Lagoon is an absolutely wild ride and I loved every bit of it.

I'm not big on comparisons, but "Doctor Who in Africa" is a really good one for this book, because of the wild mix of themes that you'd never think would go well together, and that Nnedi Okorafor pulls off anyway. It's funny, entertaining, deep, informative, hopeful, sad and every once in a while it rips your heart out. For me, the best kind of science fiction is one with a base deeply routed in reality, and that's what Lagoon is. I feel like I learned a lot about Lagos and Nigeria in general, and at the same time I've enjoyed a very original and inventive science fiction story.

What other book makes you cry over

the death of a side character

and then laugh about

the president of the country meeting an alien that takes the form of Karl Marx to make a point about his political aspirations

?

But although I enjoyed the diverse cast of characters, I would have liked the three main characters to be a bit more fleshed out, especially

Anthony

. Some of the side characters get more complexity, which I loved. Towards the end I think the scope got too big, the POVs too many and it all felt a bit rushed, although I do think I understand why the author made that choice. The book would have been a 5 star read for me it more of that time was dedicated to the charaters.