I original found Rosewater book 1 because of Orbit Books promotional campaign for it.. Not sure I would have come across it if it wasn’t for that. It is a pretty decent sci-fi/political intrigue story. Very unique – I cannot say I have read anything else quite like it!

So here we have the conclusion. It's a really exciting book made even better by an underused setting (Nigeria). Tons of great ideas (like the xenosphere granting some the power to read minds), and lots of great little touches (like reading classic literature to throw off would be mind-reading criminals--I love that the main character even takes a moment to express his disdain for Ayn Rand).

Though this is technically a story about aliens (and eventually, invasion), much of this plays out like a noir mystery. When alien life does make an appearance, things get wonderfully weird (and sometimes horrifying).

The aliens come into sharper focus near the end and that ratchets up the action. Only in the last few minutes does it compare it to climate change in a really brilliant way (but not heavy handed!) and an ambiguous ending!

I loved the first two books but just couldn't get into this final book in the trilogy. I felt too far removed from the first two books in the series to really follow what was going on and to reconnect with the characters. He's most definitely a brilliant writer but, for me, I couldn't connect. I appreciate the chance to review and apologize for the delay.

It had to come to this, right? After the fight between Nigeria and the city-state of Rosewater, we now have aliens living in human bodies (corpses, really). They live among the people of Rosewater, and they’re more or less undetectable. But the aliens need bodies, and the troublemakers don’t die when the host corpse dies; they just get downloaded back into a new body. When some aliens start to take up mass murder to get the bodies they need, a human resistance forms. It’s comprised of strange bedfellows, but they’ve got one mission: to stop the extinction of the human race.

Redemption is a fitting conclusion to the trilogy. As with the previous novels, Thompson writes fully formed characters, and then sticks them in this dirty, strange world to see what happens. Some questions lingering in your brain from the previous two novels will get addressed, but Redemption does take some odd detours that haven’t really added up in hindsight. Regardless, so many authors don’t know how to end something, and Thompson, thankfully, does. There’s a minimal amount of deus ex machina, but it works. If you’ve made it this far, and you should because these books are good, see the conclusion.

Rating: ★★★★☆+

Synopsis

The Rosewater Redemption concludes the award-winning, cutting edge Wormwood trilogy, set in Nigeria, by one of science fiction’s most engaging new voices.

Life in the newly independent city-state of Rosewater isn’t everything its citizens were expecting.

The Mayor finds that debts incurred during the insurrection are coming back to haunt him. Nigeria isn’t willing to let Rosewater go without a fight. And the city’s alien inhabitants are threatening mass murder for their own sinister ends…

Operating across spacetime, the xenosphere, and international borders, it is up to a small group of hackers and criminals to prevent the extra-terrestrial advance. The fugitive known as Bicycle Girl, Kaaro, and his former handler Femi may be humanity’s last line of defense.

Tade Thompson’s innovative, genre-bending, Afrofuturist series, the Wormwood Trilogy, is perfect for fans of Jeff Vandermeer, N. K. Jemisin, William Gibson, and Ann Leckie.

Review

Thanks to the publisher and author for an advance reading copy of The Rosewater Redemption (The Wormwood Trilogy #3) in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this ARC did not influence my thoughts or opinions on the novel.

The Rosewater Redemption is a picturesque finale to the Wormwood Trilogy and cements Thompson as one of the major players in the science fiction genre for many years to come. His mix of highly imaginative world-building, exquisite prose, characterizations, and fresh take on the alien takeover trope leads to one of the best trilogies I have ever read.

How does one accurately describe their experience with a book that has so much going on with it and going for it, knowing that this is the end of the line? We have seen the rise and fall of Rosewater, the takeover by Wormwood and its advancement across the country, the growth of many multi-layered characters and their every-changing environments. Now we get time-travel and the crossing of international boarders and my head is left spinning. To believe that Tade had shown us all of the cards he had to play in Books 1 and 2 is to believe that the Earth is indeed flat.

Thinking back on my read-through of this novel, I can’t help but picture Rosewater and its vibrant culture in my mind. The city, its people, the language, the goings on within and without the city center. The xenosphere taking the story beyond reality and giving us yet another layer of sci-fi gloriousness. At the same time, how that same city has fallen under the control of the extra-terrestrial existence with no-one to turn and only a few who are willing to fight back.

I am in just utter awe some Tade’s writing at this point in time. The Wormwood Trilogy continues to dazzle my thoughts while his Molly Southbourne novellas haunt my dreams. I cannot wait to see what else he has in store and I’ll be the first in line for it.

If you enjoy weird science fiction with Lovecraftian nods, immersive world-building, and an array of layered yet enjoyable characters, The Wormwood Trilogy should fit nicely on your shelf.