Name: Cat Josephson's review of The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
Item: The Black God's Drums
Rating: 5
Author: Cat Josephson

P. Djèlí Clark

Rising science fiction and fantasy star P. Djèlí Clark brings an alternate New Orleans of orisha, airships, and adventure to life in his immersive debut novella The Black God's Drums. Alex Award Winner! In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air--in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie’s trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums. But Creeper also has a secret herself: Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, speaks inside her head, and may have her own ulterior motivations. Soon, Creeper, Oya, and the crew of the Midnight Robber are pulled into a perilous mission aimed to stop the Black God’s Drums from being unleashed and wiping out the entirety of New Orleans. “A sinewy mosaic of Haitian sky pirates, wily street urchins, and orisha magic. Beguiling and bombastic!”—New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Black God's Drums

Cat Josephson

the story put forth a very good vibe and i was super intrigued by the plot. i’ve only read one other civil war au story and i needed to know how another could be executed. would it better? worse?

it was on par. i enjoyed creeper and captain and the side characters along the way. the things that kind of took me out or put me off are small. our mc is very young. younger than i expected and the whole book is one long chapter which made reading feel like a slough. overall though its a solid read 

K.K. Jane

the story put forth a very good vibe and i was super intrigued by the plot. i’ve only read one other civil war au story and i needed to know how another could be executed. would it better? worse?

it was on par. i enjoyed creeper and captain and the side characters along the way. the things that kind of took me out or put me off are small. our mc is very young. younger than i expected and the whole book is one long chapter which made reading feel like a slough. overall though its a solid read 

It’s very rare that novellas give me enough of what I want from a book, which is why I almost never give them the full 5 stars. That applies to this story as well. I was very fascinated by this alternate universe the author created and found myself wanting more explanation for things we were given. I wish I had more lore about the gods or saw the way the AU Civil War unfolded. I was given just enough to care and still be intrigued, but I want all of it.

I found our two main characters charming and witty. I enjoyed their dynamic in such few pages. The plot was okay and enough for the length of the story, but the strengths of this were really in the characters and atmosphere.

Nik ✨

It’s very rare that novellas give me enough of what I want from a book, which is why I almost never give them the full 5 stars. That applies to this story as well. I was very fascinated by this alternate universe the author created and found myself wanting more explanation for things we were given. I wish I had more lore about the gods or saw the way the AU Civil War unfolded. I was given just enough to care and still be intrigued, but I want all of it.

I found our two main characters charming and witty. I enjoyed their dynamic in such few pages. The plot was okay and enough for the length of the story, but the strengths of this were really in the characters and atmosphere.

Rising SFF star P. Djèlí Clark brings an alternate New Orleans of orisha, airships, and adventure to life in his immersive debut novella The Black God's Drums In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air – in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie’s trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums. But Creeper also has a secret herself: Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, speaks inside her head, and may have her own ulterior motivations. Soon, Creeper, Oya, and the crew of the Midnight Robber are pulled into a perilous mission aimed to stop the Black God’s Drums from being unleashed and wiping out the entirety of New Orleans. “A sinewy mosaic of Haitian sky pirates, wily street urchins, and orisha magic. Beguiling and bombastic!” —Scott Westerfeld, New York Times bestselling author

Joycelyn Ghansah

Loved it! Creeper and her adventures. Searching for secrets, finding herself and just everything that comes with Captain and her connection to The Goddess. I loved hearing about the Black revolution, fight for Haiti and New Orleans and everything in between.

Montgomery Pierce

I actually struggled with the rating for this book because while I know there's contention about whether or not a 3-star is actually a good rating or not, I genuinely enjoyed this book and would recommend it with the same fervor that I recommend everyone read The Deep by Rivers Solomon or The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. 

There is such a flavorful blending of New Orleans, Orisha mythology, and steampunk alt. history that went into The Black God's Drums that is honestly impossible to not get addicted to. It's been so many years since I've been to New Orleans (20, in fact) yet I can feel the history and the culture of it seeped into the pages as if the essence of New Orleans was liquefied into the ink that printed Clark's words. It is impossible to see this book as anything other than a love letter to the city, to its people, and to the history that made the real-life New Orleans stand out as a cultural hot spot. 

Cleanly bringing this foundation together is a combination of Clark's insanely tight and intriguing prose, Creeper, our main character whose mind is fascinating to be inside, and a premise that is not only intriguing but seeped in the origins of African myth layered with America's own tumultuous history with slavery. If we weren't living in the real future of what came out of the Civil War, I could say that I could easily see this alternate, steam-punk reimagining of a post-war America as not only accurate but realistic. 

