Tade Thompson's "ROSEWATER"
Book review by Dennis D. McDonald
A couple of times while reading this book I had to sit back and ask myself, “What did I just read?” There are flashes of brilliance and originality here that are truly unique, even though many of the basic components will be familiar to science fiction readers.
First and foremost is the setting for this future tale of human accommodations with alien culture and technology: Nigeria. Not the US, not England, not China, but Nigeria. Technology is there, of course, and very advanced from what we have today, but it’s still recognizable.
There is still a vast chasm between the rich and the poor, as we have now here in the US and elsewhere, but the physical and social environment is definitely that of a future “third world” that appears to be using technology to maintain the cultural and economic status quo.
Into this environment comes the main character, a thief with mind reading abilities who is recruited by a secretive government agency to help “interview” – painfully for him -- all manner of perceived threats to what passes for law and order.
The complicating factor: aliens are already among us. Places like the United States have “gone dark.” Their plans for us are opaque and unknown, even as their nanotech and various other technologies permeate the environment.
The story jumps around in time. For the unwary reader this may be confusing at first. And yes, there are zombies.
Stay with it. The story threads do come together. They did for me enough to convince me to read the second book in this series!
Review copyright (c) 2022 by Dennis D. McDonald
