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tigger89's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I've often said that speculative fiction is very much of the time it's written. Accordingly, this novel, begun in the mid-2010s and published in early 2022, is very much of our times. And yes, it is very political. How could it not be, with themes including eco crises, mass incarceration, white supremacy, class and racial privilege, healthcare inequality, police brutality, white flight, and gentrification? The job of good speculative fiction is to use a fictional narrative to illuminate something of our own time and place, and in that regard this book is stellar.
The book's biggest strength — its varied cast of characters, painting a picture of the future through several distinct narratives — unfortunately also contributes to its biggest weakness. This is due to the way the story is told, with the narratives fragmented and presented non-linearly. While I believe my sense of the whole is complete, or near enough, I'd honestly struggle to tell you, start to finish, what precisely befell each character in the story. There's nothing quite like seeing a character pop up in a scene and having to pause, confused, and think to yourself: "I thought he was dead by now!" I'm not sure that reading it again would help. I think I'd likely have to break out the index cards and start laying the plot out down the hallway to make complete sense of it. Honestly, some kind of dates on the sections would have helped, but that would have ruined the near-future feel of the disaster so I understand why the author left them out.
I also have to mention that this book frequently calls upon Christian themes, ones that go beyond the David and Goliath reference. It's not terribly surprising, given the historical role of spiritual leaders in community organizing, but based on what blurb you read it's easy to get caught off guard. I will say that the book was never preachy, so this is certainly the better kind of Christian-inspired fiction, but if you're someone who avoids such references for whatever reason you might want to give this title a pass.
On a similar note, there's something about the gay couple in this story that gave me pause. Specifically, it's that the only gay couples are among the colonizers. All of the people who'd been left behind on Earth were depicted, as far as I could tell, pursuing exclusively cis-het relationships. I know I'm prone to paranoid reading when Christianity and queerness meet, so I've spent a fair bit of time turning this over in my mind before I sat down to write this, to try to be as fair as possible about a book that, overall, I enjoyed. Ultimately, I don't see any evidence that the author was attempting to make a point by writing it this way. I'm not mad about it. But that doesn't mean that this doesn't have the potential to be disturbing to some readers, so I wanted to mention it.
Last, but not least...do the horses die? Mild spoilers ahead!A handful of wild horses are rescued and adopted as community livestock. These horses later die in a stable fire. Their demise is not narrated in detail, but it's made clear that they don't survive.
The book's biggest strength — its varied cast of characters, painting a picture of the future through several distinct narratives — unfortunately also contributes to its biggest weakness. This is due to the way the story is told, with the narratives fragmented and presented non-linearly. While I believe my sense of the whole is complete, or near enough, I'd honestly struggle to tell you, start to finish, what precisely befell each character in the story. There's nothing quite like seeing a character pop up in a scene and having to pause, confused, and think to yourself: "I thought he was dead by now!" I'm not sure that reading it again would help. I think I'd likely have to break out the index cards and start laying the plot out down the hallway to make complete sense of it. Honestly, some kind of dates on the sections would have helped, but that would have ruined the near-future feel of the disaster so I understand why the author left them out.
I also have to mention that this book frequently calls upon Christian themes, ones that go beyond the David and Goliath reference. It's not terribly surprising, given the historical role of spiritual leaders in community organizing, but based on what blurb you read it's easy to get caught off guard. I will say that the book was never preachy, so this is certainly the better kind of Christian-inspired fiction, but if you're someone who avoids such references for whatever reason you might want to give this title a pass.
On a similar note, there's something about the gay couple in this story that gave me pause. Specifically, it's that the only gay couples are among the colonizers. All of the people who'd been left behind on Earth were depicted, as far as I could tell, pursuing exclusively cis-het relationships. I know I'm prone to paranoid reading when Christianity and queerness meet, so I've spent a fair bit of time turning this over in my mind before I sat down to write this, to try to be as fair as possible about a book that, overall, I enjoyed. Ultimately, I don't see any evidence that the author was attempting to make a point by writing it this way. I'm not mad about it. But that doesn't mean that this doesn't have the potential to be disturbing to some readers, so I wanted to mention it.
Last, but not least...do the horses die? Mild spoilers ahead!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Colonisation, and Violence
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Gun violence, and Grief
Minor: Slavery, Pandemic/Epidemic, and War
fenouil's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
woahhhh, I like the writing, the concept of the book is inriguing, the reflections made can be applied elsewhere
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Blood
Moderate: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Grief, Police brutality, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug use, Genocide, and Gun violence
schnaucl's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Instead, I struggled with it to the point that it took almost two months to read, and it's not that long. Part of it is just the physical structure of the book. There are four sections, one for each season, but no chapter breaks so it was sometimes difficult to find a natural stopping point.
I can't decide if it's not for me (in the sense that I'm not the intended audience), which is obviously fine but might be why I struggled with it.
It's very disjointed. Purposely so, I think. There are a lot of characters, who nearly all have their own backstories. I often found myself really interested in a backstory about the time the backstory was wrapping up.
The book had a lot to say about race and class and gentrification and the last season in particular is very bleak.
I can't decide if it's not for me (in the sense that I'm not the intended audience), which is obviously fine but might be why I struggled with it.
It's very disjointed. Purposely so, I think. There are a lot of characters, who nearly all have their own backstories. I often found myself really interested in a backstory about the time the backstory was wrapping up.
The book had a lot to say about race and class and gentrification and the last season in particular is very bleak.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Murder, Terminal illness, Blood, and Police brutality
rorikae's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
'Goliath' by Tochi Onyebuchi is an insightful and lyrical novel that looks at the inequalities of space travel through the eyes of those who are left behind.
