Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame MbaliaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Goodreads lists this latest installment in the Rick Riordan Presents lineup as the first of a series, but it could also work pretty well as a standalone piece. Which might explain why there's no "coming soon" at the end of the book listing the title of the next installment. But Kwame Mbalia gives us an excellent debut in Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, a sprawling and mind-bending tour through a world of West African gods and black folk heroes. And as far as Rick Riordan and Rick Riordan Presents protags go, Tristan brings a lot new to the table - not just with the stories he grew up with, but also his uniquely flawed backstory, in which both his strength and his weaknesses come out at the worst possible times. Not for nothing did Riordan tell us in his footnote that this manuscript made him cry a few times. But as Goodreads says, Kwame Mbalia ain't done with Tristan's stories yet - and I'm here for all the tears and laughs and ass-kicking action he'll offer.
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