A review by tigger89
The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

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

4.0

This bite-size adventure was a fascinating window into an alternate history. As I was reading the first few scenes, historical inconsistencies - wasn't the Civil War over? what were these factions? - began piling up, and I forgive the author for the resulting expository info-dump because it was all so interesting. He clearly spent a great deal of time thinking through the necessary what-ifs and so-thens to create his alternate New Orleans. I especially loved the way the orishas were woven into the setting and plot, not just creating a good story but also driving me to wikipedia after I'd finished the book. 

Something else I think he did well was the incidental diversity. It was never particularly important to the story that a character was bisexual or had a prosthetic; rather, they just existed in the world, as they have every right to. The author's use of dialect, which is present on nearly every line of dialogue, might bother some readers. I never had a problem following the speech, but if it's a problem for you, there's no escape from it.

One thing I didn't like was less the fault of the book and more a problem with the marketing/cover copy, and that was that I had been promised an airship adventure. Unfortunately, that's not what this book is about. This book is the prequel to the airship adventure(sadly, not yet written), but is itself very firmly grounded. It features sky pirates, but is not a sky pirate adventure. Maybe one day he'll revisit this setting and we'll get to see Jacqueline all grown up and ready to take to the skies.
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