“Black Leopard, Red Wolf” by Marlon James

I was excited when Marlon James announced that he was writing a fantasy book. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew that whatever it was it would be great.

I bought a copy of Black Leopard, Red Wolf as soon as it was published. James was on tour and came to my area, so I got a copy at a book signing event, where James spoke about the research he did for the book. I was impressed. I knew that I would like it and assumed that it would become my next favorite fantasy series.

However, if not for a buddy-read hosted by Why Read on Instagram, this book would probably still be sitting on my bookshelves unread. (I’m horrible at reading the books I buy.) The buddy-read got me to start the book and to continue with it when I was tempted to DNF it. By the end, I was impressed by the story and liked it but unsure if I will continue with the series.

Genre:

Fantasy

Pubbed:

2019

Series:

Dark Star trilogy, book 1

Goodreads summary:

In the first novel in Marlon James’s Dark Star trilogy, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child.

“The Deep” by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes

Everyone loves this book. I was drawn to it because of the hype. It made me curious to see what it’s all about, and I also thought it was pretty cool that the inspiration for it came from a rap song. But although I appreciated what the story does, I didn’t like it as much as everyone else did.

Genre:

Fantasy

Series:

n/a

Pubbed:

2019

Quick summary:

The Deep is a fantasy novella about a group of merpeople called the Wajinru who are actually descendants of African slaves. The protagonist, Yetu, serves as the historian for the Wajinru and is burdened with all the memories of her people’s traumatic experiences. She passes on these memories to other Wajinru in a ceremony called the Remembering, at the end of which she is supposed to take back the memories. But with such a heavy burden gone, Yetu takes the opportunity to escape the heavy responsibility of holding onto such painful history. (Goodreads)