Ms. Hen reviews Master of Poisons

 

Master of Poisons

Andrea Hairston

Tor

2020

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she saw the author at the Arisia con in January, and she thought she was so fantastic Ms. Hen decided she wanted to read a book by her. The author did a reading from her forthcoming book, and Ms. Hen was impressed by her presentation.

This is different from the novels Ms. Hen usually reads. MASTER OF POISONS is fantasy. Imagine LORD OF THE RINGS with Afrofuturism, climate issues, and pirates, and that's this book.

The Masters of Poisons, or Djola, is a man who is captured on a pirate ship, and performs evil deeds. He drinks seed to forget his troubles, but makes friends along the way. Awa, a young sprite is training to be a griot, or storyteller, tries to learn to perform her work the best she can. The two meet each other eventually, and try to save the empire.

The characters go to a place called Smokeland, which is a type of fantasy world where things are not real. Dead people can live there, and people can slip in and out, and magic happens. Ms. Hen thought this reminded her of the Other World that exists.

Ms. Hen likes that some chapters are from the point of view of animals. The reader hears from a dog, a horse, and an elephant, which Ms. Hen thinks is charming. Ms. Hen believes that animals have opinions similar to humans, and their voices should be heard.

The prose in the novel is exquisite. Each sentence is like a poem. It reminded Ms. Hen of reading MOBY DICK, which Ms. Hen considers one long prose poem about chasing a whale.

Ms. Hen thinks this is a difficult book to read, but it's worth it. It's difficult because the prose is so lush, one could sink in it, and not be able to get out. Ms. Hen recommends this if you want to get lost in another world.