Maryse is accompanied by Sadie, a young woman of just 21 who fears no man (or monster, for that matter). A sword that calls on the long dead enslaved, the spirits of the ancient chiefs and kings bound to the sword as penance for selling these individuals into slavery, and the power of the mighty African gods.

She is aided in this calling by a sword that appears magically when she draws it to mind. She has already lost too much to give up now. Merely 25 years old, Maryse is hell-bent on stopping this virulent expansion, no matter the cost. Not everyone has “the sight,” the ability to see the Ku Klux for the monsters they really are, but Maryse and her team of women surely do. And it appears they are adapting and evolving day by day to become even more dangerous… Tagged a “dark fantasy historical novella,” Ring Shout tells the story of Maryse Boudreaux and her band of badass women as they storm through early 1920s Georgia on a quest to find and eliminate the monsters she calls “Ku Klux.” The physical embodiment of racism, these Ku Klux are embedded among the well-known Klan, using their superhuman size and strength to spread hatred throughout the nation. He also received the 2019 Alex Award for his novella The Black God’s Drums.Ĭlark is back in October 2020 with a new release likely to be just as successful with fans and critics alike: Ring Shout. Clark’s short story The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington won the 2019 LOCUS award and the 2019 Nebula Award for Best Short Story. His ability to do so is award-winning, in fact. As an academic historian, this is not surprising. Djèlí Clark is well known in the world of speculative fiction for his unique ability to seamlessly take key pieces of history and morph them into the fantastical.

P djèlí clark ring shout