Status
Available
Call number
Publication
New York : Tordotcom, published by Tom Doherty Associates, 2020.
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Historical Fiction. In America, demons wear white hoods. In 1915, The Birth of a Nation casts a spell across America, swelling the Klan's ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring hell to Earth. But even Ku Kluxes can die. Standing in their way are Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foulmouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter. Armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, they hunt their hunters and send the Klan's demons straight to hell. But something awful's brewing in Macon, and the war on hell is about to heat up. Can Maryse stop the Klan before it ends the world?
User reviews
LibraryThing member richardderus
The Publisher Says: Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner P. Djèlí Clark returns with Ring Shout, a dark fantasy historical novella that gives a supernatural twist to the Ku Klux Klan's reign of terror.
D. W. Griffith is a sorcerer, and The Birth of a Nation is a spell that drew upon the darkest
Luckily, Maryse Boudreaux has a magic sword and a head full of tales. When she's not running bootleg whiskey through Prohibition Georgia, she's fighting monsters she calls "Ku Kluxes." She's damn good at it, too. But to confront this ongoing evil, she must journey between worlds to face nightmares made flesh—and her own demons. Together with a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter, Maryse sets out to save a world from the hate that would consume it.
I RECIEVED A REVIEW DRC OF THIS TITLE VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Seriously, this would've been a full five-star read had it not been for nine, maybe ten, w-bombs dropped like seagull shit on a picnic.
The Birth of a Nation came from a book. Two books really—The Clansman and The Leopard's Spots, by a man named Thomas Dixon. Dixon's father was a South Carolina slaveowner in the Confederacy. And a sorceror.
–and–
Sadie got it into her head that the Warren G. Harding government knows about Ku Kluxes. Say she pieced it together from the tabloids. That Woodrow Wilson was in on {D.W.} Griffith's plan, but it got out of hand. And now there's secret departments come about since the war, who go round studying Ku Kluxes. Girl got some imagination.
That's where we start, mes vieux, that's all in the first thirty or so pages! You are in medias res, and no doubt in your mind that you're not gettin' the full burden of the lyric. To help you along, our generous cicerone Author Clark offers us, in the voice of a crossdressing Harlem Hellfighter, this perfect summation of how Griffith's sorcerous manipulation of the US took such easy hold:
"Oh, I disagree," Chef {the Hellfighter} retorts. "White folk earn something from that hate. Might not be wages. But knowing we on the bottom and they set above us—just as good, maybe better.
Still works today. 45's vile "basket of deplorables" full up on that kind of scumbag. Hating people is as old as humanity, and the ones that're least like your sacred itty self are the easiest to get in the habit of downin' on. (I'm sure not innocent of this: I hate the Deplorables with a cold, contemptuous superiority. "Me? Like that no-class lowbrow hillbilly? I don't think so, and fuck you for thinking it.")
And then there's the delight, once you've figured out the Klans are people and the Ku Kluxes are actual, terrible monsters, of trying to get your head around why that should be, how that came about in our horrible-but-not-supernaturally-haunted time/space nexus. Author Clark got you covered:
"Thought you was a godless atheist{," Sadie smirked.}
"I am. But who's to say our universe is alone? Maybe there's others stacked beside us like sheets of paper. And those Ku Kluxes crossed over from somewhere else."
"They was conjured," Chef reminds.
"'Conjuring' is just a way to open a door. Explains why their anatomy is so different, and the extreme reactions to our elements."
"Why they like drinking water so," Sadie adds.
She right on that. Can tell a Ku Klux straight away by all the water they drink. Colored folk who lived through the first Klans say they'd empty whole buckets, claiming they was the ghosts of soldiers from Shiloh. More water, they'd demand. Just come from hell, and plenty dry.
Can't be clearer than that...this isn't quite your (great-)grandmother's 1922. And yet has all the problems...none of the help.
Our story winds through Nana Jean, an old Gullah root woman, who sets up a team to fight the Ku Kluxes. She, and our narrator Maryse, are guided by three spirit-world women analogous to the Norns and other Triune Goddesses whose purpose is to maintain balance in their worlds. Maryse, Chef, and Sadie, all uniquely damaged and so able to access their existential rage, are the action arm of Nana Jean's ring-shout circle. Now, this is deep and old stuff, and there is not one single chance any of y'all reading this review have got the background in Vodoun, hoodoo, and all the other African and African-inflected spiritual practices to get every reference. I could link every third word in here, and that's just to the few little references I got. But don't feel too left out, twenty-first centurians, Author Clark uses a lot of literary references, too. Sethe, for example: a scientific type, aiding the group's scientist Molly, and proficient with a weapon. Honoring, I suppose I should say, Toni Morrison's immortal mother who loved her child so hard she made a haint of her. And haints there are in this story, plenty of them, their many, many songs of fear and betrayal and suffering powering Maryse's unique weapon of cleansing and destruction of evil and wrongness.
I have deliberately not reproduced Nana Jean's Gullah dialect. I consider it disrespectful for me to do so. You'll know when you see it whether you agree with me or not.
You're thinking that all this is going somewhere, but where...well, several places including through a forest of bottle trees, to an Angel Oak, into a place where there are Night Doctors of the *most*horrifying*sort* and whose lust for humanity's pain is unquenchable, and finally to a screening of The Birth of a Nation that is beyond your or my ability to conjure. It is a beautiful thing to be frightened by the capacity of people to hate. This book is a prayer to whatever force(s) rule the Simulation to open up our eyes.
There's a reason the last words spoken in the story are, "'Bout damn time!"
D. W. Griffith is a sorcerer, and The Birth of a Nation is a spell that drew upon the darkest
Show More
thoughts and wishes from the heart of America. Now, rising in power and prominence, the Klan has a plot to unleash Hell on Earth.Luckily, Maryse Boudreaux has a magic sword and a head full of tales. When she's not running bootleg whiskey through Prohibition Georgia, she's fighting monsters she calls "Ku Kluxes." She's damn good at it, too. But to confront this ongoing evil, she must journey between worlds to face nightmares made flesh—and her own demons. Together with a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter, Maryse sets out to save a world from the hate that would consume it.
I RECIEVED A REVIEW DRC OF THIS TITLE VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Seriously, this would've been a full five-star read had it not been for nine, maybe ten, w-bombs dropped like seagull shit on a picnic.
The Birth of a Nation came from a book. Two books really—The Clansman and The Leopard's Spots, by a man named Thomas Dixon. Dixon's father was a South Carolina slaveowner in the Confederacy. And a sorceror.
–and–
Sadie got it into her head that the Warren G. Harding government knows about Ku Kluxes. Say she pieced it together from the tabloids. That Woodrow Wilson was in on {D.W.} Griffith's plan, but it got out of hand. And now there's secret departments come about since the war, who go round studying Ku Kluxes. Girl got some imagination.
