So, yesterday I was in the Barnes & Noble in Brookfield west of Milwaukee when the following front cover blurb caught my attention:
"A fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made" -- Neil Gaiman
This cover blurb on the book MOON WITCH, SPIDER KING by Marlon James turns out to be an excerpt from Gaiman's longer blurb for M.J.'s previous book, BLACK LEOPARD, RED WOLF :
“Black Leopard, Red Wolf is the kind of novel I never realized I was missing until I read it. A dangerous, hallucinatory, ancient Africa, which becomes a fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made, with language as powerful as Angela Carter's. It's as deep and crafty as Gene Wolfe, bloodier than Robert E. Howard, and all Marlon James. It's something very new that feels old, in the best way. I cannot wait for the next installment.” —Neil Gaiman
I haven't read any of James' work, though this has put him on my radar and will have me on the look-out to find a good entry point.
I do have to make two observations, though:
--this kind of flailing around by critics to find something to compare a book to can indicate that you've struck gold (cf. the odd lot cited for early blurbs of LotR). But it's more likely to indicate a desperate casting about to try to find something to say. The idea of a book that sounds like Carter, Wolfe, and Howard sounds like a book I'd stay away from.
--it's fascinating to see that still, after all these years, publishers are using the tag-line 'this is like Tolkien' to sell books.
--John R
4 comments:
This book has intrigued me, but not yet enough to read. Gaimen's endorsement had the opposite effect - I have yet to find a book that lives up to such a blurb, especially regarding world building.
The Africanesque setting is the draw for me, but so much modern fantasy leaves me disappointed i have a hard time mustering the energy to read it, especially when it seems to be drawn whole cloth from thin air. I always wanted to see the Epic of Sundiata treated by fantasy authors as a source of inspiration the same way so many treat the Matter of Britain. But I've never found a work of that sort. :(
In terms of novels, these are the only fantasy works that James has published. I have not heard any mention of shorter works of fantasy, which suggests to me that if they exist they have not generated the attention of the two novels (particularly the first one).
From what I've read, the first book has a significant element of violence. That's not something I automatically avoid, but it does make me less likely to read in while the semester is in progress.
The one and only time that such an endorsement came close to living up to the promise was also made by Gaiman: Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.
I might give Jame's work a shot, but I don't have high hopes that it will similarly live up the endorsement.
Doug
I agree that an Africanesque setting sounds intriguing, but it's harder to pull off than you'd think --rpg companies have attempted it a number of times without notable success.
Violence is off-putting, but then that'll depend on how significant it is for his plot and how it's presented, For example, THE HUNGER GAMES was full of violence but that story really cdn't have been told without it.
I hadn't known about N.G.'s support of Clarke. Good call on his part.
--John R
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