Bloo
Full Member
- Sep 16, 2021
I "read" the audiobook Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James over the Holidays and was not impressed. Here's my contrarian review...
Let's get this out of the way...this is NOT "Game of Thrones". This is more like "The Odyssey". Yet instead of Odysseus, we have Tracker as the main character. He relates the story of his adventures to an "inquisitor". I never figured out who that was. Yet for all intent, it's the reader.
I purchased the audiobook of "Black Leopard, Red Wolf". A largely spoiler-free review follows.
Unlike GoT (or the Odyssey for that matter), we stay within a single point of view. We know what Tracker relates to us, and nothing more.
It didn't take long for me to forget Tracker was telling us a story. We are immersed into his world of pre-colonial Africa. I'm not sure exactly when, but my best guess would be around 600 years ago. There is magic in this world. There are also fantastical beings - both human and not. Many of these will be new to anyone unfamiliar with African folklore.
Tracker is an expert fighter and hunter. "It's been said he has a nose." He is able to follow the scent of anyone across nearly any distance, and can recognize smells left behind from long ago.
A large cast of characters populate the narrative. Each has a distinct voice and temperament. Most are very well drawn. The dialogue is believable and intelligent when it needs to be. Audiobook listeners will actually hear the differences among the characters. Nearly all of the voices - male and female - are expertly performed (my favorite is Leopard).
Scenes of wicked brutality pop up throughout the story. Here is a similarity to GoT I can agree with. Some of the violence is pretty disturbing. There's cannibalism and torture. Children are enslaved, raped, and murdered. This is grimdark within a historical context. A lot of this stuff actually happened given the time and place. Kingdoms are at war. No quarter is expected, and none is given.
Expect colorful swearing and lots of it. There are detailed descriptions of body parts and bodily functions. Nothing is off limits.
Some of the characters are in gay relationships. The sex scenes don't always fade to black. If you're not comfortable with that, don't buy the (audio)book.
Tracker spends much of the novel searching for a kidnapped boy. His main sidekick is Leopard (a shapeshifter who can take human or feline form). Other people are also looking for the boy, because he's more than just a boy. Some partner with Tracker; others compete with him. The search is truly epic. It spans several years, and there are many detours along the way.
So why only three stars? Let's start with those detours. Sure...some are real page-turners, others provide good backstory. However, there are just so many of them. By the time the we reach the end, I didn't care about the boy anymore. I understand this is a character-driven story. Yet plot matters, too. If an author loses the plot so badly that the reader no longer cares, it's a problem.
The endgame was a bucket of meh. There is an 800-pound gorilla in the room that the story does not address until the last TWENTY MINUTES of the audiobook. And the way it's addressed largely invalidates Tracker's epic journey. I felt cheated because all of the suffering and loss really meant nothing.
Tracker further diminishes the ending by casting doubt on the story he told us. We're the characters real, or simply real to Tracker? Does it even matter? Well...it matters to me. "Life of Pi" did something like this - yet it did it better in less than half the space.
Another plot issue is discontinuity. There are several gaps in the narrative; a few appear to cover a year or more. It's frustrating to invest time in a character, only to have him or her drop out suddenly and return whenever. Meanwhile, the reader misses out on what took place in the character's life during the interim.
Verbal sparring is fun to read but too much of it grates after awhile. Tracker is a quick wit, as are many of the people he meets. None of them appear to have an off switch, but Tracker is the worst. The players often talk in riddles and constantly trade clever insults. The one-upsmanship is tiring.
Finally, there is there is the audiobook voicing of Tracker. His character was given an accent that's difficult to understand. The voice is also too deep and low at times, which made automobile listening more trouble than it needed to be. It's unfortunate that the character with the most microphone time gets this treatment.
The dialogue of BLRW is very good - even if the author is a bit too clever sometimes. Still...deep characters aren't enough to maintain interest in muddy plot that goes on far too long.
There is a sequel to BLRW; I won't be reading it.