That's where we start, mes vieux, that's all in the first thirty or so pages! You are in medias res, and no doubt in your mind that you're not gettin' the full burden of the lyric. To help you along, our generous cicerone Author Clark offers us, in the voice of a crossdressing Harlem Hellfighter, this perfect summation of how Griffith's sorcerous manipulation of the US took such easy hold:
"Oh, I disagree," Chef {the Hellfighter} retorts. "White folk earn something from that hate. Might not be wages. But knowing we on the bottom and they set above us—just as good, maybe better.
Still works today. 45's vile "basket of deplorables" full up on that kind of scumbag. Hating people is as old as humanity, and the ones that're least like your sacred itty self are the easiest to get in the habit of downin' on. (I'm sure not innocent of this: I hate the Deplorables with a cold, contemptuous superiority. "Me? Like that no-class lowbrow hillbilly? I don't think so, and fuck you for thinking it.")
And then there's the delight, once you've figured out the Klans are people and the Ku Kluxes are actual, terrible monsters, of trying to get your head around why that should be, how that came about in our horrible-but-not-supernaturally-haunted time/space nexus. Author Clark got you covered:
"Thought you was a godless atheist{," Sadie smirked.}
"I am. But who's to say our universe is alone? Maybe there's others stacked beside us like sheets of paper. And those Ku Kluxes crossed over from somewhere else."
"They was conjured," Chef reminds.
"'Conjuring' is just a way to open a door. Explains why their anatomy is so different, and the extreme reactions to our elements."
"Why they like drinking water so," Sadie adds.
She right on that. Can tell a Ku Klux straight away by all the water they drink. Colored folk who lived through the first Klans say they'd empty whole buckets, claiming they was the ghosts of soldiers from Shiloh. More water, they'd demand. Just come from hell, and plenty dry.
Can't be clearer than that...this isn't quite your (great-)grandmother's 1922. And yet has all the problems...none of the help.
Our story winds through Nana Jean, an old Gullah root woman, who sets up a team to fight the Ku Kluxes. She, and our narrator Maryse, are guided by three spirit-world women analogous to the Norns and other Triune Goddesses whose purpose is to maintain balance in their worlds. Maryse, Chef, and Sadie, all uniquely damaged and so able to access their existential rage, are the action arm of Nana Jean's ring-shout circle. Now, this is deep and old stuff, and there is not one single chance any of y'all reading this review have got the background in Vodoun, hoodoo, and all the other African and African-inflected spiritual practices to get every reference. I could link every third word in here, and that's just to the few little references I got. But don't feel too left out, twenty-first centurians, Author Clark uses a lot of literary references, too. Sethe, for example: a scientific type, aiding the group's scientist Molly, and proficient with a weapon. Honoring, I suppose I should say, Toni Morrison's immortal mother who loved her child so hard she made a haint of her. And haints there are in this story, plenty of them, their many, many songs of fear and betrayal and suffering powering Maryse's unique weapon of cleansing and destruction of evil and wrongness.
I have deliberately not reproduced Nana Jean's Gullah dialect. I consider it disrespectful for me to do so. You'll know when you see it whether you agree with me or not.
You're thinking that all this is going somewhere, but where...well, several places including through a forest of bottle trees, to an Angel Oak, into a place where there are Night Doctors of the *most*horrifying*sort* and whose lust for humanity's pain is unquenchable, and finally to a screening of The Birth of a Nation that is beyond your or my ability to conjure. It is a beautiful thing to be frightened by the capacity of people to hate. This book is a prayer to whatever force(s) rule the Simulation to open up our eyes.
There's a reason the last words spoken in the story are, "'Bout damn time!"
Show Less
LibraryThing member ladycato
I read this as part of my Nebula novella finalist packet.
There's a reason why Ring Shout garnered considerable buzz upon its relief, and a Nebula nomination: it's a solid historical fantasy-tinged-with-horror novella set in a 1922 where the KKK is host to genuine hellish monsters. The voice is
There's a reason why Ring Shout garnered considerable buzz upon its relief, and a Nebula nomination: it's a solid historical fantasy-tinged-with-horror novella set in a 1922 where the KKK is host to genuine hellish monsters. The voice is
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spot-on perfect, the characters easy to care for--and to hate. Show Less
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
In the Shout, you got to move the way the spirit tell you and can't stop until it let you go. And don't call it no dance! Not unless you want Uncle Will to set you down and learn your proper. See, the Shout ain't really the song, it's the movement. He says the Shouts like this one got the most
This is set in an alternate 1910s in Georgia, where there are both human Klansmen and alien "Ku Kluxes," horrific creatures that stoke human racism; the narrator is a black woman who hunts them down. A strong sense of voice is what carried me through it, playing to the strengths of the genre more than most Tor.com novellas. I didn't think it quite stuck the landing, though; the motivations of the aliens felt a bit too Doctor Who, and undercut the book's engagement with themes of racial hate.
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power: about surviving slavery times, praying for freedom, and calling on God to end that wickedness. This is set in an alternate 1910s in Georgia, where there are both human Klansmen and alien "Ku Kluxes," horrific creatures that stoke human racism; the narrator is a black woman who hunts them down. A strong sense of voice is what carried me through it, playing to the strengths of the genre more than most Tor.com novellas. I didn't think it quite stuck the landing, though; the motivations of the aliens felt a bit too Doctor Who, and undercut the book's engagement with themes of racial hate.
Show Less
LibraryThing member sriddell
Interesting magical realism/horror book. The premise is a trio of black women fighting waging a resistance war against the Ku Klux Klan in post WWI Georgia - with a big twist that the Ku Klux Klan are actually creatures from another dimension driving by hate.
I love magical realism because literally
I love magical realism because literally
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anything can happen - and this book is full of wild twists and turns. Show Less
LibraryThing member LibroLindsay
This was more of a case of "it's not you, it's me." I love the concept and the symbolism and especially Channie Waites reading on the audio (I am not sure I've heard anyone else sound like they were having so much fun), and I've loved all the interviews with Clark and the discussions digging into
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this novella... I just have such a hard time with cosmic horror. The threat of it is too abstract for me to feel real fear, which is a shame here because the Jim Crow South is horror enough, and when cosmic beasties start popping up, I just feel pushed out of the game altogether. Ah well. Show Less
LibraryThing member grandpahobo
An amazingly vivid story. The author captures the essence of the racist foundation of the U.S. in a small snippet of our history. The best part is that the roles of good and evil are assigned correctly, for a change!
