I read this as part of Book Riot's Read Harder challenge 2019 - the second task of the challenge is an alternate history novel. I haven't read many of those so it took time to track one down and, despite the recommendation I had for it, I was a little bit sceptical to be honest. Half the magazines I submit stories to myself seem to have, stashed away in their submission guidelines, "No stories which illustrate prejudice by making the majority suffer as minorities have done". I paraphrase, but the point is to not have men discover the evils of sexism by being treated as women historically have been, or not to show how terrible slavery is by focusing on white slavery, for instance (as if decent people couldn't figure it out otherwise). That last is what this book does: in an alternate universe, the great powers of the late 1800s are Egypt and Assyria, and the Irish are kidnapped from their homes to be slaves in the American South.

So yes, I was sceptical, I freely admit it. I was going to pass it by until I discovered that the author was married to Tananarive Due, who writes so excellently herself. Which is a stupid reason to try a book out, I know, but there it is. And you know what, I was riveted. There are long passages of degradation and misery such as you would expect to find in any honest narrative about slavery, but the whole world-building background elevates this past all those magazine warnings. It's clear that the entire world is genuinely different - without the European conquest of South America, for instance, the Aztec empire is a strong and present element. And the uneasy peace between Islamic and African worlds - both share in power and high technology - pops up again and again in new and surprising ways. Lion's Blood isn't a lazy what-if exercise; it builds a convincing and in-depth alternate reality with conflicted, thoughtful characters and I want to read more of it. Happily for me, it appears there's a sequel. Yay!