The time, expertise and efforts that Thompson has put into this opener of The Wormword Trilogy organically ooze from that page. It ticks a lot of boxes that I look for in a fiction age which is overflowing with carbon copies of what has come previously. This fits nicely in the same vein for being exciting, elegant, complex, deep and original. I have been loving my fantasy and science fiction books recently that have been based on or inspired by certain places I am less familiar with that don't feature typical standard tropes such as The Poppy War (China), Jade City (Japan), and Empire of Sand (India). They are quite short chapters throughout, averaging approximately 10 pages however with the constant switch between timelines I did have to take notes to be aware of what had happened previously and pay attention to the dates at the beginning of the chapters. The middle timeline is when our protagonist reluctantly works for the secret service and as an expert 'finder' is requested to find the mysterious bicycle girl and perhaps dig up more details about the alien entity that ends up residing in Rosewood. The earliest timeline is about a youthful Kaaro where he is living life dangerously in Largos as a thief, getting disowned by his parents and learning gradually about his sight and abilities. It's mundane and boring for him generally but he has recently met a girlfriend called Aminat who has a very beautiful and mysterious housebound brother. Kaaro uses his mind wizardry for the government and also for a bank. The main timeline is Nigeria 2066 which is set in the city of Rosewater which was erected around an alien biodome where once a year an 'opening' occurs where civilians ailments and illnesses can be cured by this extraterrestrial presence.
If Rosewater doesn't sound complex enough so far, throughout the narrative we follow three different timelines. I will not try to explain this extrasensory-like environment to any great degree but it can be quickly summarised as being a dream-esque space between certain peoples thoughts. Additionally, he can frequent a place known as the Xenosphere under his avatar as a Gryphon where he can fly. He can also manipulate people and occasionally make certain people believe they are burning alive. Kaaro can read minds, replay past events and understand individuals' whole life experiences within a matter of seconds. One is where he stops bank fraud and the other is more James Bond-esque, working for the government department of S45, which he doesn't really enjoy. He is a complex yet interesting protagonist who is a psychic.
Set in Nigeria 2066, we follow Kaaro in the first person perspective. I would like to thank Tade Thompson and Orbit books for the opportunity. I received an uncorrected bound proof copy of Rosewater in exchange for an honest review.
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