LibraryThing member quondame
Full of dark arresting imagery this battle against forces of darkness required me to read it in several sessions, short though it is, as it was intense enough to require time to regain the resources of nerve to continue. Also, to avoid my mind pulling up similar scenes from an array of fantasy and
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horror novels and falling into them. I felt I had to keep combing from my mind bits of American Gods and Wheel of Time and others. But that maybe just me. Show Less
LibraryThing member MontzaleeW
Ring Shout
by P. Djèlí Clark
At first I didn't want to read this book even though everyone was talking about it. I thought it was about the KKK and their evil. I just couldn't stomach anymore racism in this world of trumpism. But I had read a book by this author before and so I thought I would give
Within minutes I was excited! Sharp shooter shooting Klu Kluxes! Not those Ku Klux, lol! Now this was my kind of story! The evil of the KKK turns those people into Ku Kluxes, monsters! Real monsters hiding in people suits, unseen unless you have the sight! The movie Birth of a Nation has a spell that works on the evil in people.
This story is mostly based around three people fighting for the people, protecting them. One has a magical sword. Very exciting and unique! Now this is a KKK book I like to read! Monsters! They are monsters before they change in my opinion! Terrific concept and storyline! Loved it!
by P. Djèlí Clark
At first I didn't want to read this book even though everyone was talking about it. I thought it was about the KKK and their evil. I just couldn't stomach anymore racism in this world of trumpism. But I had read a book by this author before and so I thought I would give
Show More
it a try and if I didn't like it, well, the next person in line at the library will be happy!Within minutes I was excited! Sharp shooter shooting Klu Kluxes! Not those Ku Klux, lol! Now this was my kind of story! The evil of the KKK turns those people into Ku Kluxes, monsters! Real monsters hiding in people suits, unseen unless you have the sight! The movie Birth of a Nation has a spell that works on the evil in people.
This story is mostly based around three people fighting for the people, protecting them. One has a magical sword. Very exciting and unique! Now this is a KKK book I like to read! Monsters! They are monsters before they change in my opinion! Terrific concept and storyline! Loved it!
Show Less
LibraryThing member KateHonig
One of the best books I’ve read this year. It’s like a combination of Lovecraft Country and The City We Became set in the Macon of the 1920s. This author does an amazing job of setting the scene and creating the characters so quickly you are invested from the first page.
LibraryThing member SpaceandSorcery
Ring Shout is the kind of book I jokingly call “a Tardis-like story”, one that is much bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside: it’s a well-crafted mix of historical fiction and horror that kept me compulsively turning the pages, and what’s more prompted me to search for its many
The story is set in Georgia, in 1922: never-vanquished racism is experiencing a resurgence thanks to the 1915 first showing of D.W. Griffith’s movie The Birth of a Nation, which offered a sort of heroic aura to members of the Ku Klux Klan, whose heinous actions are here made worse by the appearance of monstrous, extra-dimensional creatures called Klu Kluxes - essentially supernatural beasts able to wear human form. Griffith himself is portrayed as an evil sorcerer using his movie to propagate hateful, racist ideas to a wider public: while the very real writings of white suprematist Thomas Dixon reached a wide public, it was not considered wide enough, so that it was understood that a more capillary means of propagation was needed, hence the movie:
""[…] books could only reach so many. That’s when D.W. Griffith took ahold of it. […] Dixon and Griffith had made a conjuring that reached more people than any book would.""
Against this encroaching tide of evil, three very badass young women battle daily to keep the beasts as contained as possible: Maryse is a sort of “chosen one” heroine, able to summon a magical sword animated by the spirits of those who sold their people into slavery; Sadie is an exceptional, fearless sniper, wielding her Winchester rifle, affectionately called Winnie, with gleeful skill; and Cordelia (nicknamed Chef for her ability to cook devastating explosives) is a veteran of WWI dealing with post-war trauma. As the three engage the Ku Kluxes through guerrilla sorties - selling bootleg liquor in their free time - a new menace appears on the horizon through the ominous figure of Butcher Clyde, who rallies both Klansmen and Ku Kluxes for what might be a devastating engagement that threatens to unleash a new, pervasive form of destruction, touching both body and spirit.
As I said, I learned many new interesting facts by following the historical leads contained in this novella: even though I was aware of the existence of Griffith’s movie, I ignored both the story it portrayed and its not-so-subtle racism, just as I heard for the first time the term Ring Shout, which depicts a traditional dance brought from Africa by its enslaved people and offering strength from mixing Christian themes with reverence for one’s ancestors and the wisdom their example can offer. And another first is represented by the mention of Night Doctors, mythical figures used as a scaremongering technique by slave owners to prevent their laborers from running away.
These fascinating real-world details mix quite seamlessly with the breathless pace of the story and its horrific elements, whose Lovecraftian quality seemed to me a sort of tongue-in-cheek poke at racism, given that Lovecraft was well-known for his views on the subject, so that the presence of Cthulhu-like monsters wearing the guise of human beings can speak volumes on the effect that mindless hate and prejudice can have on people. Not to mention the further message that evil need not necessarily wear the face of a slavering monster from Hell, because it can be strengthened just as easily by witnessing injustice and choosing to do nothing about it, or worse, allowing it to prosper by supporting it wholeheartedly.
Even though set in the recent past, Ring Shout brings home in no uncertain terms the awareness that the issues of that past are still present today, unchanged and unchangeable: I like the way the author avoided the use of a preaching tone, but rather blended the more horrifying aspects of the story with some unabashed, witty banter that gifted the narrative with an easily flowing current but was nevertheless able to carry the message home quite clearly. Still, this apparent lightness never shifts attention from important themes, or the realization that now, like back then, humankind is divided by chasms that seem to get deeper with every passing day, that mindless hatred and anger are turning people into virtual monsters, driving them to forget their very humanity in the name of the oh-so-very dangerous mentality of “us and them”.
The concept of the movie as a recruiting force (for want of a better word), as the images on screen bring the spectators’ worst instincts the surface, is one that I found profoundly disturbing: just as people at the start of the 20th Century felt legitimized in publicly supporting racism by seeing it portrayed in a widely popular movie, now, a hundred years later, their “inheritors” feel the same way because figures invested with authority give them the unspoken permission to be openly and proudly as racist as their ancestors. Hate of the other has long been a way of mitigating one’s perceived inadequacies, as one of the characters underlines so well:
""White folk earn something from that hate. Might not be wages, but knowing we on the bottom and they set above us – just as good, maybe better.""
reminding us that such feelings can be a powerfully dangerous tool when wielded by the wrong person…
Despite its short number of pages, Ring Shout is a deep, and deeply engrossing story, a way to explore both factual history and the recesses of the human soul - and above all a thought-provoking book that we should not miss at any cost.
