Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Book, Recommended by Emma

Black Leopard, Red Wolf was marketed as the African Game of Thrones, which I ultimately found to be a disservice to the book. Instead of high-fantasy, the reader is plunged into a hallucinogenic, violent fever dream chock full of African mythology, terrifying monsters, blood, guts, cunning, and adventure. The story, told by the titular Red Wolf, is piecemeal, episodic, and strange, and at every turn we wonder what story we are meant to be reading until it comes together in sobering and heartbreaking conclusion. It is the first book in planned a Rashomon-style series, the Dark Star Trilogy, and I can only say to Marlon James what Red Wolf says to his inquisitor at the end of the book: "Tell me."