Tracker, usually a lone hunter for hire, finds himself with a band of mercenaries and the task of finding a lost boy. He chases the scent of the boy across cities, past monsters, and through lies, fighting and loving and killing his way there.

BLACK LEOPARD RED WOLF is an epic in the classic sense of the word. A quest, a band of adventurers, and deep passion fill these pages. The repetition of the story of the boy, growing and changing through the novel, reads like you’re watching an oral tradition being born in real time. However, to say the text is dense is to put it gently. Each sentence matters - no skimming paragraphs here, or you’ll be lost in no time. Additionally, the main plot doesn’t even begin until about 200 pages in. But, stick with it long enough to find the flow of the writing and you’ll get swept up in this intricate world.

Intricate is maybe even an understatement. This book has stories within stories, digressions within those, and layers of lies and deceptions. No one is to be trusted in this world, not for a second.

I must also touch on the pervasive queerness of this book. I’ve never seen an old fashioned saga like this where queerness is just a fact of being, let alone for multiple characters in multiple levels of love with each other. It’s intense and glorious - joy amid the violence.

Now, give me Sogolon’s version of the tale! Now!