[AEI]⇒ PDF Black Leopard Red Wolf The Dark Star Trilogy Marlon James Books

Black Leopard Red Wolf The Dark Star Trilogy Marlon James Books

Download As PDF : Black Leopard Red Wolf The Dark Star Trilogy Marlon James Books

Black Leopard Red Wolf The Dark Star Trilogy Marlon James Books

I love fantasy and was excited to try this book- it had all the makings of a classic fantasy epic. A group of misfits, each with their own special skill, trying to work together to find a kidnapped child who seems to be important to warring groups of royals. African history and mythology coming to life as our group crosses the land and fights demons, vampires, magic, and each other.

It took me about one hundred pages to start getting into Black Leopard, Red Wolf. The writing style took a lot of getting used to, not just because it is told as if the narrator is telling stories, but because he jumps around. There's no chronological order, we don't really meet characters as much as they just appear, and things are rarely explained or described. When Tracker finally gets to telling us the story of him getting paid to join up with a group searching for a child who was kidnapped three years ago, the pace picks up and the story gets (mostly) easier to follow. We still don't really know who any of the characters are, or why they are doing anything. We get a lot of stories to explain why things happen and who people are but it's also understood pretty much up front that at least half of what anyone says will be a lie. The end result being I didn't have much of an emotional connection to any of the characters and liked them even less- including Tracker, who despite being our narrator isn't likable but instead is mostly an arrogant, misogynistic jerk even to the few characters who try to get along with him.

Pages of descriptions still left me with no image in my head of what I was supposed to be seeing during the traveling, many of the magical beings met along the way got no description because Tracker assumes we know what he's talking about. But let it come to killing something/one, rape, torture, or any other horrible thing and don't worry- those episodes get described in such minute detail you can smell the blood and guts.

There were times when I enjoyed the story-telling narrative, when it reminded me of The Odyssey as Homer describes travels and magics and wonders. But more often the technical aspects of the book were distracting and what I ended up focusing on more than the story. If it had been a more 'conventional' narrative, would I have liked the book better? No, I don't think so. Basically it comes down the fact that this was a raw, gritty, dark fantasy and I am not a fan of dark fantasy. I can handle violence is small doses but Red Wolf gives us huge overdoses. Friends become enemies, enemies fight as allies, and it is jarring each time because we only get the story of 'why' afterwards. Far before we get to the end we find ourselves asking what the point of all of it was. Maybe that is the point, maybe the book is meant to be a philosophical questioning of who we are and what is truth and why do people do anything. But when I end a book asking myself "This is how it ended? What was the point of this?" it's pretty certain I'm not going to read the rest of the series to find out out.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf is 600 pages of raw violence, betrayal, rape, gang rape, torture, and killing surrounding a quest you're never sure the point of. The technicalities of the writing probably mean some people will love it and others will hate it. Those who enjoy dark fantasy may like the story, but readers hoping for something lighter, uplifting, or positive should probably steer clear of this one. I rather wish I had.


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Black Leopard Red Wolf The Dark Star Trilogy Marlon James Books Reviews

I spent the past day devouring this incredible epic so many complex characters - some that you love and some that you hate - two especially that make you laugh out loud - and a one-of-a-kind world with twists and turns you do not see coming. I especially loved Tracker, the main character who can smell people from miles away, and is often getting into trouble even when he should know better. Lots of very sultry scenes, violent scenes, and some shocks that will have your jaw on the floor. What a read.
Filled with gratuitous and rampant cursing, sexuality, violence and brutality. Too much even for fans of dark fantasy. I could not finish it.
This book was marketed as Game of Thrones in Africa, or if Tolkien had used African mythology instead of Norse. I see the logic of these representations, but these comparisons don't accurately portray the tone, language or violence of the novel.

A much better description would be that it's like if Salmon Rushdie or Haruki Murakami wrote the Walking Dead. The book is much closer to a work of literature than popular fantasy fiction in its style. The storytelling is non-linear, with stories-in-stories like nesting dolls, all told from the point-of-view of a very unreliable narrator. And the content is much closer to the walking dead than Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. The deaths (and rapes) are frequent, unfairly doled out, gruesome, and gratuitous. It's just that instead of zombies, the monsters come from African folklore and mythology.

