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hagwife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
One of my favourite aspects of the novel is its narrative style. The entirety of the book is Tracker relaying his version of events to an inquisitor, though we never hear the inquisitor speak. As far as Tracker's story, most of that is told through conversations between characters, thus making the book almost entirely dialogue. Given that we are only receiving Tracker's version of events, there's a malleability to the story that is different from other uses of unreliable narrators. It feels less like intentionally diverting attention (Westworld) or subconsciously lying (Mr. Robot) and more so like an oral history. What is truth but the way one man saw the events and how he then chooses to remember them? And even if his version of the story doesn't match the "actual" events, what is to say that those events are any more true? This is a story where authenticity is not yoked to correctness, where truth is not an absolute because people are not absolute.
The theme of truth, the oral history style, and James' use of language combine into a worldview that feels authentic to the world in the novel. While written in English, it doesn't sound like English. James put a lot of effort into crafting a voice for his characters that sounds like a dialect, and not one where it's been translated, but one where the reader has a Star Trek-esque translation device – the characters speak and we understand. Perhaps the last novel I read where I was conscious of the amount of effort put into the way language works and how characters communicated was Zora Neal Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The fact that many readers have found it hard to read means, at least in my opinion, that James succeeded in writing pre-colonial communications with a post-colonial language. There's that has been written on this, but recently I've been thinking about a quote from wa Thiong'o's Decolonizing the mind: "language was the most important vehicle through which that power fascinated and held the soul prisoner...Language was the means of spiritual subjugation".
I also enjoy how unapologetic and frank this book is in its queerness. We see many examples of platonic love, romantic love, and sexual attraction in all its various combinations between men. These relationships and encounters are vivid and intense; for Tracker, the line between love and hate is extremely thin and are characterized by the intenseness of his feelings, of the time and energy and many ways in which Leopard and Nyka and Mossi are intertwined with his life. And this queerness is shared and explored in a way that honors and explores the broadness of masculinity and how that impacts one's identity and vice versa.
I should point out that for any test related to the treatment and inclusion of women, this novel fails, and I think that's intentional. Tracker's relationships with women are extremely fraught, and though born out of trauma, extremely unfair to generalize, as several characters point out. It's interesting, because we don't meet any women or female presenting characters who challenge Tracker's beliefs with their actions, but we're left to wonder whether that is how these characters are or how Tracker sees them. I'm extremely interested in the second book in the trilogy, which tells the same tale, but from Sogolon's perspective.
This is also an incredibly hard book to recommend. James does not care about your sensibilities, particularly if they are European or derive historically from European ones; he's not interested in White-washing events or making them more palatable. He has built a stark reality in the world of Black Leopard, Red Wolf, one that understands that you gain nothing by trying to make it pretty or talk around it. You're going to be uncomfortable and you should be uncomfortable; it's not supposed to be easy to read about violent acts or intense grief. Most importantly though, please, please, please read the content warnings and take care of yourself first and foremost.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Dysphoria
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Incest
This book is not written with regards to Western conventions. It does not condone or uplift violence towards others but it is also not going to shy away from the realities of such acts. You will be uncomfortable because you should be uncomfortable.bitter_critter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
octoberharbor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment
hello_kara's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This is not a comfortable or easy read. But content riddled with trauma should not be comfortable. Gratuitous mention of shit, piss, blood, rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, child abandonment and sacrifice, kidnapping, corruption, slavery, torture, dismemberment, and murder. Is the overall story still intriguing though? Yes. Not a book I could ever rate on a simple scale though.
“There was always someone or some two or some three who will grab me like a stick and break me, grab me like wet cloth, and wring everything out of me. And that was just the way of the world. That was the way of everybody’s world.”
Took me forever to get through this one, and I didn’t feel invested until about a third of the way through. That’s also about how long it takes to get to the advertised plot of the book. I was drawn in by the premise of an epic quest of a group of people each with different supernatural gifts, knowledge, or skill, with the goal of finding a missing child of prophecy. The story is told from the point of view of Tracker, The Red Wolf, and is being told to the Inquisitor questioning him regarding this quest. Rooted in African inspired mythologies and folklore, this quest takes them to several different cities, through cursed lands and hidden doorways, and they cross paths with a plethora of terrifying creatures.
This book is the first in a planned trilogy, with each book more companion than sequel, telling the story from different points of view. I think it’s a very interesting concept, especially with unreliable narrators, a plot thick with political intrigue, characters with supernatural gifts and some with unnaturally long life spans. At times the writing was rich and easily immersive, other times disorienting with a stream-of-consciousness-mania. The style was so unlike other books I’ve read.
Audiobook performance was excellent, but with the writing style it was difficult at times to tell when characters switched back and forth during dialogue. I did read along with the ebook for most of this which helped. There are also several maps and character lists at the beginning of the book.
“We don't own truth. Truth is truth and nothing you can do about it even if you hide it, or kill it, or even tell it. It was truth before you open your mouth and say, That there is a true thing.”
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
reflectiverambling_nalana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
However, even after 'slowing down' to speeds I don't normally listen at, I had to go back more than once. Somewhere in the middle of this book I kept feeling like I was loosing key information. I consider myself not exceptionally intelligent, but relatively capable of following complex plots as much as the next scifi/fantasy reader. Something about the pacing of this tale, of what started to feel like an excessive amount of additions crammed into a single story, left me feeling just two steps behind. I never was able to get a really good grasp on the world itself. The constant questions started piling up more as frustrations than curiosity for new revelations.
To ad to this, while I appreciate the mental complexity of the Tracker, the emotional distance he had to place as he was forced into survival mode made if very difficult for me to really connect with him. though I confess I was taken by some of the secondary characters. This might be in part because of the constant fight and flight necessity that just made me feel like I was in a whirlwind. It leaves me wondering if at the time of the writing the author wasn't aware he would be granted a trilogy and was desperate to show all these wonderful gems of ideas in fear that he wouldn't have time to breathe and flesh them out after a single installment.
Overall, this is a story with so much good and potential. It deserves a chance from readers. but I have to admit after finishing it I'm not entirely compelled to continue on. honestly, it left my brain a touch exhausted in a way that was not rewarding or from a way I could say i was challenged but feel accomplished from.
I would also like to warn readers that there is excessive and blunt physical and sexual violence as that might be a problem for some.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child death, Death, Incest, Sexism, and Murder
Minor: Kidnapping and Abandonment
emvoor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism and Abandonment
haddy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Having said that I have SO MANY feelings about how it ended !!?!?!
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
arguhlincozzi's review against another edition
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
nrhilmer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
thenymphsvoice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
However that’s not a bad thing. BLRW is a wild ride, I found the characters compelling, funny, sad, rage inducing.
This story was not afraid to deal with harsh realities even if this is a fantasy.
Trackers life is disjointed and many times dehumanizing. They struggle to understand themselves and their world, as it often changes with the snap of a finger around them.
They adapt they hurt, they grow or don’t in the perfectly imperfect way people do.
What I would say to anyone going into reading this is, prepare yourself to not always understand what is happening. That is a reflection of the characters confusion of events and the way their life has been broken by the traumas they have and do endure. (At least that’s how it read to me.)
The mystery and journey is second to me to the journey that Tracker is on in their own head. Invest in Trackers experience.
Also… if you can think of it Trigger/Content Warning. It’s in this book. Be prepared.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War
Just like all the things, this book is not for the faint of heart or easily triggered.