Black Leopard, Red Wolf
Locus Award 2020.
The epic novel from Marlon James, the Man Booker Prize-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings: an African Game of Thrones.
In the stunning first novel in Marlon James's 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.
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Marlon James
Marlon James is a literary force whose writing captures the essence of raw humanity and boldly reimagines the boundaries of storytelling. Hailing from Jamaica, James’s works pulse with the rhythms of his Caribbean roots, steeped in the political, cultural, and historical complexities of his homeland. His prose, both haunting and exhilarating, offers readers a window into worlds where myth and reality collide, and where the deep scars of history linger.
Best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, James has crafted a body of work that is as layered as it is visceral. His novels are a rich tapestry of voices, filled with vivid characters whose struggles, dreams, and secrets paint an intricate portrait of modern life in Jamaica and beyond. In this groundbreaking novel, James takes on the tumultuous history of the 1970s in Kingston, interweaving political turmoil with personal drama, while capturing the voices of the unheard with unflinching honesty.
The Dark Star Trilogy
In The Dark Star Trilogy, Marlon James ventures into uncharted territory, fusing African mythology, epic fantasy, and dark, haunting narrative into a stunning, world-shattering tale. With the first book, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, James redefines what a fantasy epic can be—leaving behind the traditional tropes of the genre and crafting a story that is as sprawling and complex as it is visceral.
The Dark Star Trilogy consists of two books and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
