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The best fantasy book series to escape into new worlds

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How Marlon James created an epic trilogy grounded in African mythology

Dark Star Trilogy 2

Moon Witch, Spider King

THE SECOND NOVEL IN THE REVOLUTIONARY DARK STAR TRILOGY 
 
'Even more gripping and inventive than its predecessor . . . like Tolkien on ayahuasca' Observer 
 
*Perfect for fans of Pratchett, George R. R. Martin and Octavia Butler* 
 
In this mighty follow-up to his number one bestseller Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Booker-winner Marlon James once again draws on a rich tradition of African mythology, fantasy and history to tell the story of Sogolon the Moon Witch. 
 
Part adventure story, part tale of an indomitable woman, Moon Witch, Spider King chronicles the antagonist-turned-antihero's journey from an ostracised no-name girl, hated by her brothers and made to live in a termite hill, to a woman with fully developed powers engaged in a long-standing feud with the Aesi, chancellor to the king. 
 
Offering Sogolon's version of the events of Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Moon Witch, Spider King is an unforgettable exploration of power, resistance and revenge set in a world at once ancient and startlingly modern. 
 
'A fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made, with language as powerful as Angela Carter's' Neil Gaiman 
 
'James masterfully flips the first instalment on its head . . . [A] titanic story of empire, adventure and power' Esquire 
 
'Told with James' inimitable linguistic verve . . . Riotous, ultraviolent, dazzlingly inventive' Literary Hub

An epic fable drenched in African mythology. This is work that both meets the immersive worldbuilding standard in books by Tolkien and Martin and brings to the genre a voice unlike anything seen before . . .  It sets readers up for what will undoubtedly be a superb finale

Booker winner James's African-inspired imaginary kingdoms mark the series out from the usual run of epic fantasies, but his uniquely supple, powerful style is even more distinctive

Black Leopard, Red Wolf and Moon Witch, Spider King are wildly inventive, genre-defining works of fiction on the level of The Lord Of The Rings and the Broken Earth trilogy that deserve to be studied, dissected, and argued over

An exhilarating tour de force . . . [James] establishes a new vision for the trilogy as a whole and confirms Dark Star as a true epic

Moving, vivid, and thought-provoking . . . brilliant

James cements his status as a wildly inventive and lyrical storyteller

James masterfully flips the first instalment on its head . . . [A] titanic story of empire, adventure and power

Told with James' inimitable linguistic verve . . . Riotous, ultraviolent, dazzlingly inventive

A fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made, with language as powerful as Angela Carter's

James once again shattered my expectations . . . Moon Witch, Spider King is a breathtaking book, one that functions as well as a standalone as it does a sequel . . . This is a novel that begs to be read in one sitting

Even more gripping and inventive than its predecessor . . . like Tolkien on ayahuasca

This novel's prose style, inspired by the grammar of African languages, has an intoxicating swagger and energy

James is one of the finest writers at work today, and Moon Witch, Spider King is a complex, enthralling novel. It is also utterly uncompromising, a book which the reader must meet on its own terms

A fantastical epic that draws on African mythology

An imaginative story that advances the trilogy in a satisfying way, deepening and expanding an already epic world

In this mighty follow-up to his number one bestseller Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Booker-winner Marlon James once again draws on a rich tradition of African mythology, fantasy and history to tell the story of Sogolon the Moon Witch. 
 
Part adventure story, part tale of an indomitable woman, Moon Witch, Spider King chronicles the antagonist-turned-antihero's journey from an ostracised no-name girl, hated by her brothers and made to live in a termite hill, to a woman with fully developed powers engaged in a long-standing feud with the Aesi, chancellor to the king. 
 
Offering Sogolon's version of the events of Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Moon Witch, Spider King is an unforgettable exploration of power, resistance and revenge set in a world at once ancient and startlingly modern.

Dark Star Trilogy Book 1

Black Leopard, Red Wolf

THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLER 
 
Escape into a world of magic and danger with THE DARK STAR TRILOGY. Drawing on a rich tradition of African mythology, fantasy and history, this is the story of a lost child, an extraordinary hunter, and a mystery with many answers . . . 
 
*Perfect for fans of Pratchett, George R. R. Martin and Octavia Butler* 
 
'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' Neil Gaiman 
 
***** 
 
Tracker is a hunter. Known throughout the thirteen kingdoms as one who has a nose, he always works alone. But he breaks his own rule when, hired to find a lost child, he finds himself part of a group of hunters, each stranger and more dangerous than the last. 
 
As the mismatched gang follow the boy's scent from perfumed citadels to enchanted darklands, Tracker starts to wonder: 
 
Who really is this mysterious boy? 
Why do so many people want to stop him from being found? 
And, most important of all, who is telling the truth and who is lying? 
 
Marlon James weaves a breathtaking tapestry - at once ancient and startlingly modern - exploring the fundamentals of truth, limits of power, excesses of ambition, and our need to understand them all. 
 
Chronicling the same events but telling a very different story - who will you believe? Read THE DARK STAR TRILOGY in any order! Book two, MOON WITCH, SPIDER KING, is available now. 
 
