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

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

11 reviews

shaythereader's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

3.75✨

"The magic of those old Afrikin gods is part of this city, ma maman used to say, buried in its bones and roots with the slaves that built it, making the ground and air and waterways sacred land. Only we forgot the names that went with that power we brought over here."

This is a retrofuturistic story that takes place in New Orleans. We follow a young orphaned girl who lives on the street through an adventure to rescue a kidnapped scientist.

There are visions and gods that follow and protect her.

I enjoyed the story, but I feel like I wanted more. I needed to know more about the world and the Sci fi elements.

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tigger89'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

4.0

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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lucystolethesky's review

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adventurous funny mysterious tense 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

5.0

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honeyvoiced's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

A slender tale of a valiant girl who loves her home of New Orleans and fights to save it against powers both evil and meteorological.

Creeper, a 13-year-old orphan, is a pickpocket just struggling to get by when she overhears a conspiracy being planned. The wind god Oya, who has been a part of Creeper since her birth, knows something bad is coming to New Orleans, so Creeper heads off to get the help she needs. She enlists the Captain and makes a deal - she'll reveal the conspiracy if the Captain lets her come work on the airship.

As this is all taking place about twenty years after a fragile truce in the US Civil War, issues of freedom are paramount. New Orleans, a neutral zone, is full of escaped slaves and freemen, Confederate and Yankee soldiers, and citizens of all colors and classes. The author's vivid imagination and his charismatic main character keep this lively story going. It's a small but worthwhile entry in the steampunk genre and Black sci-fi / fantasy.

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