'Stories as ambitiously made up as this aren't expected to so intensely engage the shifting natures of truth and reality. This one does . . . This second volume in a projected trilogy set in a boldly imagined, opulently apportioned ancient Africa shows that the Man Booker Prize–winning novelist is building something deeper and more profoundly innovative within the swords-and-sorcery genre . . . So much is densely packed into this narrative that it sometimes threatens to leave the reader gasping for breath, especially at the start. But . . . . James’ tale picks up speed with beautifully orchestrated (and ferociously violent) set pieces and language both vivid and poetic. The second part of this trilogy is darker and, in many ways, more moving than its predecessor' Kirkus, starred review

PRAISE FOR BLACK LEOPARD, RED WOLF

'A dangerous, hallucinatory, ancient Africa, which becomes a fantasy world as well-realised as anything Tolkien made, with language as powerful as Angela Carter's. I cannot wait for the next instalment' Neil Gaiman

'Complex, lyrical, moving and furiously gripping' Observer

'A game-changing modern fantasy classic' Financial Times  

'What marks James's tale as his own is the wonder evoked through descriptive, unrelenting prose along with a focus on a distinct mythology cobbled from history and folk tale. [A] propulsive narrative' Guardian

'A work of literary magic' Bernardine Evaristo