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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail
I can say this for Master of Poisons, the writing is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's like a constant fever dream. It's sumptuous to read but in terms of plot and following along it can make things a bit difficult to understand exactly what is going on. Which ultimately would up being my biggest gripe. There's some genuine brilliance in here but it can be overwrought at times as well. A solid read, but not one I'm sure I can fully recommend.
medium-paced
No word building or any kind of setup. Felt like I mistakenly grabbed the third book in a series and was just expected to figure out what was going on
While I think this book could be very interesting for others, for me, I just couldn't connect with the writing. It felt...too literary for me, sacrificing clarity that I couldn't continue reading. Very much a me problem as a reader.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was excited by Master of Poisons’ promise of heroes in exile and rhythms of folklore and storytelling, and Andrea Hairston did deliver on all of those things, just not quite in the way I’d imagined. Perhaps this dreamy epic was the wrong novel to follow Inherent Vice’s psychedelic density, because I had similar difficulties trying to get to grips with both.
Master of Poisons’ cast felt very fluid, with motivations which were so tied to the ethereal magic of Smokeland that they became hard to pin down. Hezram was the villain, sacrificing children and bleeding transgressors to power dream gates, but it was tricky to remember what the dream gates did, and how (or if) they connected to the fiends who attacked Awa. The prose descriptions of Smokeland were beautiful, elevating Awa’s point-of-view sections above those of Djola, but the connection to the everyday world and the conflict going on there could have been clearer.
Djola’s quest was clearer and gave the story the momentum it needed for a while, but sadly fell prey to Djola’s reliance on magical drugs which left his narration unreliable and disorientated. Perhaps a sharper reader would have fared better, and not got so discombobulated that they missed the link between Awa’s friend Bal and Djola’s daughter.
One thing which stood out amidst the confusion were the animals, both as perspective characters and as companions to the main cast. Bees are a theme throughout the novel, and Andrea Hairston uses them in a far more lifelike way than The Starless Sea. The whales (or behemoths) were also a highlight.
The lyrical prose and fluid morally grey characters are deliberate features of Master of Poisons, but may keep some readers at a remove from the story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Master of Poisons is the one book right now that I want to see as a film. I loved everything about this epic and would highly recommend it to anyone. I am fairly certain I will read many more books by Andrea Hairston because her storytelling leaves you wanting for more, its that good!
adventurous
dark
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Favorite Quote: “Impossible is a word for yesterday, not tomorrow.”~ Samina
First time reading a black magic book. It takes a minute to get it the story started for me. A lot of words are used but not sure if they are all needed to describe what I’m reading or just used for filler or I’m just not use to this style of writing.
I like that this book addresses misogyny and sexism however but it is definitely not a page turner for me but once I got into it it was ok.
First time reading a black magic book. It takes a minute to get it the story started for me. A lot of words are used but not sure if they are all needed to describe what I’m reading or just used for filler or I’m just not use to this style of writing.
I like that this book addresses misogyny and sexism however but it is definitely not a page turner for me but once I got into it it was ok.
2.5 stars. I feel bad giving Master of Poisons such a low rating, because I wanted so much to love a book featuring an immersive fantasy world inspired by African cultures, queer relationships and GNC/nonbinary representation center stage, an expansive cast of characters, and lyrical writing that reads like a griot's tale. I was also looking forward to a plot centered on climate change, the plundering of natural resources, and the survivance of indigenous peoples in the face of imperialism and bigotry - handled here on the level of allegory, but no less resonant given how the real world parallels perpetually weigh on my mind.
Unfortunately the story fell flat for me on almost every level, and at 500 pages was a slog to get through. I couldn't gel with the writing style, which read strangely staccato, as if it was originally written as a script for a play or a movie (which I might have gotten into my head after reading up on Hairston's theatre background, but the comparison is fitting). Characters transition abruptly between emotional states, internal and external dialogue, actions, and - most jarringly - whole time skips spanning months and years. Important events like character deaths or magical breakthroughs happen in the span of a few sentences and often by way of summary, which made the whole thing feel rushed and awkward, as if the author didn't want to go to the trouble of fleshing out scenes. The main plot lacks cohesion and tension, so I spent the majority of the book both bored and confused, a fatal combination. I was tempted to DNF at several points and continued solely by virtue of stubbornness and wanting to do right by the book by giving it a chance to reach some sort of pay-off. It never came. What ought to have been the climax and cathartic release of the resolution somehow also managed to happen off-page and largely by summary, as if the narrative had just run out of steam toward the end. The characters were ultimately the biggest disappointment: they read like mouthpieces for the author's ideas or like fable archetypes, which might work for a shorter piece, but the strong sense of extended allegory without grounding and folklorish, repetitive prose wears thin over the length and breadth of a chunky epic fantasy.
There were certainly lovely pieces of writing, worldbuilding, and themes throughout that struck me: Smokeland/Jumbajabbaland, the spirit/dream realm of possibility and potentiality; "Basawili," a greeting and affirmation meaning "not the end, more breath to come"; "abelzowadyo," a sacred shapeshifter or many-faceted being; and the idea that the "weeds and wild things" of the world - plants, animals, mountains and rivers - belong to no one but themselves, and even constitute "people" in their own right. I just wish these poignant elements had been furnished with stronger writing, characterization, and narrative cohesion and momentum.
All of that said, Hairston doesn't lack for imagination so much as execution here, so I'll still try out her other novels. Basawili.
Unfortunately the story fell flat for me on almost every level, and at 500 pages was a slog to get through. I couldn't gel with the writing style, which read strangely staccato, as if it was originally written as a script for a play or a movie (which I might have gotten into my head after reading up on Hairston's theatre background, but the comparison is fitting). Characters transition abruptly between emotional states, internal and external dialogue, actions, and - most jarringly - whole time skips spanning months and years. Important events like character deaths or magical breakthroughs happen in the span of a few sentences and often by way of summary, which made the whole thing feel rushed and awkward, as if the author didn't want to go to the trouble of fleshing out scenes. The main plot lacks cohesion and tension, so I spent the majority of the book both bored and confused, a fatal combination. I was tempted to DNF at several points and continued solely by virtue of stubbornness and wanting to do right by the book by giving it a chance to reach some sort of pay-off. It never came. What ought to have been the climax and cathartic release of the resolution somehow also managed to happen off-page and largely by summary, as if the narrative had just run out of steam toward the end. The characters were ultimately the biggest disappointment: they read like mouthpieces for the author's ideas or like fable archetypes, which might work for a shorter piece, but the strong sense of extended allegory without grounding and folklorish, repetitive prose wears thin over the length and breadth of a chunky epic fantasy.
There were certainly lovely pieces of writing, worldbuilding, and themes throughout that struck me: Smokeland/Jumbajabbaland, the spirit/dream realm of possibility and potentiality; "Basawili," a greeting and affirmation meaning "not the end, more breath to come"; "abelzowadyo," a sacred shapeshifter or many-faceted being; and the idea that the "weeds and wild things" of the world - plants, animals, mountains and rivers - belong to no one but themselves, and even constitute "people" in their own right. I just wish these poignant elements had been furnished with stronger writing, characterization, and narrative cohesion and momentum.
All of that said, Hairston doesn't lack for imagination so much as execution here, so I'll still try out her other novels. Basawili.