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The Rosewater Insurrection
(The Wormwood Trilogy #2)
by
All is quiet in the city of Rosewater as it expands on the back of the gargantuan alien Wormwood. Those who know the truth of the invasion keep the secret.
The government agent Aminat, the lover of the retired sensitive Kaaro, is at the forefront of the cold, silent conflict. She must capture a woman who is the key to the survival of the human race. But Aminat is stymied by ...more
The government agent Aminat, the lover of the retired sensitive Kaaro, is at the forefront of the cold, silent conflict. She must capture a woman who is the key to the survival of the human race. But Aminat is stymied by ...more
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Kindle Edition, 400 pages
Published
March 12th 2019
by Orbit
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Start your review of The Rosewater Insurrection (The Wormwood Trilogy #2)

The second book in the Rosewater series, and really, you can’t read and understand this without reading the first, so I really wouldn’t try. That said, should you happen upon this review in the far future, you could allow for a time gap between the books because you just need a general framework of the world. On the other side, that means if you read Rosewater and jumped right into this, the way Nataliya and I did, you will appreciate the lack of explanobabble that some series fall prey to. Thom
...more

“You look at that dome and you see an animal, gigantic, useful to your society, benign, but an animal all the same. What I see is a machine. This is what we came up with after terraforming engines disappointed us. Instead of changing the environment, we change the organisms and live in them. In you.”I still can’t believe that Rosewater books have not even received nominations for most major SF awards (except for Arthur C. Clarke Award, of course). I don’t get it. I’m done with book 2, and ag ...more

Compulsively readable, endlessly inventive, and altogether compelling, I very much enjoyed this sequel to the also-excellent Rosewater. In both novels, Thompson has concocted a propulsively-plotted tale set in a near-future Nigeria that mashes up horror elements, alien invasion, down and dirty politics, dark humor, ecologically fantastical creations, and a lot of skillfully-drawn action set pieces. I have great admiration for his nimble juggling of multiple POVs and narrative voices as he follow
...more

When I learnt that not only did Rosewater win the 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel, but was the first in a trilogy, my curiosity was piqued enough to want to read the second straightaway. I remember being frustrated by Rosewater when I read it initially, a genre hybrid that tried to splice together too many disparate elements to make for a cohesive whole: Apocalyptic SF, alien invasion, zombie horror, spy thriller, noir, Afrofuturism.
The latter trend was probably sparked originally by ...more
The latter trend was probably sparked originally by ...more

Mar 09, 2019
Holly (The Grimdragon)
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
the-infinite-library,
fantasy-sci-fi
"In the darkened room with him there are sixteen reanimates, whom he brought along to be shields, to protect his body when he goes into the xenosphere. The room smells of desperate, unwashed humanity, and it is at times difficult to breathe, but there is a price to pay for everything."
Rosewater, the first book in the Wormwood trilogy, was a top favorite for me last year. I loved it so fucking much! This delicious blend of aliens, science fiction, cyberpunk, Afropunk, aliens, future noir, diversi ...more
Rosewater, the first book in the Wormwood trilogy, was a top favorite for me last year. I loved it so fucking much! This delicious blend of aliens, science fiction, cyberpunk, Afropunk, aliens, future noir, diversi ...more

I loved Rosewater. Loved it. I thought Thompson was bold to use an unconventional hero and use seamlessly woven tropes from all sorts of different scifi, fantasy, and horror to discuss current day events in new and interesting ways.
This however was more or less unnecessary. There is one part of the story that comprised maybe an hour of reading for me that was what we needed to know for the story. I wish it had been rolled into a duology instead, it would have been much less frustrating.
CONTENT W ...more
This however was more or less unnecessary. There is one part of the story that comprised maybe an hour of reading for me that was what we needed to know for the story. I wish it had been rolled into a duology instead, it would have been much less frustrating.
CONTENT W ...more

The story picks up not too long after the events of the first book. This time however, instead of Kaaro being the main POV character, it is his girlfriend and government agent Aminat. The makeshift town of Rosewater continues to grow in population as pilgrims from every corner of the world come to be healed of their ailments. The problem is the biodome at Rosewater's center seems to be dying ever so slowly, leaving their hopes of a reversal of their maladies very much in doubt. Added to the diso
...more

While the wonderful first book in the Wormwood Trilogy had a slightly more interesting and convoluted storytelling structure befitting a mystery novel with explosively weird fantasy and SF elements, the second book tones that down and gives a much more straightforward tale.
This isn't a bad thing, considering what is being accomplished. Some mystery is here, of course, and the worldbuilding is phenomenal. This little Nigerian town was turned into a hub of spore aliens slowing taking over not just ...more
This isn't a bad thing, considering what is being accomplished. Some mystery is here, of course, and the worldbuilding is phenomenal. This little Nigerian town was turned into a hub of spore aliens slowing taking over not just ...more

