Name: The Ballad of Black Tom
Rating: 3.92929292929293 (99 reviews)
ISBN: 9780765387868

Victor LaValle

"When [Charles Thomas Tester] delivers an occult book to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, [he] opens a door to a deeper realm of magic, and earns the attention of things best left sleeping"--Page 4 of cover.

The Ballad of Black Tom

M. Sosotris

A taught, atmospheric yarn that takes the world of Lovecraft and creates something new, nuanced, and meaningful. Not only is this a fun terrifying trip, it’s an insightful metaphorical dive into the horrors of systemic racism. I wanted it to be longer, but I think it’s impact wouldn’t have been the same. Would recommend.

One of NPR's Best Books of 2016, winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, the British Fantasy Award, the This is Horror Award for Novella of the Year, and a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Bram Stoker Awards People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn't there. Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops. But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic, and earns the attention of things best left sleeping. A storm that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn. Will Black Tom live to see it break? "LaValle's novella of sorcery and skullduggery in Jazz Age New York is a magnificent example of what weird fiction can and should do." — Laird Barron, author of The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All "[LaValle] reinvents outmoded literary conventions, particularly the ghettos of genre and ethnicity that long divided serious literature from popular fiction." — Praise for The Devil in Silver from Elizabeth Hand, author of Radiant Days “LaValle cleverly subverts Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos by imbuing a black man with the power to summon the Old Ones, and creates genuine chills with his evocation of the monstrous Sleeping King, an echo of Lovecraft’s Dagon... [The Ballad of Black Tom] has a satisfying slingshot ending.” – Elizabeth Hand for Fantasy & ScienceFiction At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

rumbledethumps

A re-telling of Lovecraft's story "The Horror at Red Hook," re-told in a way that addresses the racist aspects of the original story. LaValle's is a better story, and even ties the tale in to the Old Ones mythos.

Ryan LaFerney

Nominated for a Hugo, Nebula, and Shirley Jackson Awards, Victor LaValle’s riveting horror tale The Ballad of Black Tom, which is a spin and critique of the Lovecraft mythos, a man is beckoned to the threshold of apocalypse with the promise of seeing beyond the fabric of reality. The story is about Tommy Tester, a 20-year-old black man hustling to pay rent and take care of his father in Harlem in 1924. After being hired to deliver an arcane book to a mysterious woman in Queens, Tommy gets entangled in the plans of the wealthy Robert Suydam, who is intent on calling forth ancient gods, and Detective Malone, who investigates him.

As mentioned in LaValle’s tale, Tester is invited to be a part of Robert Suydam’s plot to conjure the Great Old Ones, ancient, tentacled creatures that are at the core of Lovecraft’s mythos. Suydam opens Tester’s eyes to the frightening cosmic indifference of the monsters. But when getting involved with Suydam brings down the law on Tommy, he realizes that in light of the racist criminality of the NYPD,

"a fear of cosmic indifference suddenly seemed comical, or downright naïve… he saw the patrol cars parked in the middle of the road like three great black hounds waiting to pounce on all these gathered sheep. What was indifference compared to malice?"

The world will always be a devil’s bargain, Tommy realizes. It’s just a matter of which devils he wants to deal with...

This is a story that juxtaposes Lovecraftian mythology against the racism and inequality of 1920s New York. It's poetic and it is frightening. The constant inequality that Tommy faces ends up being reason enough to justify drastic, desperate action to bring about the end of the novella, by dealing with forces Tommy doesn’t fully understand, but welcomes wholeheartedly by declaring:

"I'll take Cthulhu over you devils any day."

Lovecraft pulled back the veil to show us his racist monsters. A writer of intense, morbid and cloistered passions, Lovecraft expressed a pervasive disgust with physical existence itself, as well as the cosmic dread for which he has often been celebrated. Yet he reserved his most intimate revulsion for those human beings he regarded as, for example, "a bastard mess of stewing Mongrel flesh without intellect, repellent to the eye, nose and imagination."

 LaValle pulls back the veil to show us how the monster of racism dooms us all. And The Ballad of Black Tom, although set in 1920s New York, couldn't be more timely. For the devil of racism and racial inequality is still with us today.

Janice Hopper

I was curious about this books from the first time I heard about it. It takes a look at the Lovecraft mythos from the point of view of a black man in Harlem back in the 20's? I think.

I think it's a really good thing to look at this older work from a very new viewpoint. The author has some interesting things to say Scalzi's blog (http://whatever.scalzi.com/2016/02/17...) about Lovecraft and the feelings he had while reading him. There was the early "OMG what is this crazy, amazing, cosmic stuff??? I love it!" And there was the later realization of the problematic aspects of Lovecraft's writing and his attitudes towards some groups of people. I think he did a good job of balancing the storytelling between the Lovecraftian elements, and the point-of-view character.

And it might make you think about climate change differently too.

Katie

A fantastical mystery where you can't quite tell who the bad guy is. Is it everyone? Is it no one? Victor LaValle's writing style draws you in while never quite giving everything away. I usually struggle with historical fantasy and this was no different. It's just not really my genre but I still enjoyed this.

Jordan Robinson

B. K.

4.5 stars. Unsettling, memorable. The ending lost me a bit, as I'm not sure I fully got it, but overall this was a solid bit of horror. Typically great audiobook narration by Kevin R. Free.

Anastaciya

It's a good one. The moment with Tommy's father... ooph, that broke my heart.

Kelsey Holtaway

Whoa. “You can’t choose blindness when it suits you” 

First and foremost, the prose of this book is on another level. It’s lyrical and flowing, and i highly recommend listening to this on audiobook. 

Second but not second- the concept for this is just...Galaxy brain. There were parts i felt like i couldn’t wrap my mind around that were SO COOL. It made me want an authors commentary like how they do director’s commentaries for movies. 

If you liked CITY WE BECAME you’ll like this.

Laura Springall

I feel like I would have liked this a lot more if I hadn’t listened to it as an audiobook, for several reasons

First of all, this is the same narrator who does the Murderbot Diaries books, which is a very funny, sarcastic, conversational series about a potentially murderous robot who just wants to be left alone to watch cheesy soap operas for the rest of eternity. I love this narrator, I think he’s incredibly talented. But because I’m used to him as Murderbot, it was very jarring to hear him in a darker horror setting. The entire book I found myself waiting for the punchline or some sarcastic remark, and had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t going to happen lol

I also found the plot difficult to follow on audio because of the kind of story it is. If I had been able to physically see the words I might have been able to grasp it better. Instead I was constantly confused, having to rewind the audiobook because I thought I’d missed something even though I hadn’t. I’m not sure if that’s because I just wasn’t retaining the information, or if it’s just a confusing book. But either way, I’m still not entirely sure I fully understood what I just read

On the positive side, the characters and the atmosphere was fantastic! LaValle did an incredible job at making me feel throughly creeped out during certain scenes, and I’m very glad I didn’t read this in a dark room 😂 the characters were dynamic and interesting to read about, and I felt like I actually got to know them fairly well despite this being a novella

Overall not my favourite book, but it was still enjoyable and a great way to kick off the start of the Halloween season!

Ben Nathan

Cool idea that was well executed. I didn't feel the need for more than there was, but I definitely enjoyed what there was. It was all very good. Just that little bit of (existential) horror, plus a version of Lovecraft that isn't terrible in racist ways.

The Ballad of Black Tom

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