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pointoceane's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
egiannakop's review against another edition
I heard this book was really amazing but it was just not the vibe for me, felt like it was just constantly trying to shock and put the reader on edge by being dark. Horror is one thing.... this was another. I put it aside "for later" and then my sister ended up reading it and said my initial assessment of "weird and creepy" was correct and it just got worse so I decided not to pick it back up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, and Toxic friendship
kayzimmie's review against another edition
3.0
I actually didn't enjoy this book and had trouble finishing. I think it was just one giant trigger warning. I thought the violence was over-gratuitous and not necessary/ distracting toward the plot and the depiction of women was pretty derogatory. Overall not a fan.
theediguy's review against another edition
4.0
I have no idea what I think of this book. It was a fever dream. I liked it? I don't even know.
heyincendiary's review against another edition
2.0
I count myself as a pretty big Marlon James enthusiast. Though I'll admit I've only read A Brief History of Seven Killings so far, I genuinely rank it among my favorite books. I can still remember all the character's names half a year later. I will say: this one is a very different beast. I suspect it's also fairly different from The Book of Night Women or John Crow's Devil, though I wouldn't know. For all the vacillation and is-it-isn't-it about whether this is a "fantasy" book, whether the lapsed description as "an African Game of Thrones" is, in fact, accurate - well, it is. It's a very gay, very mythic African Game of Thrones, minus G.R.R.M.'s obsession with lineages and breakfast. Family in this book goes precisely one generation back - minus the royal MacGuffin child - and food is mentioned maybe once, unless you count carrion.
It's a fun book, a wild ride through an invented historical Africa, where one is conscious that myth is both living and only half-true any time one hears one, where characters are mercenary and torn between family allegiances and very loose bonds to larger kingdoms and tribes, where custom is pervasive but also entirely optional. It's a radical conception of what it means to be family: once, G.R.R.M. was lauded for disobeying the rules of fantasy really by just making sure its characters acted like "normal" humans, and James seems committed to a similar, and similarly-minor rewrite of fantasy's conventions. You'll enjoy the ride through a richly-imagined Central-East (I think?) Africa, you'll enjoy at least several of the characters, and you'll enjoy the action. I especially admire the way magic is implemented, for starters.
It's not the equal of Brief History, though: I don't really think it's trying to be. I went into this expecting fantasy done in that style. You'll remember, if you've read that one, the terrible tension that dominated every page, and for me I was compelled by the decisions each character had to make about what peace meant to them versus what violence allowed them to do or obtain, and how that affected their identity. I don't know that BLRW is ready to treat identity as seriously. "More thoughtful than typical fantasy, not as thoughtful as his other work" would probably be the way I'd put it.
It's a fun book, a wild ride through an invented historical Africa, where one is conscious that myth is both living and only half-true any time one hears one, where characters are mercenary and torn between family allegiances and very loose bonds to larger kingdoms and tribes, where custom is pervasive but also entirely optional. It's a radical conception of what it means to be family: once, G.R.R.M. was lauded for disobeying the rules of fantasy really by just making sure its characters acted like "normal" humans, and James seems committed to a similar, and similarly-minor rewrite of fantasy's conventions. You'll enjoy the ride through a richly-imagined Central-East (I think?) Africa, you'll enjoy at least several of the characters, and you'll enjoy the action. I especially admire the way magic is implemented, for starters.
It's not the equal of Brief History, though: I don't really think it's trying to be. I went into this expecting fantasy done in that style. You'll remember, if you've read that one, the terrible tension that dominated every page, and for me I was compelled by the decisions each character had to make about what peace meant to them versus what violence allowed them to do or obtain, and how that affected their identity. I don't know that BLRW is ready to treat identity as seriously. "More thoughtful than typical fantasy, not as thoughtful as his other work" would probably be the way I'd put it.
wfyoungblood's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
blankpagealex's review against another edition
1.0
Black Leopard, Red Wold had been high on my list for a long time due to its rave reviews and comparisons with other fantasy series that I enjoy. However, despite the acclaim and the novels unquestionable ambition, it was not at all enjoyable for me.
