"We are change," Ayodele calmly responded. "The sentiments were already there. I know nothing about those other things."When I was young, I read every fantasy-like book I could lay hands on. Dragons, fairy tales, books about witches, Greek myths, folk tales, origin stories, 'just so' tales, you name it--if it wasn't real, I read it. By far my least favorite were the parables, particularly Aesop's Fables. The overt messaging and the general lack of a plot quickly led to waning interest. Lagoon do...

Kurt Vonnegut had commented that when his early writing was given the label of science fiction, many critics and readers stopped taking his work seriously. He was lumped into the pulpy but fun drivel of the 50s and 60s.I never understood this because I never considered his writing science fiction. But even if I had, I would have taken it seriously, at least as serious as I can when I’m laughing out loud and being instructed by his biting but playful wit.And so I come to Nnedi Okorafor’s 2014 nov...

Having been a fanboy of Anansi in the past, I loved seeing Anansi the storyteller being our narrator here.As a SF, it was a fairly traditional first contact story dovetailing into a christ image into a deeper story about the building of a world and its stories. Confused? I'm just referring to bare-bones. Beyond that, I was enraptured in the immersion of Nigeria. It was spicy and exciting to me, even though I've read some good African stories in the past, I can rank this up there with them all, a...

I really wish I could say that I loved this book.It started out so well. A mysterious sonic boom in Lagos, Nigeria? A rushing wave that swallows three strangers brought together by fear? An alien presence that has arrived upon the shore? I was hooked from the first page. But all too soon, my enthusiasm had disintegrated.I can't decide if the core of my issues with the book was the plot or the characters. Okorafor set up a diverse cast. I particularly appreciated the subplot involving Black Nexus...

Okorafor truly is a unique writer: I have never once picked up a book of hers that didn’t surprise me with its inventiveness and willingness to go to unexpected places. Reading the back cover of “Lagoon”, one expects a few things: after all, first contact stories often end up with similar elements, and they are there, but the angle from which Okorafor chose to approach them makes this little novel much more human and moving than the average sci-fi story about aliens.Adaora is a marine biologist

H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds meets Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, all taking place in modern Nigeria.Speaking as someone who reads a fair bit of science fiction, Lagoon felt refreshingly original. Not that the theme of aliens coming to Earth is a new one—it’s actually very common. What was so welcome was that said aliens did not land in North America, but in Lagos harbour in Nigeria. Just that tweak, and the story becomes so much more interesting.Okorafor’s familiarity with Nigeria is what...

This book is loud. I do not mean that as a bad thing. A lot of books are not quiet. A book full of voices need not be silent.This reminded me in some ways of Black Leopard, Red Wolf. This has a similar aura, but a different tone. (Those 2 things are different in my mind). It takes place in Nigeria, where an extraterrestrial entity has appeared. What follows is an unconventional series of events, some political, some reminiscent of family sagas replete with religious symbolism. I found the shifts...

this is a science fiction novel in which aliens descend upon lagos. i have read plenty of african fiction, but this is the first time extraterrestrial life has ever been a part of the story. fortunately for sci-fi noob me, the aliens are not metallic chitinous types toting advanced weaponry, and the story has more of a folktale feel to it than anything more traditionally spaceshippy. since folktales frequently make their way into african fiction, or any other culture's fiction where there is an

"There were aliens in the ocean, and they were going to come out soon." How I love when I read a science fiction novel and it is full of elements I am not expecting! I had really enjoyed an earlier novel by Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death, which I think I was first prompted to read when it was on the shortlist for the Nebula Award in 2010. That year, it was my favorite novel in that category and I was surprised not to see it listed on my best books of the year. In retrospect I'd go back and a

3.5 stars but not rounded up, as the book never quite coalesced for me. I think there were just too many things going on - characters with superpowers! Aliens! Nigerian folk tales! Commentary on Lagos politics and life! Eco-warriors! And so on. But it turned out I enjoyed the last third of the book quite a bit, and I always enjoyed the characters.

We are technologyLagoon concerns the arrival of shapeshifting marine/water-loving aliens in the waters of Lagos. It’s made clear that the extraterrestrials deliberately selected Nigeria to enter the world they want to share with humans, though the exact reasons for this are at least partly left to the imagination. It’s also very clear that the newcomers are not colonists; they are immigrants, and although from their position of power they insist on being allowed to remain, they declare and enact...

I really, really wanted to like this - it sounded so promising, and there was so much potential all the way through, I just couldn't deal with the awkward writing and weird pacing. Parts of this book were beautifully written - the prologue, for example, hinted at something fantastic to come, but for some reason most of the book read like a high-school english class fan-fiction. The plot and setting combination was original and different from a typical sci-fi, and it's so great to read sci-fi tha...

Have you ever felt guilty for disliking a book? While I was slugging through the first third of Lagoon, I legitimately felt bad for how much I hated it. I mean, I really should in theory be supporting female scifi writers. But like The Girl in the Road I could barely bring myself to finish this.The plot is pretty simple: aliens arrive in Nigeria. That's... pretty much it. Aliens arrive, they pick 3 special people to work with their alien ambassador who wants to see the president. The entire book...

Lagoon is an afrofuturist first-contact novel set in Lagos, Nigeria, and it's as beautiful as it is messy.Lagoon began as a response to the film District 9, in which Nigerians are heavily stereotyped. This novel, with its constant PoV switches, portrays a multifaceted, dynamic society without shying away from the negative aspects: Lagos is a multicultural city and the aliens chose it for its potential, but it's also a place of corruption, bigotry, religious fundamentalism and scammers.It is, mor...