Tochi OnyebuchiReseñas

Much like the first book, I loved the lore, but it felt like constant pacing issues. I struggled to get into the book at first, and then by the end the plan and the solution changed three or four times in the span of about two or three chapters and it simply felt rushed. I think the book could have benefited from having parts of the story told from perspectives that weren't Taj as well, as I often felt like I was missing a lot of information- which, so was Taj, but then when he was informed or figured it out, it was over with in a very short timeframe which made even important aspects feel very much downplayed and made it feel as if certain aspects were being pulled from thin air (even if I know they weren't). All in all, by no means an awful book - but needed to be fleshed out more, with enough uniqueness to the lore to fill far more than just 300-odd pages.

Since this novel has been published, I've picked it up and put it down several times. Picked it up because of a recognition that Onyebuchi is an important writer. Put it down because I'm currently having enough issues with processing the evils of today, let alone the evils of the future. Having said that the positives of this book are the grace of Onyebuchi's prose, and how he is essentially writing the the African-American experience of oppression into the record of traditional American speculative fiction. The downside is that, yeah, you really have to be in the right mood to tackle this novel, as while I can understand the mosaic-like approach that was adopted, your concentration really has to be engaged without having a specific protagonist to carry you through to the ending.½

I was incredibly impressed and moved by this book. It's sparse details around the speculative elements (psychic powers and future tech) only assist in grounding it in our very real world.

By placing these characters alongside some of the most striking race-based tragedies of our modern era, and chillingly, accurately, painting the kind of world that people like these characters live through day to day, it ensures that we see these tragedies within the frame of what they are; shockpoints of injustice made public alongside a million similar injustices that happen every day.

It feels remarkably new to read sci-fi that faces where we are now, rather than either ignoring it or just creating an overall dystopia that lacks the granularity and banality of the dystopia we're living in, as regards to justice.

So much of the book helps someone like me (coming from a fairly privileged background) really understand why folks who face these injustices often seem to perpetuate the cycles of violence and pain... and that is simply that there is no other path open to them... it's not that they don't know it's a cycle or a trap. They know that exactly. In fact, this adds to the anger and frustration that simmers everywhere. This book really shows the 'system' in 'systemic racism.' A system that doesn't have an evil villain perpetuating it, just a series of people abusing their privilege, operating out of fear and hate.

The end of the book begins to sketch what kind of world beyond the one presented might look like, and my only critique is that I wish we could have spent more time exploring what that could mean. Perhaps a sequel, Mr. Onyebuchi?

Told in first, second, and third person points of view through fictional newspaper articles and diary entries and narratives, this dystopic novel is set in the 2050s. In what appears to be a parallel of white flight following the 1960s race riots, people with the means and privilege are departing Earth for the first American suburban space colony after a viral plague provokes a great political divide. Those left behind in the radiation-poisoned, resource-depleted American wasteland salvage what they can from the collapsing infrastructure, scratching out a living as their homes and neighborhoods are being dismantled to send to the colonies. Mr. Onyebuchi’s novel is a tapestry woven from the strands of structural inequality, racism, classism, poverty, and privilege; by no means a pretty book, but certainly a thought-provoking one.

"They’ll feel us in every corner of this country."

Not what I was expecting. I thought it would solely be from Ella’s perspective. Instead, we get some spotlight on police brutality, white terrorism, inhumane conditions for the incarcerated, class issues, how Black women often get mistreated in healthcare and childbirth, etc. And man is this New York dudes. Talk about excessive use of the N-word. It’s a lot of their first word for sure.

Anywho, I wish I could have liked this better, but I wanted to know more about Ella and less about Kev. I would’ve loved to see Ella go Killmonger, but alas it wasn’t meant to be. I did like seeing justified anger displayed artfully.

when Ella spirited away Kev through their mom’s memories and ancestors was pretty cool.

With the news of Gaza echoing around this read it may have suffered from not being read at the right time for me, but I failed to connect with the characters; I mean, honestly, there are still lies and claims made in Ireland about our civil war that just passed it's centenary, so I'm here for ambiguity and messes but I just didn't engage with the characters. My age may also be a factor, this is a YA book.