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references to facts or details I knew nothing about, so that I ended up with a little more knowledge than I possessed before I started reading, which is always a definite plus for me.The story is set in Georgia, in 1922: never-vanquished racism is experiencing a resurgence thanks to the 1915 first showing of D.W. Griffith’s movie The Birth of a Nation, which offered a sort of heroic aura to members of the Ku Klux Klan, whose heinous actions are here made worse by the appearance of monstrous, extra-dimensional creatures called Klu Kluxes - essentially supernatural beasts able to wear human form. Griffith himself is portrayed as an evil sorcerer using his movie to propagate hateful, racist ideas to a wider public: while the very real writings of white suprematist Thomas Dixon reached a wide public, it was not considered wide enough, so that it was understood that a more capillary means of propagation was needed, hence the movie:
""[…] books could only reach so many. That’s when D.W. Griffith took ahold of it. […] Dixon and Griffith had made a conjuring that reached more people than any book would.""
Against this encroaching tide of evil, three very badass young women battle daily to keep the beasts as contained as possible: Maryse is a sort of “chosen one” heroine, able to summon a magical sword animated by the spirits of those who sold their people into slavery; Sadie is an exceptional, fearless sniper, wielding her Winchester rifle, affectionately called Winnie, with gleeful skill; and Cordelia (nicknamed Chef for her ability to cook devastating explosives) is a veteran of WWI dealing with post-war trauma. As the three engage the Ku Kluxes through guerrilla sorties - selling bootleg liquor in their free time - a new menace appears on the horizon through the ominous figure of Butcher Clyde, who rallies both Klansmen and Ku Kluxes for what might be a devastating engagement that threatens to unleash a new, pervasive form of destruction, touching both body and spirit.
As I said, I learned many new interesting facts by following the historical leads contained in this novella: even though I was aware of the existence of Griffith’s movie, I ignored both the story it portrayed and its not-so-subtle racism, just as I heard for the first time the term Ring Shout, which depicts a traditional dance brought from Africa by its enslaved people and offering strength from mixing Christian themes with reverence for one’s ancestors and the wisdom their example can offer. And another first is represented by the mention of Night Doctors, mythical figures used as a scaremongering technique by slave owners to prevent their laborers from running away.
These fascinating real-world details mix quite seamlessly with the breathless pace of the story and its horrific elements, whose Lovecraftian quality seemed to me a sort of tongue-in-cheek poke at racism, given that Lovecraft was well-known for his views on the subject, so that the presence of Cthulhu-like monsters wearing the guise of human beings can speak volumes on the effect that mindless hate and prejudice can have on people. Not to mention the further message that evil need not necessarily wear the face of a slavering monster from Hell, because it can be strengthened just as easily by witnessing injustice and choosing to do nothing about it, or worse, allowing it to prosper by supporting it wholeheartedly.
Even though set in the recent past, Ring Shout brings home in no uncertain terms the awareness that the issues of that past are still present today, unchanged and unchangeable: I like the way the author avoided the use of a preaching tone, but rather blended the more horrifying aspects of the story with some unabashed, witty banter that gifted the narrative with an easily flowing current but was nevertheless able to carry the message home quite clearly. Still, this apparent lightness never shifts attention from important themes, or the realization that now, like back then, humankind is divided by chasms that seem to get deeper with every passing day, that mindless hatred and anger are turning people into virtual monsters, driving them to forget their very humanity in the name of the oh-so-very dangerous mentality of “us and them”.
The concept of the movie as a recruiting force (for want of a better word), as the images on screen bring the spectators’ worst instincts the surface, is one that I found profoundly disturbing: just as people at the start of the 20th Century felt legitimized in publicly supporting racism by seeing it portrayed in a widely popular movie, now, a hundred years later, their “inheritors” feel the same way because figures invested with authority give them the unspoken permission to be openly and proudly as racist as their ancestors. Hate of the other has long been a way of mitigating one’s perceived inadequacies, as one of the characters underlines so well:
""White folk earn something from that hate. Might not be wages, but knowing we on the bottom and they set above us – just as good, maybe better.""
reminding us that such feelings can be a powerfully dangerous tool when wielded by the wrong person…
Despite its short number of pages, Ring Shout is a deep, and deeply engrossing story, a way to explore both factual history and the recesses of the human soul - and above all a thought-provoking book that we should not miss at any cost.
Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I borrowed from the library.
Story (5/5): I absolutely loved this story. This takes place in 1915, as the Klan’s ranks swell and spread fear and violence across the US. However, unknown to most of the public the Klan is being led by demons called
This was an amazing concept that tackles a lot of social issues while also being incredibly entertaining and well done. While it is your basic monster slaying fantasy, the way it is done is just beautiful. I loved the story and how seamlessly it was woven into the history of the time.
Characters (5/5): I am quickly coming to realize that Clark makes amazing characters and this book was no exception to that rule. Maryse was amazing and kind of the planner of the group, as well as an excellent swordswoman. Sadie is a sharpshooter with one heck of a mouth on her. Cordelia is an ex-soldier (yes she lied to get into the army) and is their explosions expert. These women are amazing and incredibly fun to read about; they are tough and complex and I adored them.
Setting (5/5): The whole book takes place in Macon, Georgia right in the middle of the Ku Klux Klan’s peak. It was really well done and I was super impressed by how seamlessly Clark merged these demons and this sort of Lovecraftian mentality into this era. It was just perfect.
Writing Style (5/5): The more of Clark’s books I read the more impressed I am. This is the third book I have read by him and I’ve loved them all. Clark has a knack for building awesome worlds in a short page space, creating characters you can’t help but love and admire, making a fast paced complex and entertaining story, and doing all of this over a backdrop of thoughtful political and social issues. His books entertain the heck out of me, are super fun to read, but also leave me thoughtful and thinking about important topics….in short, they are spectacular.
My Summary (5/5): Overall I loved this book soooo much. At its heart it's a wild monster hunting fantasy ride, but it’s also so much more. There’s an amazing world, engaging characters, heart-stopping action, and a fascinating story to boot. Then on top of all that the story leaves you thinking long after you finish it. I am going to say if you are at all interested in historical fantasies I would check out all of Clark’s books. In fact maybe everyone should just check out Clark’s books, they are so much darn fun to read!
Story (5/5): I absolutely loved this story. This takes place in 1915, as the Klan’s ranks swell and spread fear and violence across the US. However, unknown to most of the public the Klan is being led by demons called
Show More
Ku Kluxes. The Ku Kluxes have an even bigger plan for evil domination of the whole world and it is up to Maryse and her resistance fighters to stop it. This was an amazing concept that tackles a lot of social issues while also being incredibly entertaining and well done. While it is your basic monster slaying fantasy, the way it is done is just beautiful. I loved the story and how seamlessly it was woven into the history of the time.
