Black Leopard, Red Wolf

This book is extremely hard to categorize. I was surprised to learn it won the Locus for best horror, but the more I read, the more that made sense. It's horror in the Heart of Darkness sense much more than the Stephen King sense. This is about the horror of people as much as any of the monsters.

That said, it's incredibly complex, beautifully layered, and an exploration of ancient Africa that I've never seen the likes of. My book club host compared it to Ulysses, and I think that's fair. I wished often that I had a reader's guide because my white suburban self certainly didn't recognize anything though it has the feel of being impeccably researched. It expresses a diversity of ancient African societies, many more technologically complex than medieval Europe, and that alone is worth the price of the book. It's got an extremely Freudian sensibility to it that at first was off-putting (mommy issues, anyone?), but gradually I came to see the narrative (especially Mossi) calling out Tracker for his attitudes towards women and children. He is rarely a likable character, but his journey, growths, and falls are all fascinating.

That said, little about this book is “fun” (with the exception of some of the lover's quarrel dialogues between Tracker, Leopard, and Mossi). This is a book about pain and trauma and it never shies away from it. Rarely is a book too graphic for me, but this one came close. I'd say, if you make it through the eyeball scene, you're fine after that. Even James notes in the acknowledgments that his mother is allowed to read all but 2 pages of this book (and I'm assuming it's those too. Nothing ever gets better for long, and just keep expecting tragedy. If you are in the mood for a cheerful fun read or if you have any triggers around violence or sexual abuse, do not touch this one. However, if you want a literary dark fantasy that explores a culture mainstream SFF has ignored for decades, this is worthy of the praise it got. I'm pregnant right now and not able to drink while reading it, but if you can read this with some strong alcohol, that might help.