4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/03/12/...
I was happy to find that The Rosewater Insurrection was as weird and wonderful as its predecessor. In many ways, I even got along better with it because the story was slightly simpler and easier to follow, and it also features one of my favorite characters from the first book as the protagonist.
This time, we get to ride along with Aminat while her lover Kaaro, the main character from the first book, takes on a more support ...more
I was happy to find that The Rosewater Insurrection was as weird and wonderful as its predecessor. In many ways, I even got along better with it because the story was slightly simpler and easier to follow, and it also features one of my favorite characters from the first book as the protagonist.
This time, we get to ride along with Aminat while her lover Kaaro, the main character from the first book, takes on a more support ...more

Rosewater Insurrection has all the virtues of the first book and is more confident in its execution. It's fast, frenetic and fun: a spy-adventure-thriller-action story with a kaleidoscope of dazzling SF ideas spinning around in the background. Every character in this book is a
badass!
that thrills the hearts of teenagers everywhere: the sort of person that throws their boss to the ground and kicks them in the ribs for justice or something, and spends the entire book outrunning explosions and
...more

This was absolutely terrific. Better than the first book: the writing is more assured and the plotting clearer. Thompson handles a large cast with aplomb, the imagination is glorious and vivid and there's a lot of wry humour. Great ideas, haunting imagery, neither of them swamping the exciting progress of a well worked out plot.
A really fantastic SF, exactly what I read the genre for. (And confirms the theory I read recently and can't forget, that all SF is now about climate change.) Thompson is ...more
A really fantastic SF, exactly what I read the genre for. (And confirms the theory I read recently and can't forget, that all SF is now about climate change.) Thompson is ...more

A wonderful continuation of the series. If you enjoy adult sci-fi, then this series is for you. In this second book the stakes are higher, the weapons are more extreme and the humor makes all the action that much more fun.
Rosewater's is being attacked from every which way imaginable, while more progress is being made towards Wormwood's ultimate goal. In this book, you learn a lot about the Mayor of Rosewater Jack Jacques who is the most calculated, morally ambiguous politician I have ever encou ...more
Rosewater's is being attacked from every which way imaginable, while more progress is being made towards Wormwood's ultimate goal. In this book, you learn a lot about the Mayor of Rosewater Jack Jacques who is the most calculated, morally ambiguous politician I have ever encou ...more

Still a very fascinating, hard-boiled SF with a great setting and cast of characters. Yet I feel I enjoyed the first book slightly better since it has fewer POVs. I miss being in Kaaro's head. The book however does not suffer from the sequel syndrome. It kept me engaged and sometimes I had to try hard to keep up with so many crazy stuff flying, floating, and burrowing around this wacky city of Rosewater. I can't wait to read the final book.
...more

Thank you to Orbit for sending me a review copy of The Rosewater Insurrection. It cheered me up on what has been an otherwise awful day and I'll probably read it next.
...more

Brilliant imagination coupled with crisp writing and flawed characters made this one wild and exhilarating ride. I enjoyed being back in the trippy world of Rosewater, following some familiar characters and meeting some intriguing new ones, through a story that smashes together political corruption/scandal and alien invasion. The political storyline got a little drawn out for me in the middle of the book, but it was wholly redeemed by Thompson’s remarkable creativity and ability to weave in fant
...more

I had a hard time reorienting myself in this story initially. There are multiple PoVs, and I could not remember who a few of them were. I did, however, feel very happy that Aminat from book one had a much more prominent role in this story.
The story: In which the alien invasion kicks up several notches, S45/Femi is up to her elbows in managing the situation and Rosewater Mayor Jack Jacques, who wants to make Rosewater independent from the rest of Nigeria, while Kaaro's holed up at home, enjoying ...more
The story: In which the alien invasion kicks up several notches, S45/Femi is up to her elbows in managing the situation and Rosewater Mayor Jack Jacques, who wants to make Rosewater independent from the rest of Nigeria, while Kaaro's holed up at home, enjoying ...more

This felt quite a lot more focused and sure of itself without the tough guy act of the first book seeing/stirring chaos everywhere. The more organized plot gave room for the suspense of the various individual 'invasion' experiences and political machinations to grow to vivid and gripping levels, and made the characters much better accessible.
Where the first book left me somewhat cold, this - with it's beautifully portrayed, almost chillingly calm and casual body invasion scenarios - inspired. ...more
Where the first book left me somewhat cold, this - with it's beautifully portrayed, almost chillingly calm and casual body invasion scenarios - inspired. ...more

Wonderfully weird with a ton of ideas packed into the book. 4.5 stars rounded up, Tade is stuffing so many pieces into the story it can be hard to keep up sometimes. Girl power! Aminat, Femi, Lora all rock! Femi's character arc is fascinating to me, I find myself alternately cheering for her and loathing her and am completely uncertain where my final emotion will land at the end of the trilogy. Very unusual, I tend to make quick judgments and stick to them. I will definitely read the third book
...more

