Black Leopard, Red Wolf (The Dark Star Trilogy #1)

I enjoyed this as a book experience more than I enjoyed book itself. I've never read a fantasy anything like it; it reads like an orated epic a la the Odyssey with the world-building of Tolkien and the brutal violence of Game of Thrones, but all in a very distinctly pseudo-African voice and cultural history. I was fascinated by the way sexuality is portrayed (and that there are ostensibly no white people), the elaborate cast of characters, the consistency of voice, themes of story-telling & truth, lineage, love... but ultimately, this book is a very tedious read. There's no way around that. (Another way it's like Tolkien, I suppose... though I really shouldn't be comparing it to other works because it is so uniquely it's own, I'm just trying to grasp it.) I had to reread some parts a few times and still didn't quite get what going on. I wouldn't read it again, the same way I wouldn't read the Odyssey again, but I really appreciate what the author is doing.