Tade Thompson
Completed 9/10/2019,
Reviewed 9/10/2019
4 stars
I enjoyed
this book immensely. It takes place in
Nigeria and deals with aliens and psychic abilities. The location is unusual for science fiction
as most of the books I’ve read, and in general what we have here in the U.S., have
American and Euro-centric locales. This
provided a different point of view with different values and mores. It’s the first book in a trilogy. It has some loose ends but ends well enough
that I didn’t feel like I was completely hanging. It’s well written and pretty fast paced. It was nominated for four awards, winning the
Arthur C. Clarke Award, considered Britain’s most prestigious SF award.

Kaaro is an
interesting character. He’s neither a
hero nor an anti-hero. He primarily has
an ambivalent attitude toward work and life that keeps him doing what he
does. Towards the end however, he starts
to stand up for himself, making decisions that may anger the S45, but finally
coming to grips with his own wants and needs, and gaining a bigger perspective
on the aliens.
The book is
told in first person from Kaaro’s point of view. The narrative is told in two time lines, now,
which is 2066, and then, which is his life as a youth up to 2055 when the alien
biodome emerges, Rosewater develops as a city, and he is recruited by S45. I found this switching of timelines confusing
at times, particularly near the end.
Normally I can follow shifting timelines, but this time, I lost track a
bit.
I really
liked most of the secondary characters, most notably his boss at S45 and his
love interest. His boss is one
dimensional for most of the book, but becomes more multi-dimensional towards
the end. She’s brassy and bossy, and
Kaaro takes none of it, though he still does as she commands. His love interest is the sister of the young
man who flies and burst into flames. I
can’t go into too much detail on her, but suffice it to say, I thought she was
very interesting.
I give this
book four stars out of five. The prose
is great, but does not overwhelm the dialogue or the action. The world building is also great, creating a
near future Nigeria which suffers from superstitions, prejudice, and group
hysteria. I don’t know when I’ll get
around to them, but I look forward to the rest of the trilogy.
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