Rosewater

This book has the time honored pitfall of Cyberpunk tales in that it presents a ton of uniquely bizarre concepts and ideas but is unable to deliver on a compelling story - which is unfortunate because the author established such a great platform to build upon. The story really falls apart in the third act, adding insult to injury for those who were patiently waiting.

I think this was around from a small press a year or so ago, and has now been picked up by a bigger publisher (in the UK, at least). With good reason, as it's a very strong SF novel that deserves a lot of recognition. The set up is superficially similar to Ian MacDonald's Chaga, but spins out in a very different direction (not least being set in a different country!). It wins points for having a pleasingly unpleasant yet sympathetic protagonist, a new take on the alien invasion genre, and a believable romance subplot. There's plenty of exciting action on the surface but there's also a political subtext there as well if you want it. I look forward to Mr Thompson's next book.

I read speculative fiction in the undying hope that something will come along and surprise and make me find a new perspective on the world. It doesn't happen often, but it's electric every time. Rosewater is that book - I loved everything about this new take on alien encounters, psychics and oppressive governments. It's clear that Dr. Thompson has a firm grounding in science (he's a psychiatrist), with decently well-thought out explanations for how alien physiology works and impacts human cognition in this world. The sociology of the aliens and their motivations are...alien – distinct from other first encounter books I've read, and I enjoyed the futuristic Nigerian setting. If I had a complaint (and I always do), I would say many of the sex scenes are gratuitous and a little uncomfortable, but that was a minor annoyance. I liked the time-skipping back and forth as each time jump revealed a little bit more of the global setting and Kaaro's backstory and motivations (the perspective shifting is also something I've encountered from a number of Nigerian writers

En bra bok, kort och gott.

This was an experimental read for me as part of a reading challenge. The summary sounded interesting so I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, this just wasn't my forte. I'm used to non-linear timelines in historical fiction but I guess I have difficulty following along with sci-fi. I started off listening to this as an audiobook but switched to the ebook about a quarter of the way in but it didn't help much. Another reason I struggled through it was the excessive swearing. It was distracting. I'm glad I tried it as the plot was interesting at its core, but between some of the subject matters and politics, it's not something I personally enjoyed. 

I'm so glad my first Thompson was Far from the Light of Heaven, because I was quite disappointed with this one. It started off with a MC I was interested in and cool world building in a future within an alien biodome. But I don't know what happened in the middle 50% and I didn't care about the plot or our MC - it just took too long to get to the last 100 pages that were the most interesting part. I think I did a disservice to this one by consuming via audiobook, since I think reading it would have been better to absorbing the many layers. I will check out Thompson's future works because I loved The Light of Heaven so much, but if I started with this one I would be very apprehensive to try more.

This is a really unique alien invasion story set in Nigeria in the 2060s, in a city that has built up around an alien biodome that mysteriously heals the sick once per year. The alien has also released a sort of spore into the atmosphere that allows some people to access special abilities like mind reading. The main character is a psychic who (mostly unwillingly) works for the government. His perspective is awful because he's an immature misogynist, but the story itself and the nature of colonization that it exposes are interesting.

I'm torn on how to rate this. On the one hand, it is a good story, written from an uncommon perspective. On the other hand, the frequent hops between the different time periods made it sometimes difficult to keep a track of what was happening, particularly when listening to the audiobook (which was otherwise well narrated). Maybe if I had read the text, which makes quickly skimming back and catching up simpler, this would have been a much better experience. As I say, however, this was a good story.

My first taste of African sci-fi, this was an intriguing, brilliant and almost uncomfortable read. Rosewater dumps you straight into some future version of the Earth where alien contact has been made, the US has withdrawn into self isolation and the UK has made a mess of its initial interaction with the alien life. The echoes of the current isolationist tendencies of those countries give the story a real poignancy. The story gives very little initial context for what is going on and lets you build your impression over the course of the novel - an impressive exercise in letting the readers imagination do a lot of the work.