We meet two girls who are sisters in all but blood and they both are fighting in the revitalised war between Biafra and Nigeria, in 2172, where parts of the earth are a nuclear wasteland, where it's eerily similar to today (but with better tech) and a lot of the class and race politics are still set stonelike in the present.

It was interesting but I really didn't have an interest in reading the preview for the next one. With someone else this might have been a better read but it was just not me.½

Struggled through, but wow, was this book not for me. The realist part was so dark, and gritty, and hopeless, and angry - which is justified, but very much not what works for me. That's on me, not on the book, but it still influences my rating.
The magic part was... a bit half-baked tbh. Ella keeps developing new powers, off screen - and not once do we hear of her using those powers to relieve suffering, to make things better, to help anyone move forward. She bottles it up, she goes looking for more and more grief and anger and injustice and then goes for vengeance and retribution.
I agree there are things that are unforgivable, but causing more pain for innocent people is never the answer.

I had very mixed thoughts about this book. I love the concept and the world building, but the writing fell a little flat. The concept of others absorbing the sins of the rich is such an interesting one. A lot of the characters were understandably jade, but I feel like all of the good things just kind of... plateau towards the middle and the book gets less interesting. It got more interesting towards the end, although it is the set up for a sequel (which, honestly, I don't feel all that motivated to read right now, although that may change in the future).

Maybe a 2.5? This started so well but the decay began about 1/3 in' Onyebuchi seemed to be in a race against time to mention every high profile example of deadly structural racism and each signal event highlighting the same. Rodney, OJ, Freddie Gray, checks all around. The great Migration, the medical establishment's disregard of Black women's health especially in matters of maternal health, gentrification, the prison industrial complex, the dehumanization of Black people by the justice system, the substitution of mood-altering drugs for reclamation of stolen dignity. More checks! I am not saying these are not all important things or irrelevant to discussion of righteous rage. But this is a novella, so once you introduce all of that there is not much space for an actual story. If there had been real characters instead of tropes made unique only by possession of supernatural powers (or knowing people with supernatural powers) we would have something. Also the mention of these high profile events one after the other makes it seem like the events are unique rather that evidence of much larger often fatal structural defects. This felt like a good treatment for a 3 volume series but on its own its a no.

I didn't care for this issue as much as some others I've read. Too many light hearted social, political and Elon Musk adoring stories that just aren't what I'm personally looking for. I did enjoy the following:

--The Roots in the Box and the Roots in the Bones by T.K. Rex
--Woman of the River by Genevieve Williams
--Cigarettes and Coffee
--Jamais Vue by Tochi Onyebuchi

Robert Silverberg's article, "Reflections: Farewell to the Vinland Map" was well done as usual.

I do recall the decision to stack my to-reads with a variety of undersung authors working in genre lit, and I don't regret that. However it did result in a whole lot of YA/fantasy picks, and I'm not a huge fan of this genre. I can like it, but I can't read it indefinitely. All that is to say I wasn't thrilled about starting this book when I did, through no fault of the book. In fact this is a compelling idea of a book. The world-building comes on strong, but once you adjust, it becomes great living context. I was interested in the plot, both as a story and a metaphor, like all good fantasy. I would like to see more of the characters. The pacing, especially at the end, is not perfect, there is too much revealed at once and not fully resolved. Still I would read on to see how these elements resolve themselves, and to see this voice develop.

There's absolutely no story here - just a bunch of random people doing random things in post-apocalyptic New York and chattering in a desultory, dull way that doesn't illuminate either the situation or their characters.

A lot of this book is a [needed] gut punch about what life in America had been for too many people but it was let down by the choppy flow & weak plot. It felt like the intro to a longer book.

I highly recommend getting a copy of the audiobook. The author brings a power to the story that dials it up the experience.

I said that right, you aren't reading this book, you are experiencing it. The flow is chaotic, chapter to chapter you are dropped into events and memories without warning. Leading you deeper into the minds of Ella, and Kev.

Every piece of their past presence and future are laid out for you to connect with on a deep emotional level. So many words throughout this story are dripping with deep seeded anger, frustration and hopelessness. They all comes together to build a well written tale of survival. Every aspect of this book gives weight to the over all message. Is there a future that isn't riots and incarcerations?

