This book spends way too much time on world building and not enough time on plot. While the audiobook narrator was wonderful, the book spent so much time on details that it was hard to stay interested. ( )

Sometimes you pick up a book and just know it's going to be good, which is the feeling I got reading the first few pages of Rosewater. It's set in Nigeria, with a mysterious alien dome occupying the centre of the city. The main character's memories and present experiences converge over the course of the book effectively, as we learn more and more about him and his life. And we learn he's not exactly a model citizen - the book pulls off an unreliable narrator very well.

There are some lofty concepts in there, such as the pseudo-internet that psychic characters can tap into, and they're introduced very gradually, never feeling like the author is dumping info on you, but developing into lucid dreamscapes before very long.

Good writing. Can't wait till the next one. ( )

I was quickly drawn in to this first-contact story set in Nigeria The storytelling is fast and the characters are interesting. I did have some trouble as the book went on, with juggling the present-time story and the flashbacks, even though the chapter headings are helpfully marked "now" and "then."

However, the concepts of the nature of the invasion are so complex and interesting that I can't wait to read the following books. I might want to re-read this one though, before sending it back to the library. ( )

I quite enjoyed this, and I liked that the main character redeemed himself in my eyes in the end when he finally rescues the stray dog and takes it to the vet.

I don't know what else to say about this story. It was a kind of crazy ride with certain people being conferred psychic powers by alien fungus that has been seeded in the air and it takes place in a future Nigeria. I should make time for the second book sometime. Not sure when. ( )

Rosewater takes readers to a fascinating specfic future in Nigeria. I was immediately intrigued with Kaaro’s abilities as a sensitive, and how this was both a life-changing, unexplained superpower and a skill that got him a dully reliable corporate bank job. This blend of wild and mundane marks the best scifi for me.

From there, we take different timelines into Kaaro’s past, discovering his abilities and background, and into the story of the alien dome in the city, and into a bit about Kaaro’s girlfriend, Aminat (the protagonist in her own story), and the regular work and the secret work Kaaro does with his abilities.

Full review is on my blog. No spoilers, just more comments about how narrative devices that usually don't work for me REALLY worked well here.