This is a very good book.

Like most good books, it is a weaving.

Set in an imaginary "Africa" before the European came - their arrival is foreshadowed - it is the story of a quest, undertaken by a young man who is simply known as tracker. He recounts his story to an inquisitor who, we understand, holds the man's life in his hands. If he is to remain alive, he must tell his stories. The stories are fantastical, full of occult beasts and various modes of UnDead. They may be pure invention, a psychotic fantasy designed to detract from a sordid history of infanticide and rape.

The book is not for the faint-hearted. We are down in Sade's dungeons where the odour is foul and rank. The tracker is gifted - or cursed - with a supernatural sense of smell, and most of what he smells is bad. There are many acts of violence and cruelty. This is not a nursery fairy-tale.