The downside to The Black God's Drums lies in its length, which ultimately ended up setting back so much of the magic and the sheer beauty of this book. Having to fit what really needed to be a full-length novel's worth of world-building, character development, relationship arcs, and plot, into a novella of less than 200 pages, made a decent chunk of the latter portion of the book feel rushed. This is also a first-person narrative and the tone of Creeper's narration tended to slip from being what had been distinctly her 'voice' into a general narrative tone that tended to lose what made reading from her direct perspective so unique and attention-grabbing. 

Had this been a longer novel, I think that the consistency would have stayed strong and the overall development of the story and the narrative would have flowed better and allowed for a deeper exploration of the themes (and magic system especially pertaining to Orishas and faith in this world!) to fully round The Black God's Drums out. 

Final thoughts? Despite the drawbacks, this was still a remarkably fantastic book. It carries the duality of being both comfortingly familiar and completely unique to anything else I've read that incorporates alternative history and African mythos. I'd say this is probably a good jumping point to seeking more of Clark's work, which I'll be doing now that I've finished this book.

4 stars - 'read' this book as audiobook. This book is very interesting, and I want to read it again but in physical form. 

Joy KBA

Megan Paterson

Small but oh so mighty. A world I would love to see more of.

Sarah Escorsa

The way P. Djèlí Clark reinvents history is bloody shrimping amazing. The worlds he creates are scrumptiously imaginative and imaginatively scrumptious (whatever that means). And SO refreshing. BUT. The problem with this story is that there is way too much world, and not nearly enough story and/or characters. There is so much world to take in that it dwarves everything else. 

The plot is alright (if lacking in complexity), but it feels like the author just barely scratched the surface. It's the same for characterization: lots of potential there, but the characters need fleshing out. I can't say I care for Creeper much—and no, it has nothing to do with the fact that she's a despicably young MC, and everything to do with the fact that plain old MEH—but I do think the Captain has Quite Humongous Poof Gone Harem Potential (QHPGHP™). And read a story centered on her delicious smuggling derrière—Creeper optional—I most certainly would. 



➽ Nefarious Last Words (NLW™): had this story been a good 50 pages longer, with a more intricate plot and better-developed characters, I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more. But it wasn't, so I didn't (view spoiler)[
  

  

  
 (hide spoiler)].

Sahi K

Well, I finally got around to this novella. After discovering P. Djèlí Clark earlier this year and hitting myself on the head because why hadn’t I read his works before, I’ve finally caught up with his first novella and as expected, it blew my mind. 

While the Cairo that he created was magical, his version of New Orleans is equally amazing. The way the author weaves an alternate history of Civil War era America, a free New Orleans as well as a similarly independent and emancipated Haiti and the West Indies, is masterful. The book is so short but without ever resorting to any info dumps, we are presented with the politics of this world perfectly. On top of that, I also loved that we have airships and dirigibles and many other mechanical devices in use, similar to the author’s other works. Added to the mix are the African Orisha gods and goddesses - and everything feels pretty organic and very very real. 

The writing is spectacular as usual and it feels like we are thrown right in between the characters and we are experiencing it all ourselves. The descriptions are lush and gorgeous and I could almost feel the smell of the incoming storm and the sting of the raindrops. It’s very rare that I feel this immersed and it was amazing. The pacing of the story is also very fast, which is understandable given the page count, and within a short span we get a mystery, a kidnapping, an adventure and so much more. In this journey, we meet a whole set of eclectic characters, one more fascinating than the other and I honestly can’t choose whom I’m more taken by - the delightful Creeper, the stern smuggler captain of an airship or the two eccentric nuns who have their finger on the pulse of the city. 

I specially want to mention the audiobook narrator Channie Waites because she brings a whole new life and personality to the story. She is evocative, making us feel every emotion that characters feel, and her different accents for the various nationalities we meet are absolutely on point. I’m definitely more impressed with this story because of the way she tells it. 

To conclude, this story was all kinds of wonderful and I had so much fun. If you think you’ll enjoy an alternate steampunky Civil Era New Orleans, magic of African goddesses, a stormy adventure and a splendid set of characters, then this novella is perfect for you. And even if you aren’t sure, I would still recommend that you give this audiobook a try because it’s an experience that you shouldn’t miss.

Andrew Sztehlo

Absolutely phenomenal alternate history / steampunk fantasy. I want more from this world and these characters - it is so rich in history and scope. A lot of world building for such a short book. Will be checking out more from this author for sure!

Ben Nathan

Very smart. I loved the depth of the world that was created here. The characters were very interesting and I want more of this. Granted, this is probably just a one and done, but I'll read more of his writing for sure.

Jo H

4.5 very well deserved and highly entertaining stars!

Lisa Beasley

I liked this a lot but just wish it was a little longer and that we got to explore the world more. I wanted to get to know the characters more but what I did read was really good and felt fresh and new.

Cat Josephson &
The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

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Cat Josephson &The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

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The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark