Immediately, their technology, which is advanced to the point of near-magic, begins to wreak changes on the local marine life. Here, when aliens come to set up a new home on Earth, they don't pick New York, London, or Tokyo, but land their ship in the ocean near Lagos, Nigeria, flooding the coast. Lagoon, her most recent work, shows her strengthening her skills as a writer and storyteller. I enjoyed 2010's post-apocalypse coming-of-age, Who Fears Death, though I found the plot a little disjointed. I'm so happy to have experienced this book, to have experienced these characters and the raw, bleeding love that they feel for their city, for their country, for each other.There aren't a lot of sci-fi/fantasy writers who use Africa as a primary setting, but Nnedi Okorafor is a noteworthy voice in this small subgenre.

Lagos, its gods and roads and people are absolutely 100% necessary to the existence of this novel and Okorafor has done this so well it's stunning.Įverything Okorafor builds in this book is important and connected but never contrived.

A sense of place, the place as a character, as a necessary character. The city is integral to this story and that's something, I think, fantasy and sci fi need more of: place. You feel the wet visceral love in every word: how love is possible for a city violent and dangerous and yet beautiful and hopeful and upsurging. Each character is so deftly woven, so carefully and precisely written you're sure you've known them for far longer than this book.Īnd beyond the characters, Okorafor's Lagos is a wonder. You feel them they crawl up into your brains and into your guts and heart and carve out spaces-you question them, you question yourself and you understand. The people Nnedi Okorafor created exist in this relatively slim volume but they are as real and enduring as any characters that span over triologies. I think we forget what a single book can do but this book reminded me. We see stories as spread out over pages and time, expansive with plenty of room to breathe and unfurl.

Reading the joyous thoughts of a giant swordfish made me cry.Īs readers of SF/F I think we become used to series. So let's get this out of the way: I loved this book.

Lagoon nnedi okorafor sparknotes