Yeah! I loved it! It's 4.5 stars in comparison with the first novel, cause I was missing the complicated structure I appreciated in the first book, but that made this sequel at least easier to follow.
What a wonderful mix of truly alien aliens, coldblooded and uncaring politicians and secret organisations in a state of everybody against everybody.
Thompson's prose is blunt, his characters are absolutely real and not bloodless larger-than-life heroes. His concept of the aliens is weird and mind-bog ...more
What a wonderful mix of truly alien aliens, coldblooded and uncaring politicians and secret organisations in a state of everybody against everybody.
Thompson's prose is blunt, his characters are absolutely real and not bloodless larger-than-life heroes. His concept of the aliens is weird and mind-bog ...more

I was extremely fond of the first Rosewater book, and the sequel didn’t disappoint. Again we follow a few different characters, some familiar faces from the first book and some new people. Kaaro makes appearances but not as the main character and this suits the story very well.
The thing I fell for in the first book is how truly alien the aliens of Rosewater is. Instead of any clear communication with them, they exist through the influence they have on their surroundings, the flora and fauna and ...more
The thing I fell for in the first book is how truly alien the aliens of Rosewater is. Instead of any clear communication with them, they exist through the influence they have on their surroundings, the flora and fauna and ...more

A very compelling and exciting sequel to the brilliant Rosewater. I found it to be a little bit better than the first book. It flows better and the plot is a lot clearer. It's wonderfully imaginitive and the multiple viewpoints work very well.
I'm very much looking forward to the third book. ...more
I'm very much looking forward to the third book. ...more

Jan 16, 2019
Kayla
marked it as pile-of-shame
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2019-releases,
arc
Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Apr 10, 2019
Oleksandr Zholud
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
hn-2020-longlist
This is the second volume of Rosewater trilogy. The review contains spoilers of the first book.
The slow invasion continues. We start with the action sequence, some new guy, Eric (S45 Agent) tries to kill an agitator in Rosewater. It gives us, readers, a pace for the book and continues not so much jumping in time, as the narrative of the first volume, but among multiple characters. Kaaro, the protagonist of the first book is more a background (albeit important) presence, while major protagonists ...more
The slow invasion continues. We start with the action sequence, some new guy, Eric (S45 Agent) tries to kill an agitator in Rosewater. It gives us, readers, a pace for the book and continues not so much jumping in time, as the narrative of the first volume, but among multiple characters. Kaaro, the protagonist of the first book is more a background (albeit important) presence, while major protagonists ...more

Mini-Review:
3.5 Stars for Narration by Bayo Gbadamosi (I like his voice but he is not necessarily a good choice for a story with multiple POVs & there were mistakes left on the final recording.)
4 Stars for Solid Character Shorts
2.5 Stars for Main Characters
This was an easy book to read. While the story was easy to process & understand, I felt the story was not as intimate as the the first book. It was cool to have female characters lead in the current plot arc but I felt like a removed observer. ...more
3.5 Stars for Narration by Bayo Gbadamosi (I like his voice but he is not necessarily a good choice for a story with multiple POVs & there were mistakes left on the final recording.)
4 Stars for Solid Character Shorts
2.5 Stars for Main Characters
This was an easy book to read. While the story was easy to process & understand, I felt the story was not as intimate as the the first book. It was cool to have female characters lead in the current plot arc but I felt like a removed observer. ...more

I feel bad giving this only two stars. I LOVED the first book, which was one of the best books I read in 2019, but unfortunately, it feels like this sequel drags under its own weight. The first book set forward all the pieces, which delivered feat after feat of imagination. This book focuses more on putting the pieces into battle, which I just can’t find as compelling. The plotting seems sloppier too; the parallel storylines just barely held together in the first one, and in the second they just
...more

Dec 27, 2019
Luke Burrage
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
reviewed-on-the-sfbrp,
audio-book
A really great set of novels! I very much enjoyed them all. It's a good trilogy that doesn't try to continue the protagonist's story past the first novel, and instead finds new people and stories to follow in the next two instalments.
Full review on my podcast, SFBRP episode #415:

http://www.sfbrp.com/archives/1639 ...more

Jun 05, 2019
Tomislav
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
fantasy
Tade Thompson is a British-born and raised writer of Nigerian descent. I read his first novel of the Wormwood Trilogy, Rosewater, last year and liked it quite a bit. That was nominated for several awards last year, but did not win. This second novel was recently released and I read it in trade paperback right away. The conclusion to the trilogy, The Rosewater Redemption, is scheduled for publication in October of this year.
This novel continues the story of Wormwood, a living alien artifact that ...more
This novel continues the story of Wormwood, a living alien artifact that ...more

May 08, 2020
Lex Poot
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
african-literature
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Science Fiction A...: * Wormwood #2-Insurrection | 2 | 22 | Jun 04, 2020 03:23PM |
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