Lagoon

What if first contact between humans and aliens didn’t take place in a large, rich Western nation? What if it took place in Lagos, Nigeria? Our lead characters are Adaora, a marine biologist whose husband’s religious devotion is pushing him into abusive rage; Agu, a soldier on the run after he attacked comrades attempting to rape a woman; and Anthony, best known to the world as Anthony Dey Craze, a hip hop superstar from Ghana. These three strangers find themselves on Lagos’ Bar Beach one night and end up getting startled by a tremendous sonic boom and then pulled out to sea by a strange wave. And then a few minutes later, they get pushed back out of the ocean, accompanied by a woman who calls herself Ayodele. She looks perfectly normal — as long as you don’t look close enough to fall into the uncanny valley — but she’s not human. She’s not even biological. Ayodele is more like a collection of shapeshifting alien glass nanites, and her mission is to learn what she can about humanity, make friends, and decide what happens after that. So the four go to Adaora’s house, which she shares with Chris, her Christian fanatic husband, and her two children, so they can decide what to do. It’s not long before word gets out. And all hell breaks loose in Lagos. While one bunch of goons decides to kidnap Ayodele, Chris’ church members, including the manipulative Father Oke, decide to hold an intervention to either convert her or kill her. And Anthony has announced an impromptu concert at Adaora’s house so they can tell everyone in the city about Ayodele and her people. And once a trigger-happy soldier shoots the alien, the biggest riot in the city’s history erupts. Can the trio of humans escape the violence, convince Ayodele not to give up on or destroy humanity, retrieve Nigeria’s dying president, placate the monstrous human-eating highway that’s been roused to life by the chaos, discover the secrets that brought them together, and survive attacks by the ocean’s newly intelligent and upgraded sea life so they can meet with the aliens in person? Okorafor is the American-born daughter of Nigerian parents, and she’s spent much of her life in Lagos. So she knows the city and the people there very well. She knows their strengths and their weaknesses, their nobility and less-than-nobility. She knows what makes the city succeed and what makes it fail. She brings all of this to this novel, giving us a strong but broad overview of life in Nigeria’s largest city. And what we see is something very much unlike what we see in Western nations — except for all the ways it’s really, really similar. Yeah, it’s a different culture on a different continent. People think differently about life and death, gods and religion, money and jobs, law and crime, government, entertainment, poverty, and more. But it’s also been heavily influenced by the West. Nigeria isn’t Wakanda, an African paradise untouched by the decadent West — it’s a nation that’s grown up being told it should be more like the West, even while trying to hold on to the old traditions. There’s also a lot of Nigerian slang and pidgin, which can be a little difficult. You can generally figure out the gist of what’s being talked about through context. However, Okorafor does provide a glossary of Nigerian language and slang in the back of the book. So if you find yourself stumped, you can go check the glossary. In this novel, Adaora gets the most screen-time as a character, but often feels like one of the least developed characters. Agu is pretty interesting and well-developed, but I most wished we could spend more time with Anthony, who felt like someone with a very interesting story to tell but no time to tell it — we barely even get to hear him rap, unfortunately. Ayodele is a mystery from beginning to end — we never learn much about her or the aliens, and often what she says once is contradicted by something else a few pages later. But many of the best characters are less important ones. Chris and Father Oke are basically strawmen, but they do offer a look into the over-the-top evangelical mindset that seems to rule much of Christianity in Africa. Fisayo is a minor character with a fascinating backstory — office worker by day, prostitute by night, and with the coming of the aliens, a newborn proselytizer about the end of the world. Once the riots really get cooking, several chapters are devoted to individual Lagosians who witness the chaos and interact in some way with something strange or frightening, and these interludes are some of the best short character studies in the book. And some of the most fun — and often most tragic — characters aren’t human or alien — namely, a furious and dangerously upgraded swordfish, a handicapped but admirably optimistic tarantula, and the most enlightened bat in the world. And a few deities show up for the festivities, too, specifically Papa Legba, a god of languages and crossroads in a few different cultures, appears in more than one disguise, including a 419 scammer, and Udide Okwanka, an Igbo spider spirit who serves as a trickster, a master storyteller, and the bedrock of Lagos itself. Plus there’s the Bone Collector, a highway given monstrous life and an endless appetite for tasty humans. And the biggest non-human characters in the book are the city of Lagos itself and the ocean — it’s the first place the aliens visit, the place where they offer the creatures there all the enhancements they can dream of, the place our heroes must travel through to speak with the aliens. So is it worth reading? Heck, yeah. It’s a rapid-fire thrill ride through science fiction, fantasy, and a real city you’ve never heard of but probably won’t forget. There’s lots of action and excitement, short chapters so it’s easy to burn through, and a host of cool and weird characters, all wrapped around a crash course in a culture you’ve probably never experienced. Go check it out!

