Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

7 reviews

ran_sophia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I love writing and storytelling style of this book. It has amazing characters and it read a very well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, and Kidnapping

Minor: Death of parent

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Context:

This is the second book by P. Djèlí Clark that I have read. Last year, I read his novel A Master of Djinn and thought it was decent, but I didn’t like it as much as I hoped. I picked up The Black God’s Drums because I wanted to give his writing another chance.

 

Review:

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark is an adventurous, deeply imaginative novella set in an alternate-history steampunk New Orleans. One thing I loved about A Master of Djinn was its worldbuilding, and Clark once again proves his strength in this area with The Black God’s Drums. I adore how he constructs a believable alternate history of the United States and New Orleans for this story, as well as how he incorporates historical and African spiritual elements into the narrative. Besides the fantastic worldbuilding, this novella features a quirky and diverse cast of characters and an exciting adventure. The only thing keeping me from rating from this book higher is its length; although it tells a contained and well-paced story within its 112 pages, I don’t think it will stick in my memory much. I would love to see Clark write another book within this universe! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Slavery

Minor: Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Blood

honeyvoiced's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Racism, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

peachani's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Moderate: War, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Sexual content

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

A slender tale of a valiant girl who loves her home of New Orleans and fights to save it against powers both evil and meteorological.

Creeper, a 13-year-old orphan, is a pickpocket just struggling to get by when she overhears a conspiracy being planned. The wind god Oya, who has been a part of Creeper since her birth, knows something bad is coming to New Orleans, so Creeper heads off to get the help she needs. She enlists the Captain and makes a deal - she'll reveal the conspiracy if the Captain lets her come work on the airship.

As this is all taking place about twenty years after a fragile truce in the US Civil War, issues of freedom are paramount. New Orleans, a neutral zone, is full of escaped slaves and freemen, Confederate and Yankee soldiers, and citizens of all colors and classes. The author's vivid imagination and his charismatic main character keep this lively story going. It's a small but worthwhile entry in the steampunk genre and Black sci-fi / fantasy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Slavery

steffiraquel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment

lipstickitotheman's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Slavery, and Violence