Moon Witch, Spider King
“Masterfully flips the first installment on its head... James makes the mythic tantalizingly real.’” —Esquire
"Even more brilliant than the first.” —Buzzfeed
From Marlon James, author of the bestselling National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf, the second book in the Dark Star trilogy.
In Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Sogolon the Moon Witch proved a worthy adversary to Tracker as they clashed across a mythical African landscape in search of a mysterious boy who disappeared. In Moon Witch, Spider King, Sogolon takes center stage and gives her own account of what happened to the boy, and how she plotted and fought, triumphed and failed as she looked for him. It’s also the story of a century-long feud—seen through the eyes of a 177-year-old witch—that Sogolon had with the Aesi, chancellor to the king. It is said that Aesi works so closely with the king that together they are like the eight limbs of one spider. Aesi’s power is considerable—and deadly. It takes brains and courage to challenge him, which Sogolon does for reasons of her own.
Both a brilliant narrative device—seeing the story told in Black Leopard, Red Wolf from the perspective of an adversary and a woman—as well as a fascinating battle between different versions of empire, Moon Witch, Spider King delves into Sogolon’s world as she fights to tell her own story. Part adventure tale, part chronicle of an indomitable woman who bows to no man, it is a fascinating novel that explores power, personality, and the places where they overlap.
Other Books by Marlon James
Black Leopard, Red Wolf
In the stunning first novel in the Dark Star trilogy, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child.
A Brief History of Seven Killings
A “thrilling, ambitious . . . intense” (Los Angeles Times) novel that explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the late 1970s.
The Book of Night Women
A true triumph of voice and storytelling that rings with both profound authenticity and a distinctly contemporary energy.
MARLON AND JAKE READ DEAD PEOPLE
A podcast hosted by Marlon James and his editor, Jake Morrissey, Executive Editor at Riverhead Books. In each episode Marlon and Jake give their unfiltered and hilarious takes on the authors that readers know, love, and debate. Dickens vs. Trollope. Alcott vs. Ingalls Wilder. From ancient myths through science fiction, they cover it all. And they’re honest. Brutally, unsparingly honest. Which is why the authors have to be dead.
About Marlon James
Photo: © Mark Seliger
Marlon James was born in Jamaica in 1970. He is the author of the New York Times-bestseller Black Leopard, Red Wolf, which was a finalist for the National Book Award for fiction in 2019. His novel A Brief History of Seven Killings won the 2015 Man Booker Prize. It was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for fiction, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction, and the Minnesota Book Award. It was also a New York Times Notable Book. James is also the author of The Book of Night Women, which won the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Minnesota Book Award, and was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction and an NAACP Image Award. His first novel, John Crow’s Devil, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for first fiction and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and was a New York Times Editors’ Choice. James divides his time between Minnesota and New York.
Contact
Please use the following contact information:
Literary Representation:
Ellen Levine
Trident Media Group
41 Madison Avenue, 36th Floor
New York, NY 10011
levine.assistant@tridentmediagroup.com
Publicity Requests:
Claire McGinnis
Riverhead Books
1745 Broadway Street
New York, NY 10019
cmcginnis@penguinrandomhouse.com