I personally really liked this book. But I think several of the other reviewers did not know what they were signing up for. If you're a fan of challenging contemporary literature AND the fantasy genre AND you have a strong stomach, you will probably find this book a rewarding read.
The fundamental ideal of using African influences for the world-building is fantastic - it appears strange and familiar at the same time. Unfortunately the execution of the story itself is so flawed as to make the book unreadable for most people. As other reviewers have pointed out, it's so dark that I struggled to find any joy in reading the story. There is so much emphasis on bodily functions, both sexual and scatological, it comes off almost comical at times because most of it is gratuitous and not germane to the plot. Most of the characters, especially the protagonist, are irredeemable and impossible to relate to. I couldn't find myself rooting for any of them, and the success or failure of their quest was meaningless to me. Speaking of the quest, the main mystery turns out to be related to something that happened six generations back and this story line is abandoned at the end of the book as we switch to a more simplistic revenge plot line instead. None of this is helped by the mostly non-linear story telling. The writing and prose are good - the author is very talented in that way - but this is unfortunately a big miss on what could have really been a very original setting to an epic fantasy.
Wow. Fantasy is not my usual genre and I was late to Game of Thrones (and I've still not finished the series) but this- this was amazing. James has created a complex (at times overwhelmingly so) world set in Africa with characters that will stun you. Tracker is a fascinating creature and his quest is one you'll find yourself barreling along with. I honestly don't know what to write about this except to suggest that you try it, even if you, like me are not a fantasy reader. I read this on kindle and would strongly urge others to read it in hard copy (like, you know, book) format because you will find yourself wanting to refer to the list of characters and to occasionally check things you think you read earlier. That isn't a criticism by any means, only a suggestion to make this immersive read more enjoyable. Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. I'm very much looking forward to the next installment.
I love fantasy and was excited to try this book- it had all the makings of a classic fantasy epic. A group of misfits, each with their own special skill, trying to work together to find a kidnapped child who seems to be important to warring groups of royals. African history and mythology coming to life as our group crosses the land and fights demons, vampires, magic, and each other.

It took me about one hundred pages to start getting into Black Leopard, Red Wolf. The writing style took a lot of getting used to, not just because it is told as if the narrator is telling stories, but because he jumps around. There's no chronological order, we don't really meet characters as much as they just appear, and things are rarely explained or described. When Tracker finally gets to telling us the story of him getting paid to join up with a group searching for a child who was kidnapped three years ago, the pace picks up and the story gets (mostly) easier to follow. We still don't really know who any of the characters are, or why they are doing anything. We get a lot of stories to explain why things happen and who people are but it's also understood pretty much up front that at least half of what anyone says will be a lie. The end result being I didn't have much of an emotional connection to any of the characters and liked them even less- including Tracker, who despite being our narrator isn't likable but instead is mostly an arrogant, misogynistic jerk even to the few characters who try to get along with him.

Pages of descriptions still left me with no image in my head of what I was supposed to be seeing during the traveling, many of the magical beings met along the way got no description because Tracker assumes we know what he's talking about. But let it come to killing something/one, rape, torture, or any other horrible thing and don't worry- those episodes get described in such minute detail you can smell the blood and guts.

There were times when I enjoyed the story-telling narrative, when it reminded me of The Odyssey as Homer describes travels and magics and wonders. But more often the technical aspects of the book were distracting and what I ended up focusing on more than the story. If it had been a more 'conventional' narrative, would I have liked the book better? No, I don't think so. Basically it comes down the fact that this was a raw, gritty, dark fantasy and I am not a fan of dark fantasy. I can handle violence is small doses but Red Wolf gives us huge overdoses. Friends become enemies, enemies fight as allies, and it is jarring each time because we only get the story of 'why' afterwards. Far before we get to the end we find ourselves asking what the point of all of it was. Maybe that is the point, maybe the book is meant to be a philosophical questioning of who we are and what is truth and why do people do anything. But when I end a book asking myself "This is how it ended? What was the point of this?" it's pretty certain I'm not going to read the rest of the series to find out out.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf is 600 pages of raw violence, betrayal, rape, gang rape, torture, and killing surrounding a quest you're never sure the point of. The technicalities of the writing probably mean some people will love it and others will hate it. Those who enjoy dark fantasy may like the story, but readers hoping for something lighter, uplifting, or positive should probably steer clear of this one. I rather wish I had.