Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

7 reviews

takarakei's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I love P. Djèlí Clark's ability to weave history into fantasy. I love to learn little bits of history while reading the immersive lush settings Clark is able to create in such short novellas.
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thecriticalreader's review

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Context:
This is the second book by P. Djèlí Clark that I have read. Last year, I read his novel A Master of Djinn and thought it was decent, but I didn’t like it as much as I hoped. I picked up The Black God’s Drums because I wanted to give his writing another chance.
 
Review:
The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark is an adventurous, deeply imaginative novella set in an alternate-history steampunk New Orleans. One thing I loved about A Master of Djinn was its worldbuilding, and Clark once again proves his strength in this area with The Black God’s Drums. I adore how he constructs a believable alternate history of the United States and New Orleans for this story, as well as how he incorporates historical and African spiritual elements into the narrative. Besides the fantastic worldbuilding, this novella features a quirky and diverse cast of characters and an exciting adventure. The only thing keeping me from rating from this book higher is its length; although it tells a contained and well-paced story within its 112 pages, I don’t think it will stick in my memory much. I would love to see Clark write another book within this universe! 
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mengzhenreads's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This would’ve made an epic movie
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peachani's review

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adventurous dark hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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steffiraquel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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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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