The Black God’s Drums

by P. Djèlí Clark

eBook, 112 pages

English language

Published Aug. 20, 2018 by Tom Doherty Associates.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-29470-8

(25 reviews)

In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air—in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie’s trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.

But Creeper also has a secret herself: Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, speaks inside her head, and may have her own ulterior motivations.

Soon, Creeper, Oya, and the crew of the Midnight Robber are pulled into a perilous mission aimed to stop the Black God’s Drums from being unleashed and wiping out the entirety of New Orleans.

3 editions

AlGra reviewed The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Review of "Black God's Drums" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

The world building is worth 5 stars, the story is a boring 1 star so on average I think 3 stars is accurate. This steampunk-ish New Orleans with black magic where you can find Haitian and Trinidarian powerful governments is quite novel. What happens in this world is incredibly cliché considering the trends on fantasy in the last 20 years. I would expect this to be the first installation of a trilogy, but apparently it is a single novella. I'm not sure I would read potentially following books in this series though.

Geekess reviewed The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Review of 'The Black God’s Drums' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

3.5 stars out of 5, rounded up to 4 because of the narrator.

Beautiful narration with a correct accent that makes the story vibrant and glowing with life. I love how Channie Waites narrates this. This is how books like this should be narrated: with the accent that belongs to the ethnicity portrayed, but still very understandable and clear.

The novella's story is short and sweet, though I feel it started to wander a bit near the end. The start was tight and full of potential. The end was a blazing gale. The trekking through the marsh... meh.

But I love the steam-punk feel of the world the author has created with A Dead Djinn in Cairo. I love how it's alternative history, set in a world where magic has returned.

This is a sweet little story that leaves me wanting to read more about Creeper and the Robber Baron.

Soh Kam Yung reviewed The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Fun alternate history story set in the US Civil War period, involving Carribean spirits

4 stars

After reading the author's 'Dead Djinn' series, I decided to give this earlier novella by him a try. Turned out to be a good decision.

Set in an alternative world where the Union and Confederate US forces came to a truce in the US Civil War and New Orleans is a neutral independent city, the story involves a street girl who accidentally eavesdrops on Confederate Troops hoping to obtain the Black God's Drums as a weapon.

As the story progresses, we learn that the weapon was what set Haiti free: it is a regional power in the story. She approaches a Haitian airship captain with the information in exchange for joining her crew. Together, they discover other forces are also interested in the Black God's Drums, and they intend to use it on a major target. Only they, together with the forces of the local gods that inhabit them, can …

After reading the author's 'Dead Djinn' series, I decided to give this earlier novella by him a try. Turned out to be a good decision.

An exciting and fascinating alternative world history that hints at more to come, if the author continues to write in this world.

Martin Kopischke reviewed The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Wi, cher

3 stars

Clark has a knack for unconventional takes on the speculative genre, no doubt, and his writing is beyond reproach. This alternate New Orleans novella is smart and fun, but overall, it feels very conventionally steampunk-ish, a far cry from the whirlwind experience that is his Djinnpunk stuff .

Wetdryvac reviewed The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Review of 'The Black God’s Drums' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Oh hell yes, this is finestkind.

B. Zelkovich reviewed The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Review of 'The Black God’s Drums' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is an amazing book. The sheer ingenuity of the language and narrator's voice, the arc from Creeper to Jacqueline, and the incredible world-building in every single line. At just over 100 pages you can read this book in an afternoon. You won't regret it.