some more, but ultimately I was left totally and completely lost... and I am so goddamn ready for MORE!!! ...more

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Jun 16, 2019 Mel (Epic Reading) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, own-ebook, library-print

Brilliant, disturbing, intense, elaborate and ingenious are all words I'd use to describe Black Leopard, Red Wolf. Marlon James has taken the epic fantasy genre to a new level and in a different direction that feels uniquely his own. The setting is rich with African influences, supernatural beings like I've never seen/heard of before, and a brutality that reflects what life would really be like in a society filled with shape shifters, witches, demons, zombies, vampires and so much more. Many of ...more

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Aug 02, 2019 Matthew Quann rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: not-can-us-or-uk, whip-smart, fantasy, big-books-500-pages-plus, literary-fiction, hype

If a Venn diagram showing who might love Black Leopard, Red Wolf existed, I think you’d find me quite snuggly nestled in its overlapping circles of fantasy and literary fiction.

Since it was announced, I’ve been absolutely jazzed about Marlon James’ new novel. Though it was a lot of work, A Brief History of Seven Killings left an indelible mark on my literary consciousness and imagining what the man behind that novel could produce in the world of fantasy was positively electrifying.

Black Le ...more

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Feb 06, 2019 Thomas Wagner rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

[4.5*] Even if it weren’t riding a wave of pre-release hype based on its author’s reputation as a winner of the Man Booker Prize, Marlon James’s Black Leopard, Red Wolf would be a landmark epic fantasy. More than perhaps any recent work in the field since Steven Erikson wrapped the Malazan Book of the Fallen, this is a story that takes the “epic” aspect of the genre seriously and takes a running jump into the deep end with both feet.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf isn’t interested in any rules but its o [4.5*] Even if it weren’t riding a wave of pre-release hype based on its author’s reputation as a winner of the Man Booker Prize, Marlon James’s Black Leopard, Red Wolf would be a landmark epic fantasy. More than perhaps any recent work in the field since Steven Erikson wrapped the Malazan Book of the Fallen, this is a story that takes the “epic” aspect of the genre seriously and takes a running jump into the deep end with both feet.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf isn’t interested in any rules but its own, carving its own niche within the genre. It has a way of feeling both old and new at the same time. You haven’t experienced any book quite like this before. Yet it feels legitimately ancient, as if it carries the weight of 4,000 years of legend. Whatever expectations you might be bringing to the story — including the simplistic idea that this is an “African Game of Thrones” — should be thrown out right now.

I won’t even begin to guess what James’s following among literary fiction fans will think of this fever dream of a novel. For fantasy readers, I can point to a few antecedents that may help get the water warm. Readers of N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy will have experienced the kind of immersive, often sensually overwhelming worldbuilding James offers, as well as a story that plays out on an enormous canvas while drawing its readers in emotionally with intimate attention to character relationships, especially among families, as well as the trauma of feeling uprooted and displaced. If you’ve read Kai Ashante Wilson, then you’ll be ready for this book’s amped-up homoeroticism. Finally, readers who go way back will pick out some possible influence from Charles Saunders, a mostly-forgotten writer from the 1970s who created Imaro, a series of stories that were basically Black Conan, and which, like this book, took place in a richly imagined mythic Africa unmarred by Western colonialism.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf is yet very much its own animal, a book that has no interest in offering you comfort or safe harbor as it propels you through a dense, often bewildering maze of an adventure. But like any maze... (continued...) ...more

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About Marlon James

Marlon James

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Marlon James is a Jamaican-born writer. He has published three novels: John Crow's Devil (2005), The Book of Night Women (2009) and A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014), winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize. Now living in Minneapolis, James teaches literature at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

James was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to parents who were both in the Jamaican police: his mo ...more