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stacialithub's review against another edition
4.0
Scientists are lured back home in a ‘brain gain’ plan to start up Nigerian space program. But, things go awry. Is it legit, a scam, or something more sinister?
Well-told, interweaving stories that not only explore various issues including nationality, exile, political machinations, dreams vs. reality, aspirations, generational impact of actions, scams, criminal activity, national pride, etc..., but also move between 1993 and the present.
There are repeated references to the power & history of Yoruba riddles & storytelling, a gift of a golden tongue. Olukotun has added an intriguing & impressive piece to the canon with his unfolding tale that kept me firmly pulled in throughout the story. Definitely recommended.
P.S. The author has penned an interesting article called "Meeting My Protagonist": http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/09/nigerians_in_space_my_sci_fi_novel_turned_out_to_be_closer_to_the_truth.html
Well-told, interweaving stories that not only explore various issues including nationality, exile, political machinations, dreams vs. reality, aspirations, generational impact of actions, scams, criminal activity, national pride, etc..., but also move between 1993 and the present.
There are repeated references to the power & history of Yoruba riddles & storytelling, a gift of a golden tongue. Olukotun has added an intriguing & impressive piece to the canon with his unfolding tale that kept me firmly pulled in throughout the story. Definitely recommended.
P.S. The author has penned an interesting article called "Meeting My Protagonist": http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/09/nigerians_in_space_my_sci_fi_novel_turned_out_to_be_closer_to_the_truth.html
saerryc's review against another edition
2.0
This was sort of all over the place and didn’t come together in a satisfying way; it really didn’t have much of an ending at all. I also couldn’t really get over how terrible the main character was to his wife.
berniemck's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting read. I was confused by some of it. I wish that I liked it as much, as some of the other reviewers.
lizzybennet's review
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
bluepigeon's review
5.0
Nigerians in Space may very well be the best fiction book I will have read in 2014. I find myself reading more non-fiction these days, afraid of the frequent disappointment with new fiction, but I am glad that I won Nigerians in Space in the Goodreads First Reads (thanks!) giveaway.
I could describe the book in terms of the plot (the events set off by a Nigerian official promising a scientific leap in the home country to successful Nigerian scientists who live abroad), story (the emotional struggle of characters to fend off the fear and alienation as they are forced to abandon their familiar lives and live in foreign and strange lands, creating false identities and new pasts with the hopes for a better, clearer, calmer, more peaceful features), or the structure (the story of three main characters and the loose connections between their chaotic and blurry pasts colliding in a surprising climax), but perhaps the best way to describe Olukotun’s novel is that it makes sense out of utter chaos. And he does it in an unapologetic manner, without stopping to explain the chaos, but simply telling the story as a lens that the reader can, if she chooses to, use to see the mess in a different way.
Nigerians in Space is a bold tour de force, a mystery full of thrill, and an adventure full of heartbreak. Highly recommended for those who like mollusks, telescopes, and moonlight.
I could describe the book in terms of the plot (the events set off by a Nigerian official promising a scientific leap in the home country to successful Nigerian scientists who live abroad), story (the emotional struggle of characters to fend off the fear and alienation as they are forced to abandon their familiar lives and live in foreign and strange lands, creating false identities and new pasts with the hopes for a better, clearer, calmer, more peaceful features), or the structure (the story of three main characters and the loose connections between their chaotic and blurry pasts colliding in a surprising climax), but perhaps the best way to describe Olukotun’s novel is that it makes sense out of utter chaos. And he does it in an unapologetic manner, without stopping to explain the chaos, but simply telling the story as a lens that the reader can, if she chooses to, use to see the mess in a different way.
Nigerians in Space is a bold tour de force, a mystery full of thrill, and an adventure full of heartbreak. Highly recommended for those who like mollusks, telescopes, and moonlight.
gerhard's review
2.0
Despite the title, there is not much about ‘Nigerians’ nor ‘Space’ here, apart from a rather rushed coda in Abuja. This starts out as some kind of a Dan Brown thriller, focused mainly on abalone smuggling in Cape Town, with an aside about moon-rock theft in Houston in the US … and then it mysteriously devolves into some kind of a magic realist novel based on a rather unique treatment of race (cue the moonlight). What is it about Nigeria and magic realism / Lovecraftian fantasy? (Nnedi Okorafor anyone). The last 50 pages or so are the best, but are rather disconnected from the rest, like a spare rocket stage on a spacecraft. The South Africanisms are rather archaic, with no index for international readers (a common bugbear for me with local novels.) Still, Deji Bryce Olukotun is a writer willing to take chances and wrongfoot his readers, which is always a good thing. I will definitely be on the lookout for his next novel.
sookieskipper's review
3.0
3 stars, It was good
I enjoyed first half of the book and last few pages. In between, not so much. The background politics is interesting. The book as a whole is intriguing enough to invest time in keeping up with the series.
I enjoyed first half of the book and last few pages. In between, not so much. The background politics is interesting. The book as a whole is intriguing enough to invest time in keeping up with the series.
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