Marlon James offers a peek inside the world of Moon Witch, Spider King

The author's red-hot Dark Star Trilogy continues this spring.

By Seija Rankin

December 15, 2021 at 10:00 AM EST

When Marlon James set out to write the sequel book Moon Witch, Spider King (out Feb. 15), he quickly found he needed a visual aid. "You don't get very far into a fantasy novel before you realize you don't know what the hell you're writing about — so you better get to maps," he tells EW of creating the South Kingdom. "Once I drew an early version of this map, it started to influence the story."

How The Affair inspired Marlon James' latest novel Black Leopard Red Wolf

 

How The Affair inspired Marlon James' latest novel Black Leopard Red Wolf

BIOGRAPHY

Seija Rankin

February 05, 2019 at 10:00 AM EST

If you’re at all plugged in to the book world then you’ve been hearing about Marlon James’ newest novel, Black Leopard Red Wolf (out Tuesday), for months now. The author embodies the top of today’s literary hierarchy: He’s won the Man Booker prize (for 2015’s A Brief History of Seven Killings), and is also a frequent name on the New York Times bestseller list. But the fantasy tome — which is set to be the first of the aptly-named Dark Star Trilogy — is a notable departure from his previous work.