Ring Shout

Nebula Award winner Clark (The Black God’s Drums) vividly reimagines the Ku Klux Klan’s second wave in this thrilling, provocative, and thoroughly badass fantasy. In Prohibition-era Macon, Ga., Maryse Boudreaux and friends—the scrappy Sadie and the unassuming WWI-veteran Chef—spend their days slaying Ku Kluxes, demons unleashed by a spell cast by Sorcerer D.W. Griffith in the form of the propaganda film Birth of a Nation. After a gripping and humorous battle between this ragtag trio and the Ku Kluxes, Klan ringleader Butcher Clyde, a creature who feeds on hate, reveals his master plan: use Griffith’s spell to summon the Grand Cyclops. Maryse sets out to put an end to this reign of terror, but when Butcher Clyde makes Maryse an offer too tempting to refuse she must first conquer her own lust for vengeance. Clark expertly uses fantasy to highlight the mysticism underlying the nation’s darkest moments. Lyrical interludes, mythicized “oral histories” of Gullah traditions, and haunting retellings of African American folklore add rich texture throughout. Readers will be both captivated and entertained by this fast-paced alternate history, which doubles as a meditation on the all-consuming power of hate and violence. Agent: Seth Fishman, the Gernert Company. (Oct.)