★ 08/31/2020
Nebula Award winner Clark (The Black God’s Drums) vividly reimagines the Ku Klux Klan’s second wave in this thrilling, provocative, and thoroughly badass fantasy. In Prohibition-era Macon, Ga., Maryse Boudreaux and friends—the scrappy Sadie and the unassuming WWI-veteran Chef—spend their days slaying Ku Kluxes, demons unleashed by a spell cast by Sorcerer D.W. Griffith in the form of the propaganda film Birth of a Nation. After a gripping and humorous battle between this ragtag trio and the Ku Kluxes, Klan ringleader Butcher Clyde, a creature who feeds on hate, reveals his master plan: use Griffith’s spell to summon the Grand Cyclops. Maryse sets out to put an end to this reign of terror, but when Butcher Clyde makes Maryse an offer too tempting to refuse she must first conquer her own lust for vengeance. Clark expertly uses fantasy to highlight the mysticism underlying the nation’s darkest moments. Lyrical interludes, mythicized “oral histories” of Gullah traditions, and haunting retellings of African American folklore add rich texture throughout. Readers will be both captivated and entertained by this fast-paced alternate history, which doubles as a meditation on the all-consuming power of hate and violence. Agent: Seth Fishman, the Gernert Company. (Oct.)
A 2021 Nebula Award Winner
A 2021 Locus Award Winner
A New York Times Editor's Choice Pick!
A Booklist Editor's Choice Pick!
A 2021 Hugo Award Finalist
A 2021 World Fantasy Award Finalist
A 2021 Ignyte Award Finalist
A 2021 Shirley Jackson Award Finalist
A 2021 AAMBC Literary Award Finalist
A 2021 British Fantasy Award Finalist
A 2020 SIBA Award Finalist
A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist
Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | Library Journal | Book Riot | LitReactor | Bustle | Polygon | Washington Post
“P. Djèlí Clark couldn't write a bad book if he tried. Ring Shout is fantastically fun even as its core is as serious as can be.” —Victor LaValle
“A fantastical, brutal and thrilling triumph of the imagination...Clark’s combination of historical and political reimagining is cathartic, exhilarating and fresh.” —The New York Times
“Once the story picks up, it keeps hitting hard, climbing — no, soaring — to a cinematic finish, with character beats that hit beautifully.” —NPR
“A thrilling narrative that mines African folklore, body horror and pulp adventure.” —USA Today
“[An] emotional and riveting novella infused with Black folklore and rich friendships.” —Buzzfeed
“Ring Shout is a wild ride into America's nightmarish history, a fantastical cross between Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” —Annalee Newitz
“Slyly told and laced with dark humor, this haunting tale pulled me into a richly realized world I didn't want to leave.” —Rivers Solomon
“Ring Shout is a fearless punch to the heart and head!” —Jonathan Maberry
“A sublime work of revolutionary body horror.” —Sarah Gailey
“Brutal and hopeful, farcical and factual, Ring Shout is a book that speaks to the ridiculous and beastly nature of racism in a story that is difficult to put down.” —Justina Ireland
“From the start, Ring Shout explodes into vivid color with a voice that's at once joyous and harrowing.” —Bethany C. Morrow
“A thrilling and provocative inferno of a story. One of the most powerful and propulsive pieces of speculative fiction I've read in years.” —Tochi Onyebuchi
“Feverishly inventive period adventure…. At once rousing, boisterous, and clever.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Readers will be both captivated and entertained by this fast-paced alternate history, which doubles as a meditation on the all-consuming power of hate and violence.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“This is a story of Black female power, drawn from both the old and new worlds, a tale that honors the Black American experience in all its complexity, and yet also delivers in its Lovecraftian delight.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Clark's latest is set in a visceral world, steeped in historical detail and full of engaging characters, that asks the question, 'Who is to blame for the hate that hate made?'.” —Booklist, starred review
"Clark does a brilliant job of grounding his spectacle in a convincing and unnerving portrait of the 1920s South, with a few chilling instances of the real costs of racism. What may be more important is how he does this without forgoing the energetic, almost cheerfully musical celebration of the power of resistance and belief." —Locus
"A smart cultural conversation, awesome characters, empowerment, positivity, and more. Accomplishing so much in such a cohesive, unobtrusive way, while pulling off a solid story with engaging, often really funny dialogue, is nothing less than brilliant. This book is a gift to American culture." —Lightspeed
"[Ring Shout] is a skillful feat of establishing distinctive characters, fleshed-out relationships, multiple set pieces, and exploration of racism and hate in the world, without feeling rushed or underdeveloped. That’s a magic trick that makes the KKK’s sorcery pale in comparison." —FIYAH
"Simply put, Ring Shout is a brilliant piece of speculative fiction. In just the length of a single novella, Clark presents a history lesson, copious amounts of action and adventure, social commentary that is critically important in the United States today, and all the elements of fantasy one could desire." —Nerd Daily
"Ingenious alternate-history, speculative fiction." —Goodreads Blog
05/01/2020
Sorcerer D.W. Griffith is spinning dark thoughts into the hearts of Americans with The Birth of a Nation, and the Klan is ready to rise. But bootlegger Maryse Boudreaux has a magic sword (she chases monsters called the Ku Kluxes) and is ready to bring down evil. From Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner Clark; with a 75,000-copy first printing.
★ 2020-07-29
What if White supremacy was not only a monstrous philosophy, but was enabled by actual horrific monsters? Clark's feverishly inventive period adventure imagines this scenario in blunt and grisly detail.
The story begins in 1922 on the Fourth of July, with the Ku Klux Klan literally on the march in Macon, Georgia. At first glance, everything looks very much the way it did in real-life history, except it’s clear from the first chapter that there are in this white-hooded crowd of White people both human, garden-variety racist “Klans” and demonic carnivores hiding among them known as “Ku Kluxes.” The task of drawing out, hunting down, and killing the Ku Kluxes before they can wreak havoc falls to three fearless Black women: sharpshooter Sadie, who aims her trusty Winchester rifle from any distance with deadly precision; Cordelia Lawrence, who won her nickname, “Chef,” and her battle regalia while fighting with the Black Rattlers regiment during World War I; and their leader, Maryse Boudreaux, the narrator, whose way with a sword is as fearsome as her ability to commune with spirits. This motley trio has been a bulwark against the army of beasts during the early-20th-century peak of Jim Crow racial segregation and violence. But Maryse’s sixth sense tells her there’s even bigger trouble ahead, and its locus appears to be miles away at Stone Mountain, where both Klans and Ku Kluxes are gathering to mobilize for a near-apocalyptic assault. Clark’s novel is at once rousing, boisterous, and clever. He channels the kitschy motifs of early-20th-century pulp horror into a narrative that both spoofs and exalts that flamboyant tradition. In the process, he cunningly and pithily weaves in African folklore, American history, and sociopolitical tropes that resonate with our present-day racial upheaval. Devotees of Lovecraft Country, Get Out, and other horror adventures with African American themes: Take note.
Thrills, chills, macabre humor, and engaging heroines to root for: What more could a reader want?
