The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

 

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings.

Published 23rd June 2022 by Orbit.

From the cover of the book:

Put on your dancing shoes and step into New Orleans as you've never seen it before in this vibrant and imaginative debut.

Nola is a city of wonders. An alternate New Orleans made of music and magic, where spirits dance the night away and Wise Women help keep the order. To those from Away, Nola might seem strange. To failed magician Perilous Graves, it's simply home.

Then the rhythm of the city stutters.

Nine songs of power have escaped from the magical piano that maintains the city's beat, and without them, Nola will fail. Unwilling to watch his home be destroyed, Perry will sacrifice everything to save it. 

But a storm is brewing and even if they capture the songs, Nola's time might be coming to an end.

***********

Somewhere out of sight lies the city of Nola, an alternate New Orleans that resounds with the inseparable mix of magic and music. Nola is full of wonders: a place where spirits, animals, and people (some with very unusual talents) all rub along together in harmony - with the rhythm of the city sustained by the indefinable Doctor Professor and the nine songs of power that he controls through his rather special, glittery piano. 

But then someone steals away the songs of power, and without them Nola cannot hope to withstand the monstrous storm that threatens to destroy it, and all who call it home. Failed musician/magician Perilous (Perry) Graves is called upon to find the missing songs, with the help of his younger sister Brendy, and their special friend Peaches. A mammoth task lies ahead of them, and they will need to use all their unique skills to fight the darkness that threatens their existence. In the process they will learn many strange truths about themselves, Nola, and the people that live in the Away - the other New Orleans that connects with their home in more ways than they think.

The Ballad of Perilous Graves is a weird and wonderful urban fantasy, that is flooded with sumptuous threads of magical realism that draw on all the elements that mark New Orleans as a city unlike anywhere else in the world. Through the eyes of Alex Jennings, we get to see the sensuous inner soul of New Orleans, in the guise of Nola, where magic, music and mystery combine to produce a vivid backdrop to the remarkable story that plays out in these pages - a story unlike anything I have ever read before.

It's fair to say outright that this is a demanding novel, filled with complex language, and surreal concepts around how two similar, and yet very different, places can co-exist in the same space and time. The two backdrops of Nola and New Orleans bleed into each other in unexpected ways as the tale unfolds in each one, particularly through the very clever use of graffiti, and it does take a bit of time to get your head around how the two relate to each other - especially on the New Orleans side, where we are introduced to a character called Casey, whose connection to Nola is not immediately apparent. I confess there were times when I completely lost the thread of what was happening, as the tale weaves around with free-wheeling abandon, but there is something highly addictive in the way Jennings tugs on your imagination, and I found I could not look away.

Jennings displays spellbinding talent here with truly creative storytelling, mixing up fantastical and very real world situations that pose quite a challenge for the vivid and captivating characters that must overcome them. There is very inventive use of subtle impression, imagery and symbolism; and the whole book thrums with the seductive power of music; the love of family; and the rhythms of life... and death. Themes of belonging and acceptance are used with heartfelt poignancy, with rich seams of humour to balance the darkness. And in the spirit of Jenning's aim to write the "Blackest fantasy ever", the whole book celebrates the significance of Black culture, especially in the roots of Jazz, embedded in the fabric and history of New Orleans.

If you like your fantasy to proceed logically, with a well defined structure, then this is not for you. However, if you are happy to walk on the dark and innovative wild side, and immerses yourself in the flow, then you will find a lot in these pages to please. I guarantee that you have never seen New Orleans quite like this!

The Ballad of Perilous Graves is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Orbit for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to Compulsive Readers for inviting me to take part in this blog tour.

About the author:

Alex Jennings was born on Wiesbaden AFB in Germany, in 1979. Since then, he has lived with his diplomat father and the rest of his family in Gaborone, Botswana, Paramaribo, Surinam, Tunis, Tunisia, and the D.C. area.

After a stint at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, Jennings attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop in 2003. Since 2006, he's lived in New Orleans, working as a non-profit fundraiser, entertainment journalist, and teacher, in addition to his writing work. He probably drinks too much cold brew coffee, and he definitely spends too much time surfing the internet for bizarre news stories.

Along with his friends, Jennings has acted as MC and co-producer of the Dogfish Readings series, a monthly literary reading and open mic in St. Roch, New Orleans. The readings series has run for nearly four years, and Jennings calls it his "pride and joy."

Some of his preoccupations include Afrofuturism, comic books, horror media, and standup comedy. Influences include Octavia E. Butler, Nisi Shawl, Victor Lavalle, Junot Diaz, and Jazz.