Characters (5/5): I am quickly coming to realize that Clark makes amazing characters and this book was no exception to that rule. Maryse was amazing and kind of the planner of the group, as well as an excellent swordswoman. Sadie is a sharpshooter with one heck of a mouth on her. Cordelia is an ex-soldier (yes she lied to get into the army) and is their explosions expert. These women are amazing and incredibly fun to read about; they are tough and complex and I adored them.
Setting (5/5): The whole book takes place in Macon, Georgia right in the middle of the Ku Klux Klan’s peak. It was really well done and I was super impressed by how seamlessly Clark merged these demons and this sort of Lovecraftian mentality into this era. It was just perfect.
Writing Style (5/5): The more of Clark’s books I read the more impressed I am. This is the third book I have read by him and I’ve loved them all. Clark has a knack for building awesome worlds in a short page space, creating characters you can’t help but love and admire, making a fast paced complex and entertaining story, and doing all of this over a backdrop of thoughtful political and social issues. His books entertain the heck out of me, are super fun to read, but also leave me thoughtful and thinking about important topics….in short, they are spectacular.
My Summary (5/5): Overall I loved this book soooo much. At its heart it's a wild monster hunting fantasy ride, but it’s also so much more. There’s an amazing world, engaging characters, heart-stopping action, and a fascinating story to boot. Then on top of all that the story leaves you thinking long after you finish it. I am going to say if you are at all interested in historical fantasies I would check out all of Clark’s books. In fact maybe everyone should just check out Clark’s books, they are so much darn fun to read!
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LibraryThing member breic
Not my preferred genre at all. The writing was only so-so. But, a fun conceit and good attitude.
LibraryThing member LisCarey
I really don't read horror, honest.
Except, as I've said before, quite recently I think, when I do. P. Djèlí Clark seems to be getting almost a permanent pass for his horror. I don't look at it and say, no, it's horror; I look at it and say, oh, it's Clark.
It's the 1920s, with Prohibition, Jim
Not all the Klansmen are humans. Monsters are coming through from somewhere else, and they have their onw agenda, for which the KKK is useful.
Three young black women are friends and part of a resistance force against the monsters, which they call Ku Kluxes--Cordelia Lawrence, Sadie Watkins, and Maryse Boudreaux.
Maryse is our viewpoint character, with a book of African-American folktales, and a magic sword that comes to her when she needs it. Sadie has her rifle, a Winchester 1895, which she calls Winnie. Cordelia is called Chef by everyone, but she doesn't cook food. She served in WWI, disguised as a man, and is an explosives expert.
This little team is, in between running illegal liquor, hunting the monsters they call Ku Kluxes. Chef can set bombs that include silver shot as well as conventional shot; Sadie is a very good shot with Winnie, and if that fails, Maryse can cut the monsters down with her sword. But then they find they're fighting something worse, a new kind of monster, Butcher Clyde, with another, the Grand Cyclops, due to emerge at Stone Mountain, during a grand showing of Birth of a Nation.
Battling these monsters means Maryse's group, the black moonshiners they do delivery runs for, Gullah who dance traditional "ring shouts," socialist organizers, and a whole different kind of monsters with a different and more useful agenda working together. Along the way, we learn about Maryse's painful past, the source of the sword and its strengths and weaknesses, something about Gullah tradition.
We see Maryse grow painfully, confronting her own greatest fears and at risk of being destroyed by them.
This is a really excellent story, revealing and enlightening about the conflicts that existed in our own timeline in the 1920s, and the history behind it.
Highly recommended.
I got this novella as part of the 2021 Hugo Voters Packet, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
Except, as I've said before, quite recently I think, when I do. P. Djèlí Clark seems to be getting almost a permanent pass for his horror. I don't look at it and say, no, it's horror; I look at it and say, oh, it's Clark.
It's the 1920s, with Prohibition, Jim
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Crow, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. But this is an alternate America. D. W. Griffith is a sorcerer, and the movie Birth of a Nation is a spell.Not all the Klansmen are humans. Monsters are coming through from somewhere else, and they have their onw agenda, for which the KKK is useful.
Three young black women are friends and part of a resistance force against the monsters, which they call Ku Kluxes--Cordelia Lawrence, Sadie Watkins, and Maryse Boudreaux.
Maryse is our viewpoint character, with a book of African-American folktales, and a magic sword that comes to her when she needs it. Sadie has her rifle, a Winchester 1895, which she calls Winnie. Cordelia is called Chef by everyone, but she doesn't cook food. She served in WWI, disguised as a man, and is an explosives expert.
This little team is, in between running illegal liquor, hunting the monsters they call Ku Kluxes. Chef can set bombs that include silver shot as well as conventional shot; Sadie is a very good shot with Winnie, and if that fails, Maryse can cut the monsters down with her sword. But then they find they're fighting something worse, a new kind of monster, Butcher Clyde, with another, the Grand Cyclops, due to emerge at Stone Mountain, during a grand showing of Birth of a Nation.
Battling these monsters means Maryse's group, the black moonshiners they do delivery runs for, Gullah who dance traditional "ring shouts," socialist organizers, and a whole different kind of monsters with a different and more useful agenda working together. Along the way, we learn about Maryse's painful past, the source of the sword and its strengths and weaknesses, something about Gullah tradition.
We see Maryse grow painfully, confronting her own greatest fears and at risk of being destroyed by them.
This is a really excellent story, revealing and enlightening about the conflicts that existed in our own timeline in the 1920s, and the history behind it.
Highly recommended.
I got this novella as part of the 2021 Hugo Voters Packet, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
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LibraryThing member readingover50
Set in 1922, the KKK is being led by monsters from another dimension. Only certain people can see their true form. Maryse can see them and with the help of a magic sword she can fight them.
This book offers a unique look at a period in history. Part fantasy and part horror, the further the story
This is a hard one for me to rate. I felt the book vilifies White people. All the White people are bad and all the Black people are good. A bit overly simplistic, but if you look at this as an allegory it makes more sense. This book is at it’s best when Maryse is battling the demons.
I received a free copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
This book offers a unique look at a period in history. Part fantasy and part horror, the further the story
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progresses the more fantastical it becomes. The last half of the book is great. An epic battle between good and evil.This is a hard one for me to rate. I felt the book vilifies White people. All the White people are bad and all the Black people are good. A bit overly simplistic, but if you look at this as an allegory it makes more sense. This book is at it’s best when Maryse is battling the demons.
I received a free copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
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LibraryThing member Khimaera
Macon, Georgia - July 4, 1922
The Ku Klux Klan are out on Main Street without their white hoods proudly celebrating with a patriotic parade. Hatred is spreading across the country like a plague, particularly since the 1915 premiere of Birth of a Nation that showed the Klan as heroes and Black people
Conveniently, right down at the local butcher shop there is a cornucopia of “Wholesome Food for the Moral White Family”. Rich pieces of freshly carved meat still practically crawling on the plate can be shoveled right into eager, gluttonous mouths. Hatred is taught, encouraged, and nourished for not a single soul is ever born to it. It is a conscious choice. Butcher Clyde and the Ku Klux monsters will happily oblige.
