It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Dark Star Trilogy Book 1

Summary

THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLER

Escape into a world of magic and danger with THE DARK STAR TRILOGY. Drawing on a rich tradition of African mythology, fantasy and history, this is the story of a lost child, an extraordinary hunter, and a mystery with many answers . . .

*Perfect for fans of Pratchett, George R. R. Martin and Octavia Butler*

'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' Neil Gaiman

*****

Tracker is a hunter. Known throughout the thirteen kingdoms as one who has a nose, he always works alone. But he breaks his own rule when, hired to find a lost child, he finds himself part of a group of hunters, each stranger and more dangerous than the last.

As the mismatched gang follow the boy's scent from perfumed citadels to enchanted darklands, Tracker starts to wonder:

Who really is this mysterious boy?
Why do so many people want to stop him from being found?
And, most important of all, who is telling the truth and who is lying?

Marlon James weaves a breathtaking tapestry - at once ancient and startlingly modern - exploring the fundamentals of truth, limits of power, excesses of ambition, and our need to understand them all.

Chronicling the same events but telling a very different story - who will you believe? Read THE DARK STAR TRILOGY in any order! Book two, MOON WITCH, SPIDER KING, is available now.

*****

'Complex, lyrical, moving and furiously gripping . . . This new book will propel James into a new galaxy of literary stardom' Observer

'A game-changing modern fantasy classic' Financial Times

'James has thrown African cultures, mythologies, religions, histories, world-views and topographies into the mighty cauldron of his imagination to create a work of literary magic' New Statesman

Reviews

  • Stand aside, Beowolf . . . James has spun an African fantasy as vibrant, complex and haunting as any Western mythology
    Washington Post

About the author

Marlon James

Marlon James is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling, National Book Award-finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf; the Booker Prize-winning A Brief History of Seven Killings; The Book of Night Women and John Crow's Devil. In addition to the Booker Prize, his novels have won the American Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, the Anisfield-Wolf Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Born in Jamaica, Marlon James now lives in New York City.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more