Marlon James
Books by Marlon James
Moon Witch, Spider King: The Dark Star Trilogy, Book 2
by Marlon James
We loved the delirious mashup that was this Booker prizewinner’s first foray into fantasy, Black Leopard, Red Wolf. So it’s with great delight that we dove into the second book of the Dark Star trilogy, set in an imaginary Iron Age Africa replete with wondrous hallucination and historic reference. Here, James returns to the story of Black Leopard, Red Wolf from another perspective. The protagonist here is Sogolon the Moon Witch herself, an adversary to Tracker, the hero of the first instalment, and a woman. The narrative arc unfolds an almost ideological showdown between two different visions of empire, as Sogolon tells her story of a century of blood feud with the powerful Aesi, the chancellor to the king. A heady witch’s brew.
“Marlon James basically wanted to explore the rich, cultural mythology of Western and Central African cultures by weaving this grand and epic fantasy set in ancient Africa and dealing with some really contemporary things just stated plainly, like it’s part of the landscape. This book is deeply queer. His main character has a fluid sexuality.” Read more...
Best Books by Black Queer Writers
Robert Jones Jr., Novelist
Interviews where books by Marlon James were recommended
Best Books by Black Queer Writers, recommended by Robert Jones Jr.
The novels of James Baldwin, Alice Walker, Wallace Thurman and James Early Hardy bring the America of the last two centuries vividly to life. Marlon James brings us a fantasy trilogy set in ancient Africa. Robert Jones Jr., author of The Prophets—a love story set on a plantation in the American South—talks us through his choices of the best books by Black queer writers.