Enter Maryse Boudreaux and her found family of capable, colorful allies including the delightful Sadie Watkins, Chef, Nana Jean, Uncle Will, Molly, Sarah and the other folks who can see beneath the masks. The human Klan don’t need to wear them any longer, but the Ku Kluxes do. They still need to wear human skin to walk among us until the day they too can walk openly with righteous cause in the world they have carved out of ours. Once they slough off their human skin, the monsters beneath come out to play and they’re not so easy to kill.
It's a good thing Maryse has a mystical sword she can call upon to aid her in battle, even if she doesn't fully understand it yet. Fortunately, she has a trio of dubious, meddlesome Aunties who provide her with some advice as she faces off against powerful forces determined to see her fall. Perhaps, the Aunties offer, there may be another ally to thwart Butcher Clyde’s grand designs: The Night Doctors. Just find the dead Angel Oak tree decked out in rattling bones and cut your way through the flesh of the bark and step through… like stepping through the portal to the home of the Cenobites. The price? Cutting through Maryse’s haunted past with surgical precision to the most tender of places where her pain and anger and hatred were born so she can find the strength to fight for the future.
The finale at Stone Mountain is pure cinematic wonder with a few surprises yet to be unveiled. Beneath a “hollerin’ Baptist downpour”, the Birth of the Nation is being shown to hundreds of assembled Klan and Ku Kluxes. In front of the screen, a gallows platform for six and Butcher Clyde before a towering burning cross proselytizing his hatred to willing supplicants. The Grand Cyclops is on its way.
Ring Shout is at turns humorous, touching, and filled with ordinary human moments between scenes of threat and horror. As for the eponymous ring shouts that start each section of the novella, I’ll leave that to the reader to savor. Just don’t call it a dance. Underlying it all, a question: Where does hatred come from? It is also a precious and timely reminder that the real monsters are the ones that lie and look like the truth.
The Ku Klux Klan are out on Main Street without their white hoods proudly celebrating with a patriotic parade. Hatred is spreading across the country like a plague, particularly since the 1915 premiere of Birth of a Nation that showed the Klan as heroes and Black people
Show More
as monsters. Just the year before, Tulsa was lost in a coordinated attack. Something is trying to break into our world where it can rend and rip and feast. It feeds with joyful relish the morsels of hatred until they are fat with poisonous corruption. Conveniently, right down at the local butcher shop there is a cornucopia of “Wholesome Food for the Moral White Family”. Rich pieces of freshly carved meat still practically crawling on the plate can be shoveled right into eager, gluttonous mouths. Hatred is taught, encouraged, and nourished for not a single soul is ever born to it. It is a conscious choice. Butcher Clyde and the Ku Klux monsters will happily oblige.
Enter Maryse Boudreaux and her found family of capable, colorful allies including the delightful Sadie Watkins, Chef, Nana Jean, Uncle Will, Molly, Sarah and the other folks who can see beneath the masks. The human Klan don’t need to wear them any longer, but the Ku Kluxes do. They still need to wear human skin to walk among us until the day they too can walk openly with righteous cause in the world they have carved out of ours. Once they slough off their human skin, the monsters beneath come out to play and they’re not so easy to kill.
It's a good thing Maryse has a mystical sword she can call upon to aid her in battle, even if she doesn't fully understand it yet. Fortunately, she has a trio of dubious, meddlesome Aunties who provide her with some advice as she faces off against powerful forces determined to see her fall. Perhaps, the Aunties offer, there may be another ally to thwart Butcher Clyde’s grand designs: The Night Doctors. Just find the dead Angel Oak tree decked out in rattling bones and cut your way through the flesh of the bark and step through… like stepping through the portal to the home of the Cenobites. The price? Cutting through Maryse’s haunted past with surgical precision to the most tender of places where her pain and anger and hatred were born so she can find the strength to fight for the future.
The finale at Stone Mountain is pure cinematic wonder with a few surprises yet to be unveiled. Beneath a “hollerin’ Baptist downpour”, the Birth of the Nation is being shown to hundreds of assembled Klan and Ku Kluxes. In front of the screen, a gallows platform for six and Butcher Clyde before a towering burning cross proselytizing his hatred to willing supplicants. The Grand Cyclops is on its way.
Ring Shout is at turns humorous, touching, and filled with ordinary human moments between scenes of threat and horror. As for the eponymous ring shouts that start each section of the novella, I’ll leave that to the reader to savor. Just don’t call it a dance. Underlying it all, a question: Where does hatred come from? It is also a precious and timely reminder that the real monsters are the ones that lie and look like the truth.
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LibraryThing member LibrarianRyan
This is one of those times when I think “what did I just read”? Or in my case “what did I just listen to”. I started this audiobook at least 3 different times because I kept getting lost. But notice, I never gave up because it’s so weird you just have to see what is going to happen next.
#ReadHarder - intimidated to read
#musicchallenge - david bowie space oddity
#Popsugar - on a BLM booklist
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I loved it. It was such a different look at race, fantasy, magical realism, etc. And it leaves itself open for a sequel. I think this book would make for great discussion in a university class. Heck even in bookclub, but most of the book clubs I know probably wouldn’t read it, or would lose interest before chapter 5 because of confusion. I once had a young boy say to me after reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” “I loved it. I don’t get it, but I loved it.” At the time I thought that was an odd statement, but this is the second time in my life, I have found a book for which I have to say the same thing. I think before the sequel comes out I would pick up the print book. I'm not the greatest at audiobooks, but I can say I loved it. I don’t get all of it, but I loved it. #ReadHarder - intimidated to read
#musicchallenge - david bowie space oddity
#Popsugar - on a BLM booklist
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LibraryThing member Shrike58
I'm giving this story a fairly high score but I have to admit that I didn't come away from it thinking that I had read the best novella of the year, in as much as I expect it to make the Hugo short list; it's already on the Nebula short list. So, what's my issue? At the end of the day the events of
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January 6 2021 may have just stolen Clark's thunder for me and, maybe, I think this whole scenario would have worked better as a novelette. We'll see: I expect to be revisiting my thoughts when the Hugo reader's package goes out. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookczuk
Pandemic read. Wow. Masterful. This was a pretty amazing book to read. Loved so much about it, including its Auntie Editor.
LibraryThing member lavaturtle
Cool, original idea. Great protagonist and supporting cast. I liked the mix of historical horror and fantastical elements.
