Masterfully flips the first installment on its head... James makes the mythic tantalizingly
real.’” —Esquire Even more brilliant than the first.” —BuzzfeedAn Instant New York Times
Bestseller and NPR Best Book of 2022 pick From Marlon James author of the bestselling National
Book Award finalist Black Leopard Red Wolf the second book in the Dark Star trilogy. In Black
Leopard Red Wolf Sogolon the Moon Witch proved a worthy adversary to Tracker as they clashed
across a mythical African landscape in search of a mysterious boy who disappeared. In Moon
Witch Spider King Sogolon takes center stage and gives her own account of what happened to
the boy and how she plotted and fought triumphed and failed as she looked for him. It’s also
the story of a century-long feud—seen through the eyes of a 177-year-old witch—that Sogolon had
with the Aesi chancellor to the king. It is said that Aesi works so closely with the king that
together they are like the eight limbs of one spider. Aesi’s power is considerable—and deadly.
It takes brains and courage to challenge him which Sogolon does for reasons of her own. Both a
brilliant narrative device—seeing the story told in Black Leopard Red Wolf from the
perspective of an adversary and a woman—as well as a fascinating battle between different
versions of empire Moon Witch Spider King delves into Sogolon’s world as she fights to tell
her own story. Part adventure tale part chronicle of an indomitable woman who bows to no man
it is a fascinating novel that explores power personality and the places where they overlap.
