Rosewater by Tade Thompson
The settlement of Rosewater is on the edge. A village has sprung up around a mysterious extraterrestrial biodome, and its inhabitants are the hungry, the hopeless, and the defenceless. They all want to see inside the dome or experience its purported healing properties.
Government agent Kaaro has a criminal record. Kaaro has been inside the biodome before and doesn’t want to go back, but when people start dying off who are similar to him, he must reject his masters and go in quest of the truth, face his dark past and come to terms with a terrifying future.
Rosewater by Tade Thompson
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A mysterious extraterrestrial biodome that first surfaced eleven years ago is what led to the formation of Rosewater, a metropolis in a near-future Nigeria. Every year, individuals gathered around the dome witness the opening of the dome, which brings healing. This is referred to as The Opening and it draws visitors from all over, especially those who have health problems.
A federal organization called S45 has taken notice of Kaaro because of his ability as a sensitive. He has been a resident of Rosewater since its inception and has even entered the biodome, an experience he has no desire to repeat. But when more sensitives like Kaaro start dying, he’ll have to defy his superiors to discover what’s actually going on.
The future depicted in Tade Thompson’s Rosewater is both bizarre and intriguing. But what makes some things truly unsettling is how similar it seems to our present.
Rosewater uses a “before” and “now” story to show how Rosewater came to be and how sensitives are currently dying. As we get closer to understanding the potential causes of the lifeform’s landing on Earth, the plot almost reaches an intersection of various timelines.
Our main character, Kaaro, is an intriguing choice. He doesn’t fit what most people would consider the traditional hero role. He even occasionally expresses a similar sentiment. His employment with the government has been more of an obligation than an arrangement.
He will defy authority while still performing the chores assigned to him; he simply prefers to do them in his own time and manner.
Rosewater had an especially fascinating world. Everything in the novel takes place in Nigeria, making it rather self-contained. However, whenever a different location in the world was mentioned in passing, it would always catch my interest. Like how America appears to have cut off any contact with everyone outside of the continent. I’m quite curious to learn what is happening in the rest of the planet and how it is related to the alien lifeform that is currently residing in Rosewater and the “landing” event.
Tade Thompson doesn’t provide many responses to these questions, and given that the second book is titled The Rosewater Insurrection, I doubt we’ll leave our current place.
Kaaro comes across a lot of fascinating supporting individuals. I had the impression that Kaaro’s difficulties were equally resolved by Rosewater’s finale, while the larger conflicts were left unresolved. I’d want to see a different character assume the role and present the world from their point of view. If Rosewater is anything, it’s full of the unexpected.