LibraryThing member m_k_m
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book by the publisher in return for an honest review.
Very timely bit of fantasy horror for Black History Month, Halloween and indeed 2020. It's part of a wave of (often fantastic) fiction that's emerged over the last four years trying to make sense of the
There's a concern the country is still not reconciled with the depths of its historic racial tensions (like HBO's recent Watchmen series, the book makes reference to the horrific but largely forgotten Tulsa Massacre); frustration at a false equivalency that at best seeks to reframe historical injustice as a "debate" and at worst is provocation for a race war (I was reminded of the sledgehammer epilogue to BlacKkKlansman); the role of artistic talent in stoking racial tensions; and an awareness of the unfairness but necessity of always having to be better (which Black Panther also articulated).
But the main concern of Ring Shout, it struck me, was the cynical exploitation of deep historical divisions by actors with little skin in the actual game. It's a key facet of this particular cultural moment and one that will hopefully bring lasting shame to those doing it.
Through a blend of ahistorical revenge and magical thinking, Djèlí Clark does a brilliant job of articulating all those concerns in an exciting and blisteringly satirical fantasy.
Very timely bit of fantasy horror for Black History Month, Halloween and indeed 2020. It's part of a wave of (often fantastic) fiction that's emerged over the last four years trying to make sense of the
Show More
current racial tensions in America and to place them in an historical context. There's a concern the country is still not reconciled with the depths of its historic racial tensions (like HBO's recent Watchmen series, the book makes reference to the horrific but largely forgotten Tulsa Massacre); frustration at a false equivalency that at best seeks to reframe historical injustice as a "debate" and at worst is provocation for a race war (I was reminded of the sledgehammer epilogue to BlacKkKlansman); the role of artistic talent in stoking racial tensions; and an awareness of the unfairness but necessity of always having to be better (which Black Panther also articulated).
But the main concern of Ring Shout, it struck me, was the cynical exploitation of deep historical divisions by actors with little skin in the actual game. It's a key facet of this particular cultural moment and one that will hopefully bring lasting shame to those doing it.
Through a blend of ahistorical revenge and magical thinking, Djèlí Clark does a brilliant job of articulating all those concerns in an exciting and blisteringly satirical fantasy.
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LibraryThing member Veronica.Sparrow
I have been putting off doing a review as this is (hands down) one of the best books (novellas) I have read this year. I loved the characters to the point of tears at one point (no, I am not going to give spoilers) and I wish there was a way that the author could continue the story or even provide
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a prequel. I love the world the author created and I adored the characters in it. I will provide a review closer to publication. In the meantime... if you get a chance to read this novella.... read it! Show Less
LibraryThing member write-review
Doing Battle with Haters
What would possess a people to such an extent they would hold another people in bondage, and when freed commit horrible acts to suppress them to guarantee their own status as superior beings? Regarding slavery and Jim Crow in America, several reasons existed, and continue to
In this mythology, only a few can penetrate the Ku Kluxes’ guise of human white flesh, though at heart all who don the white sheets, or support the wearers, or simply stand by are monsters. These stalwart few work in bands in various cities throughout the U.S., and a small group of fighters, Gullah women, and socialists in Macon, GA, feature in Ring Shout. The novel effectively blends fantasy, spiritualism, and the supernatural into an explosion of fists, elbows, swords, and gunfire, not to mention the Ring Shout ritual, that will leave readers reaching for the aspirin to stop the ringing its sets off in their minds.
The novel follows the exploits of three intrepid young Black woman, Maryse, Sadie, and Chef as they lead the fight in Macon in 1922. It opens on a set piece of action, the crew doing battle with the Ku Kluxes while the white sheets march in that year’s Fourth of July parade. Maryse emerges as the leader of the group, and she’s the one armed with a supernatural sword packed with the full vengeance of a race enslaved and murdered. She’s also the one who enters a supernatural realm, where she discovers that something big is coming. Turns out the Ku Kluxes plan a giant rally at Stone Mountain, where they will watch The Birth of a Nation. As an aside here, when released in 1915, historians credit the film with the revival of Klan. This reiteration of the Klan occurred in that year at Stone Mountain, and the Klan held a rally there each year Labor Day for around 50 years. Back to the novel. After much intervening action, the Ring Shout culminates in a preternatural battle of good and evil on the mountain.
You might find yourself thinking that imbuing the Ku Kluxes with supernatural possession somehow excuses the actions of ordinary humans; that is, something para human drives their actions. However, Clark cleverly turns this so that hate already possesses regular Klan, and it’s this hate that the supernatural puppet masters feed off of, and that allow for the turning of hate filled monsters into actual monsters. In other words, hated robs you of your humanity. So true.
An all around enjoyable excursion into horror and fantasy and one some not usually readers of the genre might also enjoy. Also, if you watched and enjoyed HBO’s Lovecraft County or reimagined Watchmen, you may be an audience for Ring Shout.
What would possess a people to such an extent they would hold another people in bondage, and when freed commit horrible acts to suppress them to guarantee their own status as superior beings? Regarding slavery and Jim Crow in America, several reasons existed, and continue to
Show More
exist to this day. In P. Djèlí Clark’s raucous novel of vengeance and retribution, an answer is that the Ku Kluxes where monsters. In this mythology, only a few can penetrate the Ku Kluxes’ guise of human white flesh, though at heart all who don the white sheets, or support the wearers, or simply stand by are monsters. These stalwart few work in bands in various cities throughout the U.S., and a small group of fighters, Gullah women, and socialists in Macon, GA, feature in Ring Shout. The novel effectively blends fantasy, spiritualism, and the supernatural into an explosion of fists, elbows, swords, and gunfire, not to mention the Ring Shout ritual, that will leave readers reaching for the aspirin to stop the ringing its sets off in their minds.
The novel follows the exploits of three intrepid young Black woman, Maryse, Sadie, and Chef as they lead the fight in Macon in 1922. It opens on a set piece of action, the crew doing battle with the Ku Kluxes while the white sheets march in that year’s Fourth of July parade. Maryse emerges as the leader of the group, and she’s the one armed with a supernatural sword packed with the full vengeance of a race enslaved and murdered. She’s also the one who enters a supernatural realm, where she discovers that something big is coming. Turns out the Ku Kluxes plan a giant rally at Stone Mountain, where they will watch The Birth of a Nation. As an aside here, when released in 1915, historians credit the film with the revival of Klan. This reiteration of the Klan occurred in that year at Stone Mountain, and the Klan held a rally there each year Labor Day for around 50 years. Back to the novel. After much intervening action, the Ring Shout culminates in a preternatural battle of good and evil on the mountain.