The story weaves between different characters who live on or are visiting Earth. Those with money have left earth for the Colony, leaving behind a world that is plagued by poor air quality, housing inequality, and police violence. Through snippets of these characters' lives paired with occasional articles and recordings, Oneyebuchi demonstrates how venturing into the stars is for those who are wealthy and white while those who have historically been abused by systems continue to be hurt on what remains of Earth.
Oneybuchi paints a future that is keenly connected to our present and feels that way. By focusing on the characters and their lived experiences, he distills systemic horrors down to the people that it directly affects, making those horrors even more apparent. Despite this story being informed by space travel, we very rarely see any of the characters in the colonies. This story is about those that the world has left behind and failed to care for. The characters and their lives are painted in stark but human strokes using Onyebuchi's evocative prose. It feels as if one has been plopped down in this world and is walking around in it, especially as he showcases the small human moments that make up lived experiences.
I believe this is a book that should be read by a book club that can reflect on and dissect all that Onyebuchi is doing. This should definitely be taught in schools as it discusses a lot about our current lives while exploring how these problems could only grow worse in this possible future.
The story weaves between different characters who live on or are visiting Earth. Those with money have left earth for the Colony, leaving behind a world that is plagued by poor air quality, housing inequality, and police violence. Through snippets of these characters' lives paired with occasional articles and recordings, Oneyebuchi demonstrates how venturing into the stars is for those who are wealthy and white while those who have historically been abused by systems continue to be hurt on what remains of Earth.
Oneybuchi paints a future that is keenly connected to our present and feels that way. By focusing on the characters and their lived experiences, he distills systemic horrors down to the people that it directly affects, making those horrors even more apparent. Despite this story being informed by space travel, we very rarely see any of the characters in the colonies. This story is about those that the world has left behind and failed to care for. The characters and their lives are painted in stark but human strokes using Onyebuchi's evocative prose. It feels as if one has been plopped down in this world and is walking around in it, especially as he showcases the small human moments that make up lived experiences.
I believe this is a book that should be read by a book club that can reflect on and dissect all that Onyebuchi is doing. This should definitely be taught in schools as it discusses a lot about our current lives while exploring how these problems could only grow worse in this possible future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Classism, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Racism, Drug use, Grief, Police brutality, and Violence
lizzie24601's review
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
DNF about 60% of the way through. This is 100% a character driven book - there is almost no plot or action at all. It is mostly about a group of Black and brown teenagers and young adults who are employed as construction stackers by an old gangster to keep them out of trouble in an apocalyptic city - but it took me nearly 100 pages to figure that out, since there is no exposition for any of the characters and it's difficult to understand who everyone is and what their relationships are.
The book is mostly comprised of descriptions of the characters' backstories or everyday life, maybe with some overarching goal going on (ex. Jonathan setting up his house or the kids from Bishop's work crew capturing the horses). The pacing is extremely slow and the jumping around in time and between characters is very confusing.
There is no plot and even very little dialogue. Honestly, the few scenes where there is dialogue feel like scenes in a play, where we're either dropped in in the middle of a conversation about nothing in particular, or one character is giving a long-winded monologue. Maybe this would've been better as a play.
Onyebuchi is definitely a skillful writer and his thesis comes through loud and clear as an important and underrepresented message, but this book will give you a headache well before reaching the end.
The book is mostly comprised of descriptions of the characters' backstories or everyday life, maybe with some overarching goal going on (ex. Jonathan setting up his house or the kids from Bishop's work crew capturing the horses). The pacing is extremely slow and the jumping around in time and between characters is very confusing.
There is no plot and even very little dialogue. Honestly, the few scenes where there is dialogue feel like scenes in a play, where we're either dropped in in the middle of a conversation about nothing in particular, or one character is giving a long-winded monologue. Maybe this would've been better as a play.
Onyebuchi is definitely a skillful writer and his thesis comes through loud and clear as an important and underrepresented message, but this book will give you a headache well before reaching the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Classism
Moderate: Chronic illness and Addiction
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Dementia, Police brutality, Child death, Drug abuse, and Drug use
mandkips's review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Police brutality
Minor: Rape, Sexism, and Child abuse
albernikolauras's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
In this book, we are following a city on an Earth that the rich and able escaped from to avoid the poisoning left behind by nuclear waste, climate change, and chemical destruction. Now, some of those in space are returning to "live the rough life" and are coming in contact with those left behind.
This is a book to sit and chew on and reread and sit and chew on some more. There are so many tightly packed themes and moments and reveals in this fairly short novel. Onyebuchi's character-building and emphasis on physical constructs of themes are the star of this book. The world-building was a little weaker and there were definitely some holes that can be found in what caused the mass exodus. There's not enough space to describe the themes in detail, but there is so much depth in his main themes - environmental racism, incarceration, gentrification & colonization of space, white "saviors," and the construction and destruction of community.
In short, read this book. Give it time to meld and grow with you. It is a book that might require a lot of research, but it is a work of art. The acknowledgements also provide many excellent resources to read nonfiction about some of the themes this book was based on.
This is a book to sit and chew on and reread and sit and chew on some more. There are so many tightly packed themes and moments and reveals in this fairly short novel. Onyebuchi's character-building and emphasis on physical constructs of themes are the star of this book. The world-building was a little weaker and there were definitely some holes that can be found in what caused the mass exodus. There's not enough space to describe the themes in detail, but there is so much depth in his main themes - environmental racism, incarceration, gentrification & colonization of space, white "saviors," and the construction and destruction of community.
In short, read this book. Give it time to meld and grow with you. It is a book that might require a lot of research, but it is a work of art. The acknowledgements also provide many excellent resources to read nonfiction about some of the themes this book was based on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, and Grief
Moderate: Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Deportation, and Classism
jo_lzr's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Colonisation, Drug use, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Addiction, and Infidelity
Minor: Rape