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  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf

  • The Dark Star Trilogy, Book 1
  • Written by: Marlon James
  • Narrated by: Dion Graham
  • Length: 24 hrs and 2 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (117 ratings)

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Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Written by: Marlon James
Narrated by: Dion Graham
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Publisher's Summary

One of Time’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time 

Winner of the LA Times Ray Bradbury Prize 

Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award

The New York Times best seller

Named a Best Book of 2019 by The Wall Street Journal, Time, NPR, GQ, Vogue, and The Washington Post 

"A fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made." (Neil Gaiman)

"Gripping, action-packed.... The literary equivalent of a Marvel Comics universe." (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

The epic novel, an African Game of Thrones, from the Man Booker Prize-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings 

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

Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: "He has a nose," people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard. 

As Tracker follows the boy's scent - from one ancient city to another; into dense forests and across deep rivers - he and the band are set upon by creatures intent on destroying them. As he struggles to survive, Tracker starts to wonder: Who, really, is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? And perhaps the most important questions of all: Who is telling the truth, and who is lying? 

Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written a novel unlike anything that's come before it: a saga of breathtaking adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, and our need to understand them both.

©2019 Marlon James (P)2019 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

“Marlon James is one of those novelists who aren’t afraid to give a performance, to change the states of language from viscous to gushing to grand, to get all the way inside the people he’s created.... [Black Leopard, Red Wolf] looks like another great, big tale of death, murder and mystery but more mystically fantastical.... Not only does this book come with a hefty cast of characters (like Seven Killings), there are also shape shifters, fairies, trolls, and, apparently, a map. The map might be handy. But it might be the opposite of why you come to James - to get lost in him.” (The New York Times)

“James is a professed fantasy nerd, so Black Leopard, Red Wolf will certainly appeal to fans of all the well-acknowledged authors with at least two initials - George R.R. Martin, J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, etc. But if you’ve read James’ 2014 novel A Brief History of Seven Killings (decidedly not a sci-fi or fantasy book but a 700-page world-building epic about the attempted assassination of Bob Marley), you’ll drag yourself to the midnight queue to buy Black Leopard regardless of the whole Game of Thrones selling point.” (Huffington Post

Black Leopard, Red Wolf is the kind of novel I never realized I was missing until I read it. A dangerous, hallucinatory, ancient Africa, which becomes a fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made, with language as powerful as Angela Carter's. It's as deep and crafty as Gene Wolfe, bloodier than Robert E. Howard, and all Marlon James. It's something very new that feels old, in the best way. I cannot wait for the next installment.” (Neil Gaiman)

“James' sensual, beautifully rendered prose and sweeping, precisely detailed narrative cast their own transfixing spell upon the reader. He not only brings a fresh multicultural perspective to a grand fantasy subgenre, but also broadens the genre's psychological and metaphysical possibilities. If this first volume is any indication, James' trilogy could become one of the most talked-about and influential adventure epics since George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire was transformed into Game of Thrones.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)  

Featured Article: 10 Books Like The Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin’s epic series A Song of Ice and Fire was already a big name in the fantasy world prior to its television adaptation, after which it became a worldwide phenomenon and one of the most-watched shows in history. The TV series inspired a new wave of interest and love for the original works, but with the show well and truly finished and just two titles left to release in the series, fantasy fans are asking: What’s next? Whether you’re a longtime fan of A Song of Ice and Fire or a newcomer to the fantasy genre who fell in love with its HBO adaptation, these books like Game of Thrones are sure to enthrall, thrill, and delight.

What listeners say about Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

It's bad.

I really wanted to like this book. I've heard good things about James' writing, and I have been excited for the idea of an African-inspired fantasy series since the first time I was made aware of how narrow the lens of fantasy novels tends to be. I guess I'll keep waiting for a good one.

The setting is actually pretty interesting and exciting. Sprawling city-states, warring tribes, shapechangers, monsters inspired out of Pan-African lore. I really dig that part of it, and James does a lot of work in making the world feel real and lived in. Many of the characters are also very good, with complex backgrounds, and differing motivations. The integration of the fantasy elements with otherwise grounded characters is basically seamless.

The story, on the other hand, is rambling and dull. Most scenes are just characters telling each other about interesting things they did on the way to get wherever they are. James writes action scenes like someone who has heard about them, but never actually read one, and many of the fights and chases feel like they have no stakes, like the characters involved don't have anything to win or lose that matters, like 80s action movies, where the "hero" just kills dozens of faceless goons because some producer said "you need an action beat here."

There are enormous, rambling digressions throughout the book, suggesting the worst indulgences of Lord of the Rings. Characters appear, sidetrack the story, and then are defeated without significant consequences, apparently for the sole purpose of "tourism."

The reader is quite talented, giving distinct voices to each character, and allowing his performance to tell you something about that character's size, age, and attitudes. However, when a character speaks quickly, he speaks quickly. When a character whispers, he whispers. If you're listening while walking, driving, or working out, you WILL miss things, and sometimes need to adjust the volume multiple times in a chapter. I found this very frustrating.

Overall, I can't recommend this book. But I do hope that someone reads it and decides they want to do something similar, but better, so I can read that one.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good not great

At times gripping and unlike anything I’ve ever read. At times hard to follow and you have to be a fan of magical realism to really enjoy this book-which I’m not. It took me a while to get attuned to the narrator (had to slow the narration speed for the first hour) - but by the end I thought the narrator did a phenomenal job bringing the numerous characters to life.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

DNF

I made it to chapter two before calling it quits. The amount of sexual violence really turned me off. Should come with a warning.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Expect a story ride you've never had before

I was totally unprepared for this story ride. The charactors are very colorful and sometimes hard to believe and somehow horrific. You will have to be strapped in until you are glued to the storyline.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

one of the best readers of any audiobook

the reader, Dion James is exceptional. his performance is next level. I will listen to anything else he reads.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

confusing

great writing, stellar performance....but so very confusing. not easy to follow though I enjoyed all the character interactions. a weird one for sure

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Couldn’t finish it

This book was NOT for me. Too many stories within winding stories within folklore. The performance was also incredibly hard to follow at times. I got through 6 hours of it before I called it quits. Disappointed.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

hard to understand heavy accent

the accent is too thick for me to understand. not what I can get lost in.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Not for me

I couldn’t listen long enough to figure out if a story or plot would develop. The length of time taken describing the main characters uncircumcised body part and his sleeping with a boy fondling his balls while he slept was disgusting. Also I found the narrator’s accent made him difficult to hear and understand.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

So close

It’s so interesting, the world it created and the magic it set up. Like the druids/shapeshifters or the witches but nothing came together... It was all too focused on how witty or deceiving every character was that it could go no where and when it needed to move on it would do so very forcefully.

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