3.0 stars.
*****
Let's get this out of the way...this is NOT "Game of Thrones". This is more like "The Odyssey". Yet instead of Odysseus, we have Tracker as the main character. He relates the story of his adventures to an "inquisitor". I never figured out who that was. Yet for all intent, it's the reader.
I purchased the audiobook of "Black Leopard, Red Wolf". A largely spoiler-free review follows.
Unlike GoT (or the Odyssey for that matter), we stay within a single point of view. We know what Tracker relates to us, and nothing more.
It didn't take long for me to forget Tracker was telling us a story. We are immersed into his world of pre-colonial Africa. I'm not sure exactly when, but my best guess would be around 600 years ago. There is magic in this world. There are also fantastical beings - both human and not. Many of these will be new to anyone unfamiliar with African folklore.
Tracker is an expert fighter and hunter. "It's been said he has a nose." He is able to follow the scent of anyone across nearly any distance, and can recognize smells left behind from long ago.
A large cast of characters populate the narrative. Each has a distinct voice and temperament. Most are very well drawn. The dialogue is believable and intelligent when it needs to be. Audiobook listeners will actually hear the differences among the characters. Nearly all of the voices - male and female - are expertly performed (my favorite is Leopard).
Scenes of wicked brutality pop up throughout the story. Here is a similarity to GoT I can agree with. Some of the violence is pretty disturbing. There's cannibalism and torture. Children are enslaved, raped, and murdered. This is grimdark within a historical context. A lot of this stuff actually happened given the time and place. Kingdoms are at war. No quarter is expected, and none is given.
Expect colorful swearing and lots of it. There are detailed descriptions of body parts and bodily functions. Nothing is off limits.
Some of the characters are in gay relationships. The sex scenes don't always fade to black. If you're not comfortable with that, don't buy the (audio)book.
Tracker spends much of the novel searching for a kidnapped boy. His main sidekick is Leopard (a shapeshifter who can take human or feline form). Other people are also looking for the boy, because he's more than just a boy. Some partner with Tracker; others compete with him. The search is truly epic. It spans several years, and there are many detours along the way.
So why only three stars? Let's start with those detours. Sure...some are real page-turners, others provide good backstory. However, there are just so many of them. By the time the we reach the end, I didn't care about the boy anymore. I understand this is a character-driven story. Yet plot matters, too. If an author loses the plot so badly that the reader no longer cares, it's a problem.
The endgame was a bucket of meh. There is an 800-pound gorilla in the room that the story does not address until the last TWENTY MINUTES of the audiobook. And the way it's addressed largely invalidates Tracker's epic journey. I felt cheated because all of the suffering and loss really meant nothing.
Tracker further diminishes the ending by casting doubt on the story he told us. We're the characters real, or simply real to Tracker? Does it even matter? Well...it matters to me. "Life of Pi" did something like this - yet it did it better in less than half the space.
Another plot issue is discontinuity. There are several gaps in the narrative; a few appear to cover a year or more. It's frustrating to invest time in a character, only to have him or her drop out suddenly and return whenever. Meanwhile, the reader misses out on what took place in the character's life during the interim.
Verbal sparring is fun to read but too much of it grates after awhile. Tracker is a quick wit, as are many of the people he meets. None of them appear to have an off switch, but Tracker is the worst. The players often talk in riddles and constantly trade clever insults. The one-upsmanship is tiring.
Finally, there is there is the audiobook voicing of Tracker. His character was given an accent that's difficult to understand. The voice is also too deep and low at times, which made automobile listening more trouble than it needed to be. It's unfortunate that the character with the most microphone time gets this treatment.
The dialogue of BLRW is very good - even if the author is a bit too clever sometimes. Still...deep characters aren't enough to maintain interest in muddy plot that goes on far too long.
There is a sequel to BLRW; I won't be reading it.
3.0 stars.
Bar the drunkenness. I can't drink.
