Synopses & Reviews
It’s up to a famous rapper, a biologist, and a rogue soldier to handle humanity’s first contact with an alien ambassador — and prevent mass extinction — in this novel that blends magical realism with high-stakes action.
After word gets out on the Internet that aliens have landed in the waters outside of the world’s fifth most populous city, chaos ensues. Soon the military, religious leaders, thieves, and crackpots are trying to control the message on YouTube and on the streets. Meanwhile, the earth’s political superpowers are considering a preemptive nuclear launch to eradicate the intruders. All that stands between seventeen million anarchic residents and death is an alien ambassador, a biologist, a rapper, a soldier, and a myth that may be the size of a giant spider, or a god revealed.
Review
"...mixes a traditional trope of SF — first contact with visitors from the stars — with African magical realism to create a lyrical, poetic mash-up examining social deprivation, religious excess and the power of story on our lives." Eric Brown, The Guardian
Review
“...a wonderfully contemporary look at how people react when confronted with the unknown on a massive scale, with all the personal character changes and challenges I could hope for....[Lagoon] is definitely going on my reread circuit." Fantasy Faction
Review
"Chaotic, enthralling, and moving fluidly from character voices to oral-style narration to gut-punchingly beautiful prose" Amal El-Mohtar, NPR Books
About the Author
N. K. Jemisin is a Brooklyn author who won the Hugo Award for Best Novel for The Fifth Season, which was also a New York Times Notable Book of 2015. She previously won the Locus Award for her first novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and her short fiction and novels have been nominated multiple times for Hugo, World Fantasy, Nebula, and RT Reviewers' Choice awards, and shortlisted for the Crawford and the James Tiptree, Jr. awards. She is a science fiction and fantasy reviewer for the New York Times, and you can find her online at nkjemisin.com.