Black Leopard, Red Wolf
Dark Star Trilogy Book 1
Published on 28. February 2019
Book
Hardback
640 pages
978-0-241-31554-5 (ISBN)
Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION
The Sunday Times number 1 Bestseller and A New York Times Bestseller
'Black Leopard, Red Wolf is the kind of novel I never realized I was missing until I read it. A dangerous, hallucinatory, ancient Africa, which becomes a fantasy world as well realized as anything Tolkien made, with language as powerful as Angela Carter's. It's as deep and crafty as Gene Wolfe, bloodier than Robert E. Howard, and all Marlon James. It's something very new that feels old, in the best way. I cannot wait for the next instalment' -Neil Gaiman
'The child is dead. There is nothing left to know.'
Tracker is a hunter, known in the thirteen kingdoms as one who has a nose - and he always works alone. But he breaks this rule when he joins a band seeking a lost child. His companions are strange and dangerous, from a giant to a witch to a shape-shifting Leopard, and each hides their own secrets.
As they follow the boy's scent from perfumed citadels to infested rivers to enchanted darklands, set upon by murderous foes, Tracker wonders: who really is this mysterious boy? Why don't people want him found? And, crucially, who is telling the truth and who is lying?
Black Leopard, Red Wolf is the first novel in Marlon James's Dark Star Trilogy.
'A game-changing modern fantasy classic.' Financial Times
'Complex, lyrical, moving and furiously gripping... This new book will propel James into a new galaxy of literary stardom.' Observer
'To call this novel original doesn't do [it] justice... James has thrown African cultures, mythologies, religions, histories, world-views and topographies into the mighty cauldron of his imagination to create a work of literary magic.' New Statesman
The Sunday Times number 1 Bestseller and A New York Times Bestseller
'Black Leopard, Red Wolf is the kind of novel I never realized I was missing until I read it. A dangerous, hallucinatory, ancient Africa, which becomes a fantasy world as well realized as anything Tolkien made, with language as powerful as Angela Carter's. It's as deep and crafty as Gene Wolfe, bloodier than Robert E. Howard, and all Marlon James. It's something very new that feels old, in the best way. I cannot wait for the next instalment' -Neil Gaiman
'The child is dead. There is nothing left to know.'
Tracker is a hunter, known in the thirteen kingdoms as one who has a nose - and he always works alone. But he breaks this rule when he joins a band seeking a lost child. His companions are strange and dangerous, from a giant to a witch to a shape-shifting Leopard, and each hides their own secrets.
As they follow the boy's scent from perfumed citadels to infested rivers to enchanted darklands, set upon by murderous foes, Tracker wonders: who really is this mysterious boy? Why don't people want him found? And, crucially, who is telling the truth and who is lying?
Black Leopard, Red Wolf is the first novel in Marlon James's Dark Star Trilogy.
'A game-changing modern fantasy classic.' Financial Times
'Complex, lyrical, moving and furiously gripping... This new book will propel James into a new galaxy of literary stardom.' Observer
'To call this novel original doesn't do [it] justice... James has thrown African cultures, mythologies, religions, histories, world-views and topographies into the mighty cauldron of his imagination to create a work of literary magic.' New Statesman
Reviews / Votes
A fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made, with language as powerful as Angela Carter's. It's as deep and crafty as Gene Wolfe, bloodier than Robert E. Howard, and all Marlon James... I cannot wait for the next instalment -- Neil Gaiman Stand aside, Beowolf. There's a new epic hero slashing his way into our hearts...James is clear-cutting space for a whole new kingdom. Black Leopard, Red Wolf rises up from the mists of time, glistening like viscera. James has spun an African fantasy as vibrant, complex and haunting as any Western mythology * Washington Post * A miracle... If Charles R. Saunders' Imaro series opened the door to new ways of telling epic fantasy, and N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance trilogy leapt over the threshold, then Marlon James' Black Leopard, Red Wolf just ripped the whole damn door off its hinges * Tor * I can honestly say I cannot wait for the next instalment -- John Burnside * Spectator * Marlon James possesses almost frightening levels of talent... His work is wholly original while paying homage to all the important literary ancestors. An archetypal epic for the 21st century * Forbes * Black Leopard, Red Wolf heralds the arrival of fantasy's next great saga and reaffirms James as one of the greatest storytellers of his generation * BookPage * One of the most talked-about and influential adventure epics since George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire was transformed into Game of Thrones * Kirkus * This book begins like a fever dream and merges into world upon world of deadly fairy tales rich with political magic. Black Leopard, Red Wolf is a fabulous cascade of storytelling. Sink right in. I guarantee you will be swept downstream' -- Louise Erdrich Black Leopard, Red Wolf ... affirms [James's] place as one of our most talented living authors. * Literary Hub * What marks James's tale as his own is the wonder evoked through descriptive, unrelenting prose along with a focus on a distinct mythology cobbled from history and folk tale. [A] propulsive narrative. * The Guardian *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 42 mm
Weight
850 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-31554-5 (9780241315545)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2019
1st Edition
Penguin Books Ltd
€2.99
Available for download
Person
Marlon James is the author of the New York Times bestseller A Brief History of Seven Killings, The Book of Night Women, and John Crow's Devil. A Brief History of Seven Killings won the Man Booker Prize, the American Book Award and the Anisfield-Wolf Award for Fiction, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Book of Night Women won the Minnesota Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, as well as the NAACP Image Award. Marlon James is a professor at Macalester College in St Paul. He divides his time between Minnesota and New York.