Title: The Black God’s Drums

Author: P. Djèlí Clark

Publisher: Tor.com 2018

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 114

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

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.

Another great novella from Clark! This time we’re thrown into a alternate history where the Civil War hasn’t really ended and New Orleans has been carved out as a free neutral city. From there, we get a fast-paced adventure story starring an orphan protected by a goddess. I love how Clark creates the most imaginative worlds and populates them with fascinating, complex, realistic characters. I sped through this story anticipating a large showdown and the book does not disappoint. Pick this one up for a big dose of fun fantasy.

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