Black Leopard Red Wolf

by Marlon James
620 pgs  (The Dark Star trilogy #1)

Black Leopard Red Wolf is the type of book that I felt like I should have enjoyed more than I did, and probably would have, if I were smarter. Reading it was kind of like watching an opera for me. When I watch and listen to the performers sing, I know they're talented, but their talent is wasted on me. I just don't enjoy it. Similarly, while I was reading this book, it was obvious that Marlon James is an extremely talented writer and story teller, but I felt like his talents were wasted on me. I had a hard time following and staying interested in the story he was telling.

I first heard about the book when I saw James on a late-night talk show discussing it. It sounded very interesting and the host couldn't stop gushing over the portion of the book he had read so far. So I was excited to pick it up and start it as soon as I got it. When I did, I quickly realized that this wasn't the type of book that can be read casually. It takes concentration and thought, two things I struggled with while reading it.

It's the story of a man called Tracker. "He has a nose," is how people who know him describe him, and he's able to follow the scent of someone, no matter how far away they are, or how long they've been gone. It's because of his unique ability that he's recruited to track down a boy who went missing three years ago. Normally Tracker works alone, but this time he breaks his own rule and finds himself working with a group of unusual characters, including a giant, a witch, a buffalo, a water goddess, and a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard.

The book is set in a dark fantasy version of the African continent, where Tracker and his group encounter river witches, bush fairies, blood swamp trolls, and demons, as they follow the boy's scent from one ancient city to another, through the mystical Ten and Nine Doors.

James has a one-of-a-kind writing style. He writes his sentences in such a way that he hides who is speaking and who is doing what until the last possible second. A style that had me shaking my head, both out of amazement and confusion.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