***** 
 
'Complex, lyrical, moving and furiously gripping . . . This new book will propel James into a new galaxy of literary stardom' Observer 
 
'A game-changing modern fantasy classic' Financial Times 
 
'James has thrown African cultures, mythologies, religions, histories, world-views and topographies into the mighty cauldron of his imagination to create a work of literary magic' New Statesman

Stand aside, Beowolf . . . James has spun an African fantasy as vibrant, complex and haunting as any Western mythology

I cannot wait for the next instalment

Marlon James possesses almost frightening levels of talent . . . An archetypal epic for the 21st century

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... I cannot wait for the next instalment

A miracle... If Charles R. Saunders' Imaro series opened the door to new ways of telling epic fantasy, and N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance trilogy leapt over the threshold, then Marlon James' Black Leopard, Red Wolf just ripped the whole damn door off its hinges

Stand aside, Beowolf. There's a new epic hero slashing his way into our hearts...James is clear-cutting space for a whole new kingdom. Black Leopard, Red Wolf rises up from the mists of time, glistening like viscera. James has spun an African fantasy as vibrant, complex and haunting as any Western mythology

Marlon James possesses almost frightening levels of talent... His work is wholly original while paying homage to all the important literary ancestors. An archetypal epic for the 21st century

Black Leopard, Red Wolf heralds the arrival of fantasy's next great saga and reaffirms James as one of the greatest storytellers of his generation

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

This book begins like a fever dream and merges into world upon world of deadly fairy tales rich with political magic. Black Leopard, Red Wolf is a fabulous cascade of storytelling. Sink right in. I guarantee you will be swept downstream'

Black Leopard, Red Wolf ... affirms [James's] place as one of our most talented living authors.

What marks James's tale as his own is the wonder evoked through descriptive, unrelenting prose along with a focus on a distinct mythology cobbled from history and folk tale. [A] propulsive narrative.

Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter - and he always works alone. But when he is engaged to find a child who disappeared three years ago, he must break his own rules joining a group of mercenaries to find the boy. Following the lost boy's scent from one ancient city to another, into dense forests and across deep rivers, Tracker starts to wonder: Who is this boy? Why do so many people want to stop him from being found? And most importantly, who is lying? 
 
Drawing from vivid African history and mythology, Marlon James weaves a saga of breathtaking adventure and powerful intrigue - a mesmerizing, unique meditation on the nature of truth and power.

Marlon James

Crackling with sass, suspense and scintillation, The Disappearers is Marlon James’s unapologetic and unvanquished masterpiece on queer rage and solidarity

James brings multilayered life to a troubling era in his homeland’s recent history. He engages with his landscapes and the diverse characters populating them with intensity, passion, and bountiful, often graphic detail. With the same affinity for Dickensian storytelling he’s shown in his sword-and sorcery epics, James tells this searingly realistic tale through interview fragments, journal entries, letters, and in recreating the horrific attack, with random, frantic voices that leave unsettling echoes. Even when it stress-tests your senses, this sprawling depiction of gay life in Jamaica is galvanizing

‘Darkness is a mood in Jamaica . . .' 
 
The Disappearers is Marlon James’s triumphant return to the Jamaica of A Brief History of Seven Killings – a place of heat and chaos, and of danger for anyone outside the heteronormal. 
 
So when eight gay men meet for the first time, in Kingston in 1988, answering the casting call for an openly queer play, they are already taking a big risk. But that is nothing compared to what rains down on them when a mob descends on one of their rehearsals. 
 
By the end of this night, one man is dead, all are injured, and two subsequently disappear. 
As the survivors heal, each man finds he must confront the bigotry and homophobia that the attack laid bare. Some try to forget; some embrace their rage; and some simply vanish – but all are forever scarred. 
 
As one of the victims puts it, ‘there’s a difference between when something ends and when something stops’. And this story won’t stop until both the disappearers and the perpetrators have been tracked, along trails both hot and cold, and an ending reached. 
 
Epic and intimate, violent and forgiving, The Disappearers is a tour de force which only Marlon James could have written – both an unflinching portrait of the hatred and shame faced by gay men in a society which refuses to accept them, and a deeply human story of acceptance and insight.

Marlon James

Praise for The Disappearers

Crackling with sass, suspense and scintillation, The Disappearers is Marlon James’s unapologetic and unvanquished masterpiece on queer rage and solidarity

James brings multilayered life to a troubling era in his homeland’s recent history. He engages with his landscapes and the diverse characters populating them with intensity, passion, and bountiful, often graphic det ...

Books by Marlon James

Series by Marlon James

Dark Star Trilogy

Articles featuring Marlon James

The best Penguin Podcast episodes for aspiring writers

Long books that are worth every minute of reading

Marlon James on Toni Morrison: She gave us the legitimacy to write in our own tongues

Great books to give dads this Father’s Day

The best fantasy book series to escape into new worlds

How Marlon James created an epic trilogy grounded in African mythology

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