There are also prominent queer elements, as the gay main character goes through a variety of complicated same-sex relationships over the course of his life. James’ approach to content is notably direct and graphic (huge trigger warnings for gore and sexual violence) but his world remains both fascinating and fantastical. The winding narrative style challenges traditional fantasy structures, frequently messing with chronology and occasionally reading more like a short story anthology rather. Although the book generated some social media buzz back in 2019, I went in with few expectations – but it still managed to surprise me. I picked up Black Leopard for two reasons: the promise of an epic fantasy based in African folklore, and the gorgeous cover design. The result is a lush, unfocused dreamscape of fantasy, loosely united by the quest at its center. It leaves no stone of Tracker’s life unturned, and it fleshes out each supporting character and place with pieces of narrative. Along the journey, Black Leopard takes frequent diversions into other stories that impact the main one. The group ultimately finds the child they’re looking for, but they learn that he is not what they thought – Tracker is forced to contend with all that he believes. Along the way, he visits fantastical regions, encounters grotesque monsters, and picks up a variety of talented allies. The central plot of Black Leopard (if any of the many stories in this book can fit into that description) follows Tracker, a skillful mercenary, as he searches for a mysterious boy at the behest of a client. While its setting, bluntness, and formal experimentation set it apart from other fantasy books, it roundly fulfills the promises of a proper epic – dipping into poetic traditions as well as the novelistic. It takes a fantastical and brutal approach to all its subject matter, disrupting the patterns of a traditional epic fantasy quest with an indirect storytelling style and gritty, spectacular action. Sprawling over 600 pages and decades of in-universe time, Black Leopard crafts an epic fantasy adventure set in an ancient world built on wide-ranging African mythology and folklore. It is the fourth novel by Jamaican author Marlon James, following his Man Booker Prize-winning A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014). The question of how - and how much - runs through my mind whenever I read modern epic fantasy Marlon James’ Black Leopard Red Wolf (2019) provides a fascinating answer.īlack Leopard Red Wolf qualified as a National Book Award Finalist in 2019. In order to forge a unique literary identity, however, new fantasy books must also flirt with subversion.

In order to retain genre readers, they must engage with the staples: legendary heroes, epic journeys, and ancient prophecies, among others. In a genre as entrenched in tropes as high fantasy, new contenders must walk a careful balance between familiarity and reinvention.

Black leopard red wolf