The Rosewater Redemption

August 19, 2019
In this mind-bending conclusion to the Rosewater trilogy, following the events of The Rosewater Insurrection, multiple factions wage a complicated war for the future of the Earth. In the alien-influenced city of Rosewater, which recently declared independence from Nigeria, the dead rise, now inhabited by the spirits of the extraterrestrial Homians, whose goal is to replace humankind. As a rogue group of Homians seek to accelerate that process through mass murder, humans such as Rosewater mayor Jack Jacques, time-traveling Oyin Da, psychic Kaaro, and intelligence operative Aminat desperately seek a way to prevent the colonization of Earth. While the courts attempt to define personhood and identity on a legal level, other people look for a more martial, permanent solution. Thompson’s tale is dense and mercurial, with the story line leaping among myriad perspectives and tones even as it jumps from the real world to a liminal landscape in which time, space, and memory are mutable. This ambitious wrap-up requires significant sacrifice and upheaval, but it succeeds admirably. Agent: Alexander Cochran, C+W.

September 15, 2019
In an alternate near future, the threat of an alien invasion looms ever closer in the city-state of Rosewater, the surrounding nation of Nigeria, and, ultimately, all of Earth. As per the agreement set in the previous Wormwood novel (The Rosewater Insurrection, 2019), the alien Homians have begun mentally occupying reanimates, apparently mindless fresh human corpses healed and revived by Homian technology. Unbeknownst to most, this is the beginning of a gradual takeover of Earth by the Homians. But some Homians are trying to speed up the process through a series of mass murders. Worse still, Hannah Jacques, a lawyer and the wife of Rosewater's mayor (who struck the deal with the Homians), publicly reveals that reanimates are capable of recovering their memories and cognitive facilities. Tensions in Rosewater rise still higher as criminal twins and rivals Taiwo and Kehinde engage in violent turf wars and the mayor legalizes gay marriage in what is still a very homophobic population. Meanwhile, Femi Alaagomeji, once the head of the Nigerian intelligence agency S45, works to counter the Homian threat, enlisting her former operative Kaaro, the cowardly but powerful psychic who is sensitive to her cause even while his girlfriend, Aminat, another ex-S45 agent, feels frustrated in her current position as Rosewater's head of security. And Oyin Da, the enigmatic time-traveling woman also known as Bicycle Girl, learns some troubling truths about herself as she searches for a way to undermine the aliens and ensure humanity's survival. Popular American tales of alien invasion typically depict the contentious nations of the world recognizing the threat and uniting despite their differences to defeat the unearthly foe; Thompson is far too canny about how even an alternate version of our planet really works politically to throw such a corny show our way. Of course, it's still a trope (but a more believable one) that only a few people are clearsighted and ruthless enough to see and act upon the truth while everyone else fails to notice, too intent on their own needs. The ultimate strategy our (anti)heroes choose to employ against the Homians also has its roots in a sci-fi plot device that's more than a century old, but it's still carried off with drama and panache. A fitting end to this trilogy, which, in even its trippiest moments, maintains a plausibility that others in this subgenre often lack.

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October 1, 2019

The future of humankind hangs in the balance. Rosewater has declared itself independent of Nigeria, and the alien Homians continue to migrate into the recently dead, with aims to take over the planet. Some Homians have decided the best way to do this is just to kill everyone. Meanwhile, the court system is grappling with how to define the risen dead and their spiritual inhabitants. This leaves others--such as Rosewater mayor Jack Jacques, the psychic Kaaro, acerbic operative Aminat, sensitive handler Femi, and the time-traveling Oyin Da--all scrambling to save their planet and people, before their country steps in and takes back what it once owned. Complex worldbuilding shifts between an alternate Africa and a dreamlike liminal landscape anchored by solid characters, as the point of view, time, and tone swirl through to a dramatic conclusion. VERDICT Thompson's smart series end (after The Rosewater Insurrection) is at once intricate and accessible. Readers will loathe saying goodbye to the vibrant people they meet.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2019
In Thompson's captivating conclusion to the Wormwood trilogy (beginning with Rosewater, 2017), the city of Rosewater is ground zero for humanity's battle against alien invasion. The Rosewater government has sanctioned the invading Homians to download their consciousnesses into dead human bodies, threatening Earth's human population, while the struggle to keep citizens happy and safe, territorial disputes with Nigeria, and the political maneuverings of president Jack Jacques have continued unabated. Working against Jacques and his allies, Section 45 head Femi Alaagomeji enlists everyone she can find to repel the aliens, including her former agent Kaaro and several other characters familiar from the first two books. Unfortunately, it seems increasingly likely that the only way to defeat the aliens for good is to commit genocide. Thompson explores questions of colonization, identity, and morality through a whirl of viewpoints and increasingly dire predicaments in both physical and mental space. This is a satisfying series conclusion that gives flawed and memorable characters an expertly crafted setting in which to make a final stand. For sf, action, and general speculative fiction fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)