Ring Shout
#5323.92 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2020 Reading commitment Low P. Djèlí Clark Last reviewed 2026-08-18
Overview
In 1920s Macon, Georgia, Maryse Boudreaux hunts Ku Kluxes, monsters born when the hatred of Ku Klux Klan members curdles them into something no longer human, wielding a magic sword and a network of fellow monster hunters against a supernatural resurgence tied to the film Birth of a Nation, whose 1915 release and glorification of the Klan the novella treats as an act of literal, world-altering dark magic. A standalone alternate-history dark fantasy novella by P. Djèlí Clark, published in 2020, blending horror, folk magic and a directly political engagement with American racial violence. Ring Shout won the 2021 Ignyte Award for Best Novella and was a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards the same year, part of a strong critical run for Clark's shorter fiction. It is P. Djèlí Clark's second universe in this canon, alongside The Dead Djinn Universe.
Dark fantasy, Historical fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Ring Shout P. Djèlí Clark
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Ring Shout | 2020 | 1 | core | 3.92 (68,456 ratings) |
Standalone novella; alternate-history dark fantasy set in 1920s Georgia in which Ku Klux Klan members can transform into literal monsters.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Ring Shout? Ring Shout's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Ring Shout finished? Complete (2020).
- How much reading does Ring Shout take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~185 pages).
- How is Ring Shout ranked? #532 in this site's official ranking, based on 68,456 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #532?
Ranked #532 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.92 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (68,456 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #531, The Leviathan of Babylon (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 1 book · Complete · 68k ratings · Ranks #532 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Nebula Award (Best Novella), 2020: won: Ring Shout; SFWA's own site labels this Award Year 2020 (eligibility year), though the ceremony was held in 2021.
- British Fantasy Award (Best Novella), 2021: won: Ring Shout
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Suggestions computed from what Ring Shout and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Nettle & Bone Fairy-tale retelling / Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.07
- The Firebrand Mythic fantasy / Historical fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.07
- The Tale of the Serpent's Heart Mythic fantasy / Historical fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.06
- The Library at Mount Char Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.05
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.92 across 68,456 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Ring Shout admitted accepted 2026-08-18
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-18
Rule: Core = the single standalone novella; no sequel or prequel exists in this continuity.