The language is almost impenetrable at first - on the back cover Louise Erdich rightly describes the first section as a "fever dream." Verb tenses are inconsistent, just introduced characters are referenced by multiple different names, and the setting seems to change completely every couple of sentences. I read interviews with James where he describes his objective of creating a new, anti-colonial language that respects African vernacular and doesn't adhere to pre-established rules. It's an ambitious effort, and it means the reader has to slow down and take more care to parse the sentences in order to understand a kind of fantasy writing that is new and bold. I want to be clear that my one-star review is not based on the writing style, because even though it presented a challenge, it's a risk that I respect and believe more authors could take.
Once I parsed through the rapid, fever dream style of prose, however, I got to the actual content and that is where this novel was so far from my taste that I could barely find any wish to continue. There is little here to resemble a narrative arc and it was difficult to discern if the reader was meant to care about conflicts which the characters clearly did not. When stakes were eventually introduced and there seemed to be a goal meant to be achieved, the story meandered and stalled and never really followed the paths that it seemed were painstakingly set up. Reading this felt like watching my kids play an open-world video game where they are given a specific task, but instead they just walk around and smash things.
The lack of a plot is not specifically a problem - I think Freytag's pyramid is overrated and love when a work of fiction can subvert it in clever ways. However, Black Leopard, Red Wolf was so pre-occupied with brutal, over-descriptive, and frankly gross side plots that barely contributed to theme or ideas in any coherent fashion.
And it's the brutality that really took this book from one that I "couldn't get into" to one that I "actively dislike." The graphic violence is endless with very little stakes. I counted at least 3 vivid descriptions of child rape within the first third of the book. Characters are briefly introduced only to be brutally killed moments later. Even a central character who is supposedly on the side of justice (or at least the audience comes to the world from his perspective) will look at a wall and describe its resemblance to "a young girl's slit." I'm no prude - sex, violence, and even sexual violence is often very relevant and necessary for a story, but here it was beyond gratuitous and I found it deeply unpleasant to read.
There are many bold, new attempts to bring new voices to the fantasy genre, but this series by James is not one that works for me.
The language is almost impenetrable at first - on the back cover Louise Erdich rightly describes the first section as a "fever dream." Verb tenses are inconsistent, just introduced characters are referenced by multiple different names, and the setting seems to change completely every couple of sentences. I read interviews with James where he describes his objective of creating a new, anti-colonial language that respects African vernacular and doesn't adhere to pre-established rules. It's an ambitious effort, and it means the reader has to slow down and take more care to parse the sentences in order to understand a kind of fantasy writing that is new and bold. I want to be clear that my one-star review is not based on the writing style, because even though it presented a challenge, it's a risk that I respect and believe more authors could take.
Once I parsed through the rapid, fever dream style of prose, however, I got to the actual content and that is where this novel was so far from my taste that I could barely find any wish to continue. There is little here to resemble a narrative arc and it was difficult to discern if the reader was meant to care about conflicts which the characters clearly did not. When stakes were eventually introduced and there seemed to be a goal meant to be achieved, the story meandered and stalled and never really followed the paths that it seemed were painstakingly set up. Reading this felt like watching my kids play an open-world video game where they are given a specific task, but instead they just walk around and smash things.
The lack of a plot is not specifically a problem - I think Freytag's pyramid is overrated and love when a work of fiction can subvert it in clever ways. However, Black Leopard, Red Wolf was so pre-occupied with brutal, over-descriptive, and frankly gross side plots that barely contributed to theme or ideas in any coherent fashion.
And it's the brutality that really took this book from one that I "couldn't get into" to one that I "actively dislike." The graphic violence is endless with very little stakes. I counted at least 3 vivid descriptions of child rape within the first third of the book. Characters are briefly introduced only to be brutally killed moments later. Even a central character who is supposedly on the side of justice (or at least the audience comes to the world from his perspective) will look at a wall and describe its resemblance to "a young girl's slit." I'm no prude - sex, violence, and even sexual violence is often very relevant and necessary for a story, but here it was beyond gratuitous and I found it deeply unpleasant to read.
There are many bold, new attempts to bring new voices to the fantasy genre, but this series by James is not one that works for me.
ceriquezzo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
aralaq's review against another edition
Got to page 19. Already mentioned young girls in a sexual way several times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia
dwimblim's review against another edition
2.0
The monsters in this book were cool, and there was a lot of gross horror that I liked. Overall I liked the characters. But what killed it for me was the writing style; it was hard for me to read. I wish I liked it more!