Black Leopard, Red Wolf

I've a contentious relationship with Marlon James. I find him at once a compelling writer but also a difficult read. I DNF'd his Brief History of Seven Killings and if Black Leopard, Red Wolf wasn't our book club pick I might have, in a moment of weakness, put it down never to return.

It was a confusing start - disjointed and abrupt. I couldn't quite settle into the unique voice of the narrator. The bookclub assured me that it was slow going at the start but picks up 100 pages in. I kept going. I found myself not exactly eager to pick up the book each time I put it down and felt it would have done better being read in larger swaths, taking a while each time to settle into the cadence of the novel.

It's the first book of the Dark Star trilogy, the subsequent books telling the same story but from different perspectives. I keep noticing the gaps in the story, places left conveniently blank for future narrators to fill in.

Such measured praise I know. This is a violent fantasy novel steeped in African myth. Not familiar with the fantasy genre I found it surprisingly visceral and bloody. The Omoluzu Roof Walkers are brilliantly imaginative, their intended victims never daring to step under a ceiling again. The Bad Ibeji is pure nightmare fuel, Tracker's experience with the Hyenas won't soon be forgotten, and the Adze still leaves me entirely creeped out. At the same time I loved The Buffalo, Sadogo and The Mingi.

It is a book chock full of imagination with a sprawling cast of characters that inhabit a massively compelling world. Michael B. Jordan has bought the rights to the series and there is much to mine here. But as to reading - it remained a challenge that I wouldn't recommend to everyone.