Camestros Felapton

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Review: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

The past few years have been trying times and it is hard to say positive things about 2020 that don’t pale against it’s immediate horrors. One thing we do have is a host of high profile fantastical horror from Black American creators. Lovecraft Country is a major TV show, Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us were popular and critically acclaimed films, N.K.Jemisin’s The City We Became has gained mainstream press attention. A common theme is the subversion of horror tropes (particularly but not exclusively Lovecraftian ones) to reflect social issues and in particular systemic and overt anti-Black racism.

To that extent, Ring Shout will feel like familiar territory. In post World War 1 America a group of heroes must fight a resurgent KKK that is also a front for cosmic monster from some other dimension. Klan members vary from being humans under the sway of hate-consuming creatures to actual unearthly monsters (nicknamed Ku Kluxes for obvious reasons). Clark has stated the multiple influences he has thrown into this rich brew of history and fantasy, including Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the books of Toni Morrison.

Like a lot of novellas, I really wanted this to be longer. There are some intriguing characters, particularly in the core group but I feel like we barely got to know them within the space of this story. The same is true of some of the supernatural beings as well. We do learn a lot about the central character of Maryse but the story is crowded with history as well as both action and supernatural sequences that some of the interpersonal dynamics that we get sparkling glimpses of doesn’t get the room to breathe. So many rich ideas here that I wanted to linger but it was all over when I was most invested in the scope of it.

Hopefully it will spawn a sequel.

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6 responses to “Review: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark”

  2. I really enjoyed this, and while I think a full length novel in this world would work really well, I don’t think it needs the expansion (just like Clark’s work in his Dead Djinn in Cairo world, which IS now getting a novel). Clark has shown repeatedly – in the Cairo stories, in The Black God’s Drums, etc. – a great ability at developing not just a strong lead character but also a world with multiple other characters you really want to read more about, even if they’re not the focus of the story. And I think that’s the case here, where the main themes and story are handled excellently in the tale of really the one lead character, even as it builds up in the background others who are of interest.

    I reviewed this one here btw: https://garik16.blogspot.com/2020/10/fantasy-novella-review-ring-shout-by-p.html

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    • I enjoyed it but I just wanted it to have a bit more room to breathe. Like the whole sequence with the Night Doctors and the implications of these other beings was intriguing but it was over so quickly it felt like a diversion.

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  3. If you liked this one (I haven’t read it, but I’ve liked Clark’s other work) you might try Creatures of Want and Ruin by Mollie Tanzen — a Lovecraftian cult in the 1920s puts its weight behind the era’s anti-immigrant movements.

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