The Prophets

The synopsis held so much promise, but the storytelling left me wanting. Like a wagyu steak prepared by a vegan. (Spoken as a pescetarian...) After reading Kindred by Octavia Butler and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi this year, this one just fell flat in comparison. Jumping from point of view to point of view was disorienting. I had to take notes to keep names straight because they weren't characterized distinctly enough to tell apart. It felt like it was being dictated by someone without a vested interest in what was happening. Just informational almost as if written for a grade. To be clear, it isn't a bad book, I just did not appreciate the writing style. I can't give high ratings for representation alone. I did love the part when Maggie showed support for Samuel and Isaiah and agreed with the shadows that they were meant for a different time where they could be together.

Sure, comparisons can be made to Baldwin and Morrison. The author is clearly influenced by these two greats. But Baldwin and Morrison knew when the story was over.

The Prophets suffers most from a lack of editing. A great premise for a story by an author with a substantial platform still needs to face an editor or two. This story is unnecessarily long, meandering, and confusing at times. TEN PAGES of acknowledgements?!?? Sometimes the answer is “No.”

This “review” is part of a series in which I quickly scribble a few of the thoughts I had regarding a book I read in the first half of 2021 during a time when I let my reviews get very behind.

I found this book extremely difficult. It has a heavy, deep, theme in its discussion about homosexuality within slave communities in the US. These are deep and difficult subjects, which the book delved into with a suitable degree of sensitivity. The relationship and abuse of the era is powerfully documented.

This is definitely and unashamedly literary fiction. There is a beautiful poetic prose which becomes somewhat overly verbose for me. The flowery language hides are rather skimpy plot with very little in the way of development. The premise is simple enough - one of the slaves is trying to ingratiate himself with the owners by becoming a preacher and exposing the gay relationship that the central characters have. The hypocrisy and distrust pile upon each other. It is an interesting study in how such communities can end up pursuing their own. This is all very slow burn and buried in a very wordy style. Not a lot happened for most of the book.

I am not a big literary fiction fan and ultimately the prose really turned me off. This was way to verbose for me. I can appreciate that for those who like this style this could be a good work, but I found it all a bit obtuse and densely written, with the story buried to deep in the text to be clear and ultimately engaging. The themes are powerful and sympathetically written, but the writing style just was not for me.

Holy crud. This book contains subject matter that is at least as difficult to read as you think it is. It is also beautifully written. It is lyrical and tragic, and I actually truly loved the characters. The multiple points of view can be unnecessary, but I didn't mind it; it reminded me of the middle episodes of Lovecraft Country, the show, each focusing on primarily the women. I appreciated the perspectives of the characters that lead to the end.

There isn't much plot, so don't go looking for it. It's all about the concepts and the tragedy of the characters, and the strength of the women. And the consequences of our actions.
On top of the obvious themes of racism, Christian supremacy, homophobia, and love.
I had many feelings at the end. And I want go bundle Isaiah in a big blanket and give him a hug.

It is plain to see that this book is a love letter to the cannon of great African American writers and their works.It is heavily influenced by the authors Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Octavia Butler and Maya Angelou amongst others. This is a sweeping story following a plantation in the Deep South of America and follows the slaves Samuel and Isaiah. Sam and Isaiah form a budding sexual and intimate relationship despite their struggles to survive on the plantation. However their daily lives on the plantation are far from harmonious and it only gets worse for the two black men as the novel progresses.

The novel also focuses on different characters perspectives like the other slaves and the slave owners family. This novel also has similar supernatural / spiritual elements like The Water Dancer which I didn't enjoy as much as the main plot line but I do feel added to the overall epicness of the novel. This will not be great for readers who need propulsive writing as this book is lilting and more of a slow burn.

But I will be ordering this in physical copy at some point as I feel I haven't got the most out of this book in an ebook format. I would love to re read this book much more slowly and take my time to connect with the slower pacing and lyrical writing style. Although I do think the last quarter of the novel could have been more purposefully condensed.

Thank you to the author Robert Jones Jr., riverrun publishing and NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.