You might find yourself thinking that imbuing the Ku Kluxes with supernatural possession somehow excuses the actions of ordinary humans; that is, something para human drives their actions. However, Clark cleverly turns this so that hate already possesses regular Klan, and it’s this hate that the supernatural puppet masters feed off of, and that allow for the turning of hate filled monsters into actual monsters. In other words, hated robs you of your humanity. So true.
An all around enjoyable excursion into horror and fantasy and one some not usually readers of the genre might also enjoy. Also, if you watched and enjoyed HBO’s Lovecraft County or reimagined Watchmen, you may be an audience for Ring Shout.
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LibraryThing member renbedell
A horror, science fiction novella about a group of people hunting KKK members that are actually aliens. The storyline is very interesting, which I think would be better if it was a longer book that expanded on it. The book is written well, high action, and comic book like characters.
LibraryThing member write-review
Doing Battle with Haters
What would possess a people to such an extent they would hold another people in bondage, and when freed commit horrible acts to suppress them to guarantee their own status as superior beings? Regarding slavery and Jim Crow in America, several reasons existed, and continue to
In this mythology, only a few can penetrate the Ku Kluxes’ guise of human white flesh, though at heart all who don the white sheets, or support the wearers, or simply stand by are monsters. These stalwart few work in bands in various cities throughout the U.S., and a small group of fighters, Gullah women, and socialists in Macon, GA, feature in Ring Shout. The novel effectively blends fantasy, spiritualism, and the supernatural into an explosion of fists, elbows, swords, and gunfire, not to mention the Ring Shout ritual, that will leave readers reaching for the aspirin to stop the ringing its sets off in their minds.
The novel follows the exploits of three intrepid young Black woman, Maryse, Sadie, and Chef as they lead the fight in Macon in 1922. It opens on a set piece of action, the crew doing battle with the Ku Kluxes while the white sheets march in that year’s Fourth of July parade. Maryse emerges as the leader of the group, and she’s the one armed with a supernatural sword packed with the full vengeance of a race enslaved and murdered. She’s also the one who enters a supernatural realm, where she discovers that something big is coming. Turns out the Ku Kluxes plan a giant rally at Stone Mountain, where they will watch The Birth of a Nation. As an aside here, when released in 1915, historians credit the film with the revival of Klan. This reiteration of the Klan occurred in that year at Stone Mountain, and the Klan held a rally there each year Labor Day for around 50 years. Back to the novel. After much intervening action, the Ring Shout culminates in a preternatural battle of good and evil on the mountain.
You might find yourself thinking that imbuing the Ku Kluxes with supernatural possession somehow excuses the actions of ordinary humans; that is, something para human drives their actions. However, Clark cleverly turns this so that hate already possesses regular Klan, and it’s this hate that the supernatural puppet masters feed off of, and that allow for the turning of hate filled monsters into actual monsters. In other words, hated robs you of your humanity. So true.
An all around enjoyable excursion into horror and fantasy and one some not usually readers of the genre might also enjoy. Also, if you watched and enjoyed HBO’s Lovecraft County or reimagined Watchmen, you may be an audience for Ring Shout.
What would possess a people to such an extent they would hold another people in bondage, and when freed commit horrible acts to suppress them to guarantee their own status as superior beings? Regarding slavery and Jim Crow in America, several reasons existed, and continue to
Show More
exist to this day. In P. Djèlí Clark’s raucous novel of vengeance and retribution, an answer is that the Ku Kluxes where monsters. In this mythology, only a few can penetrate the Ku Kluxes’ guise of human white flesh, though at heart all who don the white sheets, or support the wearers, or simply stand by are monsters. These stalwart few work in bands in various cities throughout the U.S., and a small group of fighters, Gullah women, and socialists in Macon, GA, feature in Ring Shout. The novel effectively blends fantasy, spiritualism, and the supernatural into an explosion of fists, elbows, swords, and gunfire, not to mention the Ring Shout ritual, that will leave readers reaching for the aspirin to stop the ringing its sets off in their minds.
The novel follows the exploits of three intrepid young Black woman, Maryse, Sadie, and Chef as they lead the fight in Macon in 1922. It opens on a set piece of action, the crew doing battle with the Ku Kluxes while the white sheets march in that year’s Fourth of July parade. Maryse emerges as the leader of the group, and she’s the one armed with a supernatural sword packed with the full vengeance of a race enslaved and murdered. She’s also the one who enters a supernatural realm, where she discovers that something big is coming. Turns out the Ku Kluxes plan a giant rally at Stone Mountain, where they will watch The Birth of a Nation. As an aside here, when released in 1915, historians credit the film with the revival of Klan. This reiteration of the Klan occurred in that year at Stone Mountain, and the Klan held a rally there each year Labor Day for around 50 years. Back to the novel. After much intervening action, the Ring Shout culminates in a preternatural battle of good and evil on the mountain.
You might find yourself thinking that imbuing the Ku Kluxes with supernatural possession somehow excuses the actions of ordinary humans; that is, something para human drives their actions. However, Clark cleverly turns this so that hate already possesses regular Klan, and it’s this hate that the supernatural puppet masters feed off of, and that allow for the turning of hate filled monsters into actual monsters. In other words, hated robs you of your humanity. So true.
An all around enjoyable excursion into horror and fantasy and one some not usually readers of the genre might also enjoy. Also, if you watched and enjoyed HBO’s Lovecraft County or reimagined Watchmen, you may be an audience for Ring Shout.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kitlovestea
Ring Shout is a wild ride all the way through. The characters are interesting and badass and the mysteries surrounding Maryse's backstory and sword are compelling. Its handling of racism in the time of Jim Crow and the way Djèlí seamlessly integrates that into his cosmic horror cosmology is
Highly recommended for anyone looking for anyone who is into cool action sequences and sweet justice. A word of warning that it doesn't shy away from the reality of racist violence, even as it packs the plot with literal demons.
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seamless and the final confrontation is eminently satisfying. Highly recommended for anyone looking for anyone who is into cool action sequences and sweet justice. A word of warning that it doesn't shy away from the reality of racist violence, even as it packs the plot with literal demons.
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Subjects
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novella — 2021)
Nebula Award (Nominee — Novella — 2020)
Shirley Jackson Award (Nominee — Novella — 2020)
Locus Award (Finalist — Novella — 2021)
World Fantasy Award (Nominee — Novella — 2021)
British Fantasy Award (Winner — Novella — 2021)
RUSA CODES Reading List (Shortlist — Fantasy — 2021)
Ignyte Award (Shortlist — Novella — 2021)
Prix Julia Verlanger (2022)
Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire (Shortlist — 2022)
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (Nominee — Fiction — 2021)
NPR: Books We Love (2020)
LibraryReads (Monthly Pick — October 2020)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2020)
Language
Original publication date
2020-10-13
Physical description
185 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
1250767024 / 9781250767028