Appreciating Black Leopard, Red Wolf Takes Time

I’ll say this: it may take two or three reads to fully appreciate Black Leopard, Red Wolf. For me, during my first read, I was mostly focused on the story and trying to understand what was actually happening. A lot of my energy was spent on remembering who was who and what each person’s purpose was.

Tracker: The Unreliable Narrator

When I see others talk about this book, they point out that Tracker, our protagonist and narrator, is unreliable. Examples of this include, where Tracker, who is telling the story to someone called the Inquisitor, makes statements like, “Oh, you want to hear a story? I’ll tell you a story,” and then says things like, “You know, what is truth?” Such statements should make you question what he’s actually saying. However, I was so focused on keeping up with the plot that I let that aspect slide. I think the book would benefit from a second read.

Another important point is that this is a fantasy novel. Tracker’s story includes monsters, witches, and almost giants—many fantastical elements. There are times when he directly addresses the interviewer, saying things like, “Oh, you don’t believe in this? It’s hard for you to believe in that,” referring to some type of monster or other fantastical element. The way Tracker tells the story, this world seems to be full of monsters, but he also acknowledges that this isn’t something that the average person encounters.

The Reality Behind the Fantastical

If there is another person within this world outside of the story he’s telling who may doubt certain aspects of the story, we should probably also doubt Tracker. I saw another review online, and if I can find these people to give them credit later on, I will. Someone pointed out that even the mingi children mentioned at the beginning of the book are revealed at the end to be not so fantastical. They are just regular kids with exaggerated features. For example, Giraffe Boy isn’t really that tall. He doesn’t have the features or limbs of a giraffe; he’s just really tall for his age and lanky. Bobble doesn’t actually have any legs; he’s just short, maybe fat. So, stuff like that.

A Google search I did revealed that some fantastical elements we were introduced to early on come back at the end of the book, and we find out that maybe they were a little bit exaggerated. This makes us question some of the other stories told throughout the book. Although someone pointed out that apparently Smoke Girl is still Smoke Girl at the end of the book, there were a lot of gruesome, violent scenes in this book.

Violence and Gruesome Scenes

A lot of violence, murder, and not much else. It affected me; it just became par for the course. Except for the end. I don’t know if I want to keep this spoiler-free, but, when the mingi children get killed and they consider Tracker their dad, that might have slightly brushed up against a nerve, a slight tingle, I guess. There’s a story where Tracker likes a girl, some slave girl, and one day he finds her smashed.

The Fellowship Trope in the Story

Another thing I saw a couple of people pointing out is that this book has a “Lord of the Rings” fellowship trope, where a group of people get together and go on a quest to accomplish a task. Which is true. But the way I read it, I kept waiting for these other characters to have some significant purpose. I thought they were not just some more people to go along this journey. I was thinking, “Okay, eventually this person is going to do this, we need this person for that.” But for the most part, they’re just a group of people picked up along the way. Like in “Lord of the Rings,” I was waiting for some later reveal for these people.

Engaging Moments in the Story

There’s a buffalo that shows up, and apparently, he can understand human speech. I thought, “Oh, well, maybe he will sit by such and such,” and we’ll find out later on that he’s just somebody they found along the way and he’s helping them out on the journey.

With that in mind, I think a second read could help me enjoy this book more. Like I said, the first time around I was just trying to catch what was going on and where the book was going.

Throughout the book, there are some pretty good, interesting moments. So, the story, although sad, is still engaging. It’s one you can follow and empathize with. There’s a part where they go to this fancy city powered by children—not necessarily slave children, but we’ll call them slaves—captured in walls. There were some very interesting bits and pieces in the book.

There’s a lot of brutality, murder, rape, incest, and gruesome scenes.

Adaptations and The Oral Version of the Book

Michael B. Jordan is supposed to be adapting this book into either a TV show or movie. I want to see that.

I guess it’s also worth noting—I haven’t followed up on this yet—but I heard from another reviewer that the book is written to be read aloud, so the oral version is the definitive version. I happened to listen to the audio version, and it is recommended. The narrator is pretty good. I forgot his name, but it’s somebody Graham.

Embracing Different Storytelling Methods

Another thing someone else pointed out was that when we talk about different takes on the fantasy genre, Marlon James kind of flippantly described his book as a black Game of Thrones. But this is not really like Game of Thrones. Even though this is a telling of a fantasy story from a different culture, it doesn’t mean it’s just the same old fantasy tropes dressed in different characters, like black characters replacing orcs and elves.

We do have some different creatures, but it also means a different way of storytelling. If we’re looking for different stories outside of Western culture, we have to be open to not just different characters and settings, but also different ways of telling the story. I think that’s something to take into consideration when reading this book.

Original draft written in February 2020