The Black God's Drums, by P. Djeli Clark

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a really good introduction to Clark's work--for a completely different, also multiple nominee work see "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington". Our protagonist Creeper is a fun, tough kid, easy to root for. The story moves right along and doesn't get boring.

I guess I'm not rating it higher because I'm sort of over New Orleans as a fantasy setting. Seems like I've read hundreds of these, and while this one is good and somewhat different it draws on many of the same tropes. I want a fantasy set in Gary, Indiana, or maybe one of those anonymous factory towns in China with 4 million people. Let's mix it up.

Props for good world building around Free New Orleans and the Surviving South. I think this can get bigger, or he can create other more complete worlds. Worth a read, particularly since I borrowed it from my local library.



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