All of the characters appeared to be bystanders in their own stories, and none of them were fleshed out. It’s never explained, never given center stage and never resolved. The alien invasion is strange, incomplete and sometimes boring. Unfortunately, the story isn’t very good. It’s intriguing and like I said in the beginning: unique. I felt that I wasn’t just reading a book, I was also experiencing a whole new type of story telling. She also puts a lot of herself into her writing. Things move fast, things are told in a different way than what I’m used to. It’s a different but exciting thing to read. Her words, her style, the way she tells the story is hard and fast.

Okorafor writes with a passion, for the lack of a better word, that I don’t recall seeing in any other author. I also try to make an effort to read much and to read widely – and I know that if I just read what ends up falling into my hands, it’s almost always white men.

It came highly recommended, the blurb intrigued me, and the cover caught my eye. By happenstance I ended up talking to the owner of a small feminist indie book shop in Oslo, Norway, during one of their pop up sales on the west coast and by the time I left from there I had Lagoon in my hand. I didn’t know what I was going to when I decided to buy Lagoon. Lagoon is set in the city of Lagos, Nigeria, where an alien invasion in Lagos Lagoon causes the fate of three individuals to intersect and be changed forever. How would I describe this book with one word? Unique.

Lagoon nnedi okorafor characters