So, I finally finished Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James; it took me some time to get through it, one because of the length. And I think also because of the content, it’s not one of those easy reads. Now, when you just pick up and go through it was tough sometimes, even though I was listening to it. I found it interesting that many other reviewers online had a similar experience. I initially thought my tough time getting through it was due to my schedule, which is part of it.

But I think it was also the content that made it difficult for me. Or I might have wanted to get back to this book more urgently had it been written differently. It’s not that anything was written badly, it was just written in a tough way. And I saw others, from smaller to larger platforms, saying that it was tough for them to get through. Sometimes they stopped and started a couple of times.

Some of the similarities with the other reviewers were evident; it took them a while to get the hang of the book, to get a feel for it. His writing style is different. Not only is his writing style different, maybe in the first half or third of the book, but you’re trying to get a sense of what the heck is actually going on. Like, what am I reading? What is happening here? I definitely had that feeling. And it was encouraging to see that other people had similar experiences, so I think that’s a fair assessment of the book.

I am glad that I read the book. The one thing I liked about it the most was that it is a fantasy novel set based on African lore. One thing I found different about this book compared to some other fantasy novels that I’ve read is the world-building. This book presents many interesting aspects of the world and fascinating creatures. Unlike some other books I’ve read, which take more time to introduce you to the world and flesh it out, this one throws you into various situations with different creatures right away. You have to take it for what it is and analyze it on the go.

Original draft written in February 2020