pferdina's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
I did not like this book although it was interesting. A lot about the systematic racism and other systems of inequality that exist now in the US. It is set in New Haven, Connecticut, in the future about fifty years. Climate change and the global pandemic and some kind of nuclear disaster has caused most of the white citizens to leave for space stations, leaving the poor and people of color behind on the damaged and poisonous planet. Sectioned into four parts, named for the four seasons, there isn’t much of a plot or story. Just what happens to the characters day by day. Buying a new house, death of close relatives, finding love, discovering a band of horses, tracking a murderer through the desert, a prison revolt.
tea_and_naps's review
emotional
reflective
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
nanthesloth's review
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mschlat's review
3.0
My short take: a literary sf novel that foregrounds the inequities facing people of color (especially African Americans) in a somewhat post-apocalyptic setting with more emphasis on following characters than advancing plot.
My longer take: I grappled with this during and after the read. Onyebuchi is using a setting in the near future where many people (most of them white) have departed Earth for the Colonies (i.e., space stations), and the Earth (or at least the United States) has faced a deeply damaging environmental catastrophe, leaving the remaining inhabitants (most of them people of color) in constant danger of radiation sickness and death.
But, in many ways, this is a novel about current inequities and not future ones. Part of that emphasis is seen in Onyebuchi's use of language, which is almost totally contemporary. (I was thrown off early by a character talking about 'gramming their experience.) But much of that focus on current inequities is highlighted by what the characters are concerned about: police brutality, the lack of jobs and resources, and the possibility of gentrification as whites return to Earth. I've read lots of sf where future concerns stand in as metaphors for current ones, but this feels like current concerns propelled to the future.
And it's not a straightforward novel. (I've seen lots of reviews that say that the author doesn't hold your hand, and I agree with that.) It reads to me more as a collection of short stories woven together than a typical novel, with the third quarter of the book focused away from the other parts as it tells two lightly connected stories: one about a prison riot that turns into a prison takeover, and another about a federal marshall searching for the body of a dead boy in order to prove a murder charge against a white supremacist. Those stories were fascinating, but I didn't always see the connective tissue.
In the end, I liked pieces of the work more than the work as a whole.
My longer take: I grappled with this during and after the read. Onyebuchi is using a setting in the near future where many people (most of them white) have departed Earth for the Colonies (i.e., space stations), and the Earth (or at least the United States) has faced a deeply damaging environmental catastrophe, leaving the remaining inhabitants (most of them people of color) in constant danger of radiation sickness and death.
But, in many ways, this is a novel about current inequities and not future ones. Part of that emphasis is seen in Onyebuchi's use of language, which is almost totally contemporary. (I was thrown off early by a character talking about 'gramming their experience.) But much of that focus on current inequities is highlighted by what the characters are concerned about: police brutality, the lack of jobs and resources, and the possibility of gentrification as whites return to Earth. I've read lots of sf where future concerns stand in as metaphors for current ones, but this feels like current concerns propelled to the future.
And it's not a straightforward novel. (I've seen lots of reviews that say that the author doesn't hold your hand, and I agree with that.) It reads to me more as a collection of short stories woven together than a typical novel, with the third quarter of the book focused away from the other parts as it tells two lightly connected stories: one about a prison riot that turns into a prison takeover, and another about a federal marshall searching for the body of a dead boy in order to prove a murder charge against a white supremacist. Those stories were fascinating, but I didn't always see the connective tissue.
In the end, I liked pieces of the work more than the work as a whole.
jakobitz's review
4.0
I’m here because I loved Riot Baby. Onyebuchi’s previous work was a beautifully chaotic and frantic sci-fi novella that resonated with my soul and did not ask much of the reader. In contrast, Goliath is a complex and bewildering sci-fi novel that needs a flow-chart to piece it all together. Is that inherently a bad thing? Well, if you are a predominately audiobook reader (as I am), then yes, because this one is a real hard read in that format. Yet, this is such a thoughtful and powerful work that I feel compelled to reread it in a print edition. I’ve read a number of books on gentrification in recent years, both fiction and non-fiction, but this sci-fi story may be the most profound. I’ll reserve final judgement until after my reread.
niallharrison's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
redwavereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
nogayourbroga's review
No offense but you can tell that Onyebuchi got his start with YA.
The worldbuilding is solid and intriguing, even! And I really liked the concept. But between mean-spirited figurative language (comparing a white guy dancing to having an "epileptic fit"?), plodding prose, and a party on the first chapter laden with SEX AND DRUGS AND BOOBIES, it's... not doing it for me.
Like and I just felt bored. Come on.
Anyways if a book fails to hook me, I've decided I have no obligation to "stick it out." I wasted an hour of my limited morning reading 18 pages and I'm not a slow reader. Great concept, wish it was better executed.
The worldbuilding is solid and intriguing, even! And I really liked the concept. But between mean-spirited figurative language (comparing a white guy dancing to having an "epileptic fit"?), plodding prose, and a party on the first chapter laden with SEX AND DRUGS AND BOOBIES, it's... not doing it for me.
Like
Spoiler
a POV character commits arguably manslaughter in the first chapterAnyways if a book fails to hook me, I've decided I have no obligation to "stick it out." I wasted an hour of my limited morning reading 18 pages and I'm not a slow reader. Great concept, wish it was better executed.