He’s deeply flawed-brash, violent and distrustful of love - and brings those qualities with him as joins a crew set on finding a mysterious missing child.Īt 620 pages, Black Leopard is an ambitious undertaking, even for readers used to Martin’s dense prose and meandering storytelling. Tracker, the protagonist, is a man whose sense of smell reveals the whereabouts and recent deeds of those he encounters. There’s no Jon Snow in the world James created: “I wasn’t trying to write some noble warrior walking through the bush,” he says. Jemisin, whose works push back against stereotypes about the types of figures who “should” appear in fantasy fiction. And it joins the ranks of those by authors like Tomi Adeyemi and N.K. James says he even “cheated” - his word - and studied how Martin crafts violent sequences with mythical creatures.īut James’ book is set in a distant-past Africa and filled with queer characters of color inspired by the continent’s history and mythology. 'Told with James' inimitable linguistic verve.Riotous, ultraviolent, dazzlingly inventive.It turns out that James’ new epic, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, which hits shelves today and kicks off a trilogy, does resemble Martin’s series, in a few key ways: each features warring royals, deadly beasts and plenty of graphic sex scenes and bloody battles. 'James masterfully flips the first instalment on its head. a titanic story of empire, adventure and power.' - Esquire 'Moving, vivid, and thought-provoking.brilliant.' - Buzzfeed 'Even more gripping and inventive than its predecessor.like Tolkien on ayahuasca.' - Observer Chronicling the same events but telling a very different story - who will you believe? Read THE DARK STAR TRILOGY in any order! Book one, BLACK LEOPARD, RED WOLF, is available now. In the words of Neil Gaiman, James has created 'a fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made, with language as powerful as Angela Carter's'.

Part adventure, part chronicle of an indomitable woman - the witch Sogolon - who bows to no man, this is an unforgettable exploration of power, personality, and the places where they overlap, set in a world at once ancient and startlingly modern. THE SECOND NOVEL IN THE REVOLUTIONARY DARK STAR TRILOGY IS HERE!īooker Prize-winner Marlon James once again draws on a rich tradition of African mythology and fantasy to imagine a mythic world, a lost child, a 177-year-old witch and a mystery with many answers.

Marlon james new book