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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
This was a fun, action-packed, "gods fall to earth" story, set in Lagos, Nigeria, set some time after the Fall. It was challenging, because I don't know anything about Lagos, or the gods of the Yoruba. But it was fun to learn, inasmuch as I did. Would make a great movie. Although David does spend a lot of time unconscious...
Everything about this book intrigued me. I was so excited to see Urhobo representation in this book too, which is super rare.
I definitely want to read everything Suyi Davies Okungbowa writes. This is how you write Nigerian-inspired fantasy, my goodness! 😍
I definitely want to read everything Suyi Davies Okungbowa writes. This is how you write Nigerian-inspired fantasy, my goodness! 😍
Everything about this book intrigued me. I was so excited to see Urhobo representation in this book too, which is super rare.
I definitely want to read everything Suyi Davies Okungbowa writes. This is how you write Nigerian-inspired fantasy, my goodness!
I definitely want to read everything Suyi Davies Okungbowa writes. This is how you write Nigerian-inspired fantasy, my goodness!
A post-apocalyptic Lagos, Nigeria, where the gods on Yorbua have fallen to Earth with David Mogo, as the Hercules-like demigod who acts as the noir-ish problem-solver for those with divinity-related problems. Okungbowa takes that intriguing premise and...unfortunately does little with it. As others have mentioned, the book is written as three loosely connected novellas all with the general theme of David Mogo coming to terms with his divinity and learning who his divine mother is. The problem is that the actual plot of each individual story is rather pedestrian and there just isn't enough emotional resonance for many of the characters. One example from the second story is .
A lot of the book hinges on godly powers being the deus ex machina that saves them in each story, which was also a bit unsatisfying.
I would have liked to have seen more "every day" scenes of life in Lagos after the fall. The first story is pretty bad about this. The second one is better with the fishing village and the community that has sprung up in the abandoned mall. But unfortunately little time is spent with either one, as David rushes on to the next location almost immediately.
Spoiler
Shonuga who has everyone she knows killed and everything she's worked to built destroyed and yet later that same day she isn't destroyed with grief or seemingly really much affected by it at allA lot of the book hinges on godly powers being the deus ex machina that saves them in each story, which was also a bit unsatisfying.
I would have liked to have seen more "every day" scenes of life in Lagos after the fall. The first story is pretty bad about this. The second one is better with the fishing village and the community that has sprung up in the abandoned mall. But unfortunately little time is spent with either one, as David rushes on to the next location almost immediately.
Great setting -- I have never been to Lagos but I'm pretty sure the author has, and it shows. Of course, this is Lagos after the gods have come to Earth and wrecked a lot of it. Kind of feels a bit like a nicer version of [b:Sandman Slim|5776788|Sandman Slim (Sandman Slim, #1)|Richard Kadrey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1311727590l/5776788._SX50_.jpg|5948537] in a lot of ways -- magical combat, wizards, etc. I'll probably read a sequel.
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
i really wanted to like this so i got further than i would have otherwise but man, what a slog. they published what could have been a trilogy as a condensed single volume that does not give the story time to breathe, its characters time much room for development, its worldbuilding any space to unfold outside of clumsy infodumping at the start, or its central ideas the ability to be explored past off-hand hints.
Too plot driven and I am bored. The code switching was cool tho
That was dumb. 1.5 stars, rounded down because I wasted two weeks of my life on this.
Terribly boring. Some terrible pidgin English dialog that I couldn't decipher. Lots of character names that differed by only one letter, attached to forgettable characters. A magic system with no apparent rules. A plot that was basically "kill the bad guys before they kill us". Zero sense of tension.
And despite being set in Lagos, I got no sense of the city... it could have been set anywhere... two of the major locations were a shopping mall and an airport, with lots of highway travel between them.
Terribly boring. Some terrible pidgin English dialog that I couldn't decipher. Lots of character names that differed by only one letter, attached to forgettable characters. A magic system with no apparent rules. A plot that was basically "kill the bad guys before they kill us". Zero sense of tension.
And despite being set in Lagos, I got no sense of the city... it could have been set anywhere... two of the major locations were a shopping mall and an airport, with lots of highway travel between them.