Man Booker Award-winning author Marlon James is back, this time taking on the Fantasy genre with the first in the Dark Star Trilogy which has already been described as the African Game of Thrones also not forgetting the
Black Leopard, Red Wolf is broken down into 6 parts, which is handy as it’s 600 + pages long and as with James’s previous novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, all characters are listed at the very start of the book.
Tracker the main character in the story is a hunter used to working alone, once he catches the scent of a person he won’t let it go until that person is found, so dead or alive they will usually be found so because of this talent or particular skill set he is commissioned to look for a boy who disappeared under very mysterious circumstances three years ago. He finds out he is not the only person looking for the boy and has to break his own rules as the search turns into a team effort, but not everyone on the team can be trusted. The group that accompanies Tracker on his search are filled with mysterious characters all with secrets and hidden agendas.
Tracker and his team move from one ancient city to a next, through dense forests and across deeps rivers, the journey is perilous enough without a mythical creature intent on killing them too. The group ends up getting divided, mistrust surrounds them, and Tracker cannot help but question why the boy has been missing so long & also cannot shake the feeling that people are trying to keep him from finding the boy…
James weaves a dangerous, hallucinatory saga of vivid African history and mythology.
My Rating 4 out of 5 Bookmarks
Black Leopard, Red Wolf is out 28th February via Hamish Hamilton.
