Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Black God's Drums

'The Black God's Drums' by P. Djèlí Clark is an exciting novella set in a steampunk version of New Orleans. In the novella, we follow Creeper, who has an African God speaking in her mind and is seeking to leave the streets of New Orleans behind by joining the crew of an airship. To do this, she must prove her worth to its captain and save New Orleans from a new weapon that is just on the horizon.
Clark does a great job of fitting the plot perfectly to a novella length. I find this especially impressive because I've read many novellas that have novel sized plots that feel as if they have been forced into a novella length. This isn't at all true with 'The Black God's Drums.' Clark sweeps us up and into his steampunk version of New Orleans, acquainting us quickly but firmly with Creeper and the world that she inhabits. With world building fluidly added in as the plot progresses, it's easy to feel as if we have stepped into Clark's world as we become comfortable with its fantastical elements. The weapon at the center of the plot is ingenious but terrifying and I would love to see what else Clark would choose to explore in this world if he returns to it in a future book.
I would highly recommend the audiobook though I am sure that this story is a fun ride no matter what way you encounter it. I was left hoping for more adventures with the crew of the Midnight Robber and knowing that I'll be looking to pick up more of Clark's work soon.

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bluejayreads's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This book is short, easy to read, and very, very good.

It's also a hard book to write a review about because you start off knowing very little and the story unfolds as you go along. It starts off with Creeper overhearing some information about some scientist and a weapon that everybody seems to want, and deciding to trade that information to Captain Ann-Marie in exchange for a place on her airship.

Oh, and Oya has given Creeper a vision that probably means something bad is going to happen to New Orleans.

I really don't want to say any more than that because what exactly is happening gets unfolded throughout the story. Creeper and Ann-Marie are both interesting and distinct characters, and so is Oya even though she's kinda doing her own thing in Creeper's head, and the side characters are surprisingly good too for as little page time as they get.

I also want to talk about the world for a second, because I love it. It's an alternate history, slightly steampunk-y version of New Orleans where the American Civil War ended in a complicated peace treaty where the South kept their slaves and subdued them with a mind-altering gas to keep them from running away, but New Orleans became a neutral area where everyone was free because it's a major port city for airships coming between the North, the South, and the Haitian Free Isles and other Caribbean nations. It's an interesting idea and I really want more books in this world because I want to explore it more.

The only real criticism I have of the book is the ending, which built up some really dramatic tension and then skipped over the actual culmination by jumping to the next morning with an "I don't remember much of what happened last night" and you're just expected to accept that the day was saved without actually knowing how it happened. I guess you're just supposed to accept that Oya's goddess magic did it? Personally, I wanted to know how Creeper fixed that entire disaster.

But despite that, it was an enjoyable read. I hesitate to call it "fun" because it is fairly dark (lots of death, discussions of slavery), but it's a quick read and I'm very glad I picked it up.

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idksamiguess's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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barbarahowe's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Creeper—who doesn’t want to be called by her real name, Jacqueline—is s 13-year-old living on the streets in New Orleans. She’s an orphan, but she’s not alone; wherever she goes, Oya, the goddess of winds and storms, is with her, speaking to her, protecting her, and sometimes sending her visions. Creeper’s used to that, mostly, but the vision she’s just had of a monstrous skull, rising over the city like a lethal moon, is making her panicky. She keeps her ears open, and overhears a Haitian scientist selling a powerful weapon to the Confederacy. The weapon—the Black God’s Drums—is a sort of unilateral Mutually Assured Destruction device, capable of unleashing storms of such intensity to wipe out everyone on both sides of a conflict. Creeper takes her information to Anne-Marie St. Augustine, privateer captain of the airship, Midnight Robber, and together they set out to find the the rogue scientist before his customers can unleash wholesale destruction.

The Black God’s Drums, a fast-paced and atmospheric novella by P. Djèlí Clark, is set in a steampunk-flavoured alternate reality. In this late-19th century world, the American Civil War ground to a halt after eight years of fighting, exhaustion driving both sides to agree to an armistice. Haiti is apparently a technological powerhouse, and the free city of New Orleans exists as an independent political entity on the edge of the Confederacy. Magic abounds and African gods, among them Oya and her sister Oshun, the goddess of water, were carried across the Atlantic Ocean on the slave ships by their worshippers.

With the exception of a few Confederates and one wild girl, nearly everyone in this story is obviously or implied to be Black, without the author making a belaboured point of it. Even more remarkable for a male author, the two main characters and nearly all the named minor characters are women. The women, including the goddesses and a pair of outrageous nuns, are recognisably female without being sexualised; they simply get on with saving the world, driving the action and working together competently without fuss. How satisfying.

The climax is blatant deus ex machina, but given the prominent role the Orisha (minor gods) play throughout the story, that’s neither unexpected nor inappropriate. The narrative voice—Creeper, in first person—takes a bit of getting used to, with occasionally off-putting dialect and some word choices that are either unfamiliar (to me, anyway), invented, or alternate spellings (Maddi grá for Mardi Gras, etc.). But that’s a minor quibble.

The Black God’s Drums was a contender for the 2019 Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. The author, an African-American historian, has written a number of other speculative fiction short works, including The Haunting of Tram Car 015, a contender for the 2020 Hugo Best Novella. (Neither won, unfortunately, but The Haunting…, set in early 20th century Egypt, is also a fun read. Check it out, too.) I’m looking forward to reading more of his writings.

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