The narrator, Kaaro, is Nigerian living in a city called Rosewater, surrounding the dome, an alien thing, also known as Wormwood. These aliens have seeded the world with fungus like things, which have let some people (including Kaaro) become psychic. The central plot of the story is revolving around the relationship between these psychics, the alien being and the government, and the idea of what it is to be human.

My one gripe is with the very confusing timeline. The story jumps backwards and forwards in time a slightly jarring amount of times which can make it difficult to follow. Fortunately each chapter does specify which date the chapter is referring to, but keeping track of the order of things can be a little challenging.

Overall, an impressively deep work, with interesting cultural references and a timely sense of place. Highly recommended

(Audiobook Review) I thought this was a good story and perhaps I would have enjoyed it if I had just read it on my own. The narrator has a strong Nigerian accent which made it a bit tricky on 2x speed and the inflection on some parts felt a little off. It was quite an odd story about being human and alien all at the same time. it was enjoyable and I will probably be reading the next in the series.

This book was a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed the setting, characters and basic plot. I didn't mind the jumping between the three different timelines as they were distinct enough to follow. However, about halfway into the book, I felt that the story became very convoluted and lots of things were happening that didn't really move the story along.

Explores a fascinating alternate earth with characters that you may or may not like but are always intriguing. Storytelling was good until the quarter of the novel where in the race to wrap up it got a bit confusing and the all the story lines wrapped up so quickly that it felt rushed.

4.0 out of 5 stars

This is a really inventive novel that concerns an alien biodome that sets up shop in near-future Nigeria. Our protagonist Kaaro is a “sensitive” who (basically) gains the power of mind-reading through his reaction to alien spores in the air. Kaaro is a complex and flawed character who did not always use his powers for good, which is refreshing in a lead character that you can still root for and identify with.

The story itself is told in a series of cross-cutting chapters that jump between Kaaro's past and present. As these stories intercut, gaps are filled in and two converging narratives begin to emerge. As someone with a bad “book memory,” I had to repeatedly reorient myself to the separate threads while attempting to remember which characters were from which timeline and what information is available to characters at what time. It required some mental gymnastics, but I think it created a richer reading experience, nonetheless.

I enjoyed this novel on a conceptual level, but didn't find the story to be compelling until it all comes together at the end. I'm interested to see where author Tade Thompson takes future installments in this trilogy because he's set up a good foundation with this excellent first book.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

Pros: interesting characters, great setting, unique mystery

Cons: more details of bodily functions than I needed

Kaaro's criminal past and his abilities as a sensitive have trapped him in the role of government agent. His assignment is to live in Rosewater, a city surrounding a mysterious alien biodome that once a year heals those that stand within a certain area, and learn what he can about it. When the sensitives around him start getting sick, he realizes that change is coming, and tries to finally uncover the mystery of the alien, his abilities, and what they mean for the future.

The book mostly takes place in Nigeria in 2066, with flashbacks of Kaaro's life, particularly around 2055, when he was first recruited by S45 and Rosewater was founded. I don't know much about Nigeria, so it was great reading about how it might look in the future, with several chapters taking place in Lagos and neighbouring areas. There were food and religious references and translated lines in some of the regional languages.

Kaaro's an interesting character. He starts out apathetic to what's going on around him and slowly comes alive as he falls in love during the course of the book. He's an avowed coward and thief, so he's not the easiest protagonist to like, but his life is very different and so carries the book well.

While you don't learn too much about the aliens they are unique and make the mystery compelling. Some early information doesn't make much sense (like using anti-fungal cream to reduce psychic abilities) but they are explained in time. As the story progressed I found it harder to put the book down.

I could have done without some of the mentions and descriptions of bodily functions. While the sexual ones at least gave character information (even if I didn't feel I needed to know about every erection he had), on a few occasions bowel movements were also mentioned.

If you're looking for unique science fiction, pick this up.