A great, entertaining, creature feature-y romp through one of the most densely populated and misunderstood cities in the world. Loved the use of African folklore and spirits to tell this story and the characters are spot on like people I’ve met on my travels. An homage and love letter to a place that needs much love. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

This was the first Okorafor book I read. I loved it! I'm not a huge scifi fan, but I live in West Africa and could relate to a lot of what the characters experienced. The way she weaved the various contradictions, fears, and joys of West African life together with religious, traditional, and scientific beliefs was spot on. And then she mixed in the extraterrestrial, for a further twist. I loved that Mami Wata was a main character/theme throughout the story and that several languages were used. I can't wait to read another book by her.

This was a bit of sci-fi with some mystical, magical stuff thrown in. Personally, I would have preferred just an alien story, without making it about a aliens landing in a place with already magical people and things. The writing was ok, but focused too much on extraneous bits, like what people wear or eat (these people only show briefly. I have no idea what the main characters wore). If you have a hard time with the pidgin English it's ok to just gloss over it since it doesn't end up being critical to the story. The main premise of aliens landing in Africa, why, and what would happen was interesting and refreshing. The bits from the point of view of a spider and road weren't. Overall I enjoyed it but not sure if I would recommend.

The best sci-fi stories use some fantastical element or technological development to expose something about the human condition. Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon is no exception. From the arrival of aliens in a place an English speaking audience would not normally expect to find them (Lagos, Nigeria) to the tensions between long-held cultural moors, religious fervor, and scientific investigation. The story follows a marine biologist, a DJ, and a soldier; who are the first to witness the arrival. These reluctant heroes find themselves caught between their community and everything else. Their own lives, previously papered over with the normalcy of every day life, take on entirely different meanings as they come together to help Ayodele, the alien ambassador. The book is excellent on many levels. There is the meta-narrative about our expectations of the genre (people in the book are very aware that Lagos is the last place aliens would choose to land). There is the city of Lagos, practically a character itself; brought to life through its people, traditions and myths. There is the diverse cast of characters who expose the complexity and fragility of humanity. And all of it comes together into an engaging story that grips you as you watch it unfold.

Excellent product and service! Thank you! Highest recommend!

Science fiction is often used to explore real world issues, anxieties, and hopes. Lagoon is no exception. Through the use of an alien invasion, the author brings into sharp relief Nigeria’s chaos, brutality, and desperation, but also the resilience, perseverance, and ingenuity of Nigerians. The current crisis in the country spawned by the extremist sect Boko Haram gives the book a timeliness its author and publisher may not have anticipated. Many northern Nigerians probably feel as if they are experiencing an alien invasion in real life, as Boko Haram is as threatening as any extraterrestrial. Brilliantly imaginative, the book nonetheless is firmly rooted in the realities faced by ordinary people in Nigeria. These are revealed throughout the work as the three main characters cope with visitors from another world. Daily life is difficult and stressful. Agu, the soldier, comments after witnessing an eruption of street violence, “The alien invasion was just an excuse to let it all out.” Generalized anger finds expression, one way or another. Of all the portraits sketched in the book, that of Father Oke is perhaps the most compelling. It reveals the dubious character of some, (not all), of Nigeria’s large population of clergy, who at times take advantage of the very people they are supposed to help. Corruption tops the list of ills Okorafor targets. The President, she writes, “found himself powerless to fight against Nigeria’s soul-crushing corruption. Whenever he tried to make changes, people around him were always trying to drain some sort of shady profit from his efforts.” Fake contracts bled money from programs intended to aid the disadvantaged. Near the end of the book Father Oke states his belief that the Fin Bank in Lagos is evil. The bank, “one of Lagos’s most artistic structures, a giant trapezoid with arched wings made entirely out of square panes of glass,” is known as the Glass House. The reference calls to mind the passage in Katherine Boo’s book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, about life in a Mumbai slum. In her book, a slum resident, who talks to luxury hotels, imagines that the Hyatt is trying to kill him, then changes his mind and asks the hotel’s nonreflective blue-glass front to take care of him. Perhaps there is a sense in which modern architecture in countries such as Nigeria and India is viewed by local residents as an alien invasion.

This book had me interested from the very beginning. I did not want to put it down. Normally, a story with this many perspectives and characters would be difficult to read, but it works in this case. The main character's stories get the attention they deserve while adding the viewpoints of the various spectators to give more detail to all of the action in the story. The vantage point of the animals is a genius touch because the visitors say they want to effect change and that includes everybody. especially with all of the environmental casualties that occur in our ecosystem. You get a glimpse of each character's ending and new beginning so you don't feel like you are left hanging. There is the sense that everything started in Africa, why not this? I would like to read what the rest of the world does with this event and information. In a world that is so connected and disconnected simultaneously; do they dismiss it as fake or double down on the fear factor and reject anything foreign as wrong? The reaction and chaos show a very human response, sad as it is to what could happen .