LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Moon Witch, Spider King, the second book in Marlon James' epic Dark Star fantasy trilogy, blazes with African myth and the unconquerable force of a 177-year-old moon witch who insists she isn’t a witch at all — a woman who’s refused to be silenced or supressed through her long, traumatic, ferocious life. While the rich fantasy world and characters bring Neil Gaiman to mind, and the raging, carousing language evokes the spirit of Angela Carter, Moon Witch, Spider King is fiercely original, instantly captivating, and soaked in history.
Despised and abused by her family as a child for being a “motherslayer”, Sogolon escapes their shackles and enters a whorehouse, whereupon the madam seeks to groom her “to be the next forbidden lily”. But it’s not long before she’s taken by a noblewoman, later transcending her orphan origins and captive childhood as she becomes a woman, and transforms into a moon witch, a powerful female force in a misogynistic world of shapeshifting creatures, rising and falling empires, and detonating feuds.
Haunting, harrowing and utterly immersive, Moon Witch, Spider King is shot-through with a potent exploration of power, and quite unlike anything else.
Joanne Owen
Find This Book In
| Primary Genre |
Fantasy
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| Other Genres: |
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About
Moon Witch, Spider King Synopsis
From Marlon James, author of the bestselling National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf, the second book in the Dark Star trilogy, his African Game of Thrones.
In Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Sogolon the Moon Witch proved a worthy adversary to Tracker as they clashed across a mythical African landscape in search of a mysterious boy who disappeared. In Moon Witch, Spider King, Sogolon takes center stage and gives her own account of what happened to the boy, and how she plotted and fought, triumphed and failed as she looked for him. It's also the story of a century-long feud-seen through the eyes of a 177-year-old witch-that Sogolon had with the Aesi, chancellor to the king. It is said that Aesi works so closely with the king that together they are like the eight limbs of one spider. Aesi's power is considerable-and deadly. It takes brains and courage to challenge him, which Sogolon does for reasons of her own.
Both a brilliant narrative device-seeing the story told in Black Leopard, Red Wolf from the perspective of an adversary and a woman-as well as a fascinating battle between different versions of empire, Moon Witch, Spider King delves into Sogolon's world as she fights to tell her own story. Part adventure tale, part chronicle of an indomitable woman who bows to no man, it is a fascinating novel that explores power, personality, and the places where they overlap.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780593556443 |
| Publication date: |
15th March 2022 |
| Author: |
Marlon James |
| Publisher: |
Random House an imprint of Diversified Publishing |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
1008 pages |
| Series: |
The Dark Star Trilogy |
| Primary Genre |
Fantasy
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| Other Genres: |
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Press Reviews
Marlon James Press Reviews
'Moving, vivid, and thought-provoking . . . brilliant' Buzzfeed
'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
'Even more gripping and inventive than its predecessor . . . like Tolkien on ayahuasca' Observer
Author
About Marlon James
Marlon James was born in Kingston, Jamaica. John Crow’s Devil is his debut novel, published in North America in 2005 to widespread acclaim. It was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and was a New York Times Editors’ Choice. His second novel, The Book of Night Women (Oneworld 2009), won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Minnesota Book Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His third novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings (Oneworld 2014) won the American Book Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Fiction Prize, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and featured in over twenty best books of the year lists. His short fiction and non-fiction has appeared in Esquire and Granta. He teaches at Macalester College, Minnesota, USA.
Author photo © Jeffrey Skemp
More About Marlon James
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