Moon Witch, Spider King

moon. With one more look around, she see the large leaf on which they dump a slop of porridge last evening, one of only two times every quartermoon that they feed her. When they remember. Most of the time they just let her starve, and if they finally remember, late in the night, they say it's too late anyway, let some spirit feed her in dreams.

See the girl. Watch the girl as she hear. It is through her brothers yelling about when to plant millet, and when to rest the ground, that she learn season from season. Days of rain and days of dry tell her the rest. Otherwise, they just drag her out of the termite hill by rope bound to the shackle they keep around her neck, tie her to a branch and drag her through the field, yelling at her to plow the cow shit, goat shit, pig shit, and deer shit with her hands. Dig into the dirt with your hands and mix the shit deep so that your own food, which you don't deserve, can grow. The girl is born with penance on her back. And to her three brothers she will never pay it in full.

Watch the boys. Her brothers, the older two laughing at the youngest one screaming. Boys like they were born, wearing nothing but yellow, red, and blue straw pads on their elbows and shins, and tiny straw shields over their knuckles. The older two both wear helmets that look like straw cages over their heads. Helmets in yellow and green. The girl crawl out of her oven to watch them. Her oldest brother spin a stick as tall as a house. He swirl and twirl and jump like he is dancing. But then he rolls, jumps up, and swing the stick straight for middle brother's neck. Middle brother scream.

"Whorechild!"

"We from the same mother," oldest brother say, and laugh. He turn away for a blink but still he is too slow. A stick strike fire on his left shoulder. He swing around, laughing even though the hit draw blood. Now he going do it. He grab his stick with two hands like an ax and run after his brother, raining down chop after chop. Middle brother str

vernacular writing style modeled on the oral tradition of African griots, the scenes are ribald, declamatory, and quick to confrontation. Events are so crazed and swirling they become almost hallucinatory. . . .is this trilogy s prodigious passions, and not any obvious narrative purpose, that make it so gripping. The Wall Street Journal
 
This is work that both meets the immersive worldbuilding standard in books by Tolkien and Martin and brings to the genre a voice unlike anything seen before. . . .If James managed to capture the imagination of readers with Black Leopard, Red Wolf, this second book, which is darker, longer, and better, does even more: It sets readers up for what will undoubtedly be a superb finale. The Boston Globe

More than 1,200 pages into James trilogy, one thing is clear: Moon Witch, Spider King is even better than Black Leopard, Red Wolf. . . .Not only could you read Moon Witch, Spider King first without missing a beat; it might even be a better introduction to James world. AV Club

[A] medieval feast of dazzling fantasy. It's vulgar and vivacious, big and brutal. . . .When I read the first book in this trilogy, I knew I was reading a genre-altering trilogy. . . .After reading Moon Witch, Spider King, I remain convinced that James is rebuilding the genre. Minneapolis Star-Tribune

A beautiful novel with well-developed characters enmeshed in a very real and terrifying fight, not only for their lives but also against a cycle of life that repeats from generation to generation. . . .It s impressive how much world-building and character development James manages in these pages. San Francisco Chronicle
 
Moving, vivid, and thought-provoking, this second book is, if anything, even more brilliant than the first. Buzzfeed
 
In the much-anticipated second installment James has crafted yet another dark fantasy that blends history and mythology in an epic setting. TIME
 
Part adventure tale, part chronicle of an indomitable woman who bows to no man, [Moon Witch, Spider King] is a fascinating novel that explores power, personality, and the places where they overlap. LGBTQ Reads