I was on edge throughout each chapter, and had no clue as to how the story would end. But it's well worth the read. Ella and Kev are fierce characters with a story worth experiencing.

I recommend this book to those that enjoy stories set in our world, with light paranormal aspects to them. Books that leave you with themes and discussions to ponder about our own society.

I couldn't get into this.

I think the book could have been longer to really flesh out the plot, and there were things that felt underdeveloped and confusing at times, but it was still really beautiful and made me think a lot.

Summer 2021 (June);
Hugo Nominations 2021

I have to admit I ended up liking this piece, which is an odd way to say it, as I'm pretty sure 'like' is the wrong word and definitely not the intention of this piece. It's very darkly and deeply honest about the abuse suffered by black people in America and their well-deserved rage because of it (both personal and inherited rage/history). The writing and message of this book are all razor edges and flames, and it felt uncomfortable to be reading/experiencing it, but it was so well written I couldn't help respecting everything that point of this story was about.

I'm not in the slightest worried about the author feels this is the only way this situation can end than I am about any of the setups that happen in science fiction as it happens to speculate about what should be done about the present to bring about a better future or as it happens to reflect from a further future point about historically-fictive events that start the narrative in the far future from now.

This one is currently in a 3-way tie for my highest-ranking scores in its category.

Whew.

Righteous. Beautiful. Angry.

If you have not read this, do it.

Particularly in light of the crimes the police have been committing in real life, out in the open during the current administration.

Particularly if you think of yourself as an ally, because I'm telling you, you have no idea. We white people can have no idea. We can only listen, and trust, and support and make room.

I wish Ella and Kev could be real. I wish more that it was unnecessary.

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/goliath-by-tochi-onyebuchi/

In America a few decades from now, white folks have mostly left the poisoned, plague-ridden land to live the high life in space, with people of colour left to scrabble around in the ruins. But there is a lot more to it than that enraging situation (not too different from where we are now); Onyebuchi plays with Biblical tropes, the dynamics of religion, of white folks unwittingly making things worse, sexuality and acceptance, all in rich prose which jumps along its own timeline without ever losing the run of itself. Recommended.

Multiple viewpoints made it a bit confusing at first but this novel is rich and sobering. I'm now reading Riot Baby, because Onyebuchi is a writer to savor and cherish.

Mentioned in a blog post at https://booksbeyondbinaries.blog/2020/12/21/wounded/

A dystopia full of hope and history.

This is a modern fantasy novella with a touch of cyberpunk. It’s about two young black siblings in South Central Los Angeles. The girl has psionic powers that are growing more potent and difficult to control. Her younger brother, nicknamed “Riot Baby” because he was born during the Rodney King riots, is timid and tech-savvy. As they grow up, they observe, and have their own ways of dealing with, a cruel, violent environment and a system that’s rigged against improving it.

That sounds like it could be an exciting story, and for the first half, it is. But the second half is more reflective and laid-back. I feel that the change in tone and pace prevents the book from reaching its potential.

What I value most about the book is that got me thinking about the wounds, still multiplying and profusely bleeding, caused by generations of racism. It wisely observes that order is not peace, and that positive thinking can misdirect you as much as negative thinking. If racism is the foundation of USA (and the author and I would probably agree that it is), then what would have to happen for justice to finally have a chance? This book has a haunting answer to that question.

While the themes in this book regarding racism, social justice, the climate, the pandemic are highly relevant to the ongoing events in the U.S. (and lets be real, our whole history) I just felt like I was missing something while reading. I felt like chapters bounced between different characters at a pace where I couldn't keep up. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be getting invested in everyone, or if some characters were just featured in one or two chapters as examples of how the setting and current events of the story impact everyone at large. I just felt confused, like something was going over my head. It could be that Onyebuchi's writing style just isn't for me, but this is his only work that I've read so far, so I'll need to read more. It's hard to explain, but I feel like the problem here is me, not the book. That said, there were still several very moving sections, even if I felt like I was missing out on something and, as I mentioned before, very relevant to current events.½

I didn't really get into this one. The pieces of the story felt like they fell apart more as the story went on, instead of coming together. I guess that reflects whatever is going on with the main character, but it was not a satisfying read for me.