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Goliath
A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick!A Best Book of the Year for Time | NPR | The Guardian | Gizmodo| Portalist | New York Public LibraryA Most Anticipated Pick for USA Today | Bustle | Buzzfeed | Goodreads | Nerdist | io9 | WBUR | Polygon | The New ScientistLocus Award Finalist! Connecticut Book Award for Fiction winner! Dragon Award Finalist!"In this ambitious novel, dense with perspectives and social commentary, Onyebuchi dreams up disparate lives in a crumbling future America—with gentrifiers returning to Earth from space colonies and laborers trying to make a precarious living—while leaving room for moments of beauty and humor."—The New York Times, Editors' ChoiceIn his adult novel debut, Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and NAACP Image Award finalist and ALA Alex and New England Book Award winner Tochi Onyebuchi delivers a sweeping science fiction epic in the vein of Samuel R. Delany and Station Eleven.In the 2050s, Earth has begun to empty. Those with the means and the privilege have departed the great cities of the United States for the more comfortable confines of space colonies. Those left behind salvage what they can from the collapsing infrastructure. As they eke out an existence, their neighborhoods are being cannibalized. Brick by brick, their houses are sent to the colonies, what was once a home now a quaint reminder for the colonists of the world that they wrecked.A primal biblical epic flung into the future, Goliath weaves together disparate narratives—a space-dweller looking at New Haven, Connecticut as a chance to reconnect with his spiraling lover; a group of laborers attempting to renew the promises of Earth’s crumbling cities; a journalist attempting to capture the violence of the streets; a marshal trying to solve a kidnapping—into a richly urgent mosaic about race, class, gentrification, and who is allowed to be the hero of any history.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
336 pages, ebook
First published January 25, 2022
548 people are currently reading
19137 people want to read
About the author
Tochi Onyebuchi
92 books1,343 followersTochi Onyebuchi is the author of Beasts Made of Night, its sequel Crown of Thunder, War Girls, and Riot Baby, published by Tor.com in January 2020. He has graduated from Yale University, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia Law School, and L’institut d’études politiques with a Masters degree in Global Business Law.
His short fiction has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, Omenana, Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, and elsewhere. His non-fiction has appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Nowhere Magazine, Tor.com and the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. He is the winner of the Ilube Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel by an African and has appeared in Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading list.
Born in Massachusetts and raised in Connecticut, Tochi is a consummate New Englander, preferring the way the tree leaves turn the color of fire on I-84 to mosquitoes and being able to boil eggs on pavement. He has worked in criminal justice, the tech industry, and immigration law, and prays every day for a new album from System of a Down.
His short fiction has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, Omenana, Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, and elsewhere. His non-fiction has appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Nowhere Magazine, Tor.com and the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. He is the winner of the Ilube Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel by an African and has appeared in Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading list.
Born in Massachusetts and raised in Connecticut, Tochi is a consummate New Englander, preferring the way the tree leaves turn the color of fire on I-84 to mosquitoes and being able to boil eggs on pavement. He has worked in criminal justice, the tech industry, and immigration law, and prays every day for a new album from System of a Down.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 489 reviews
January 9, 2022
Let’s get this out of the way first - no, it’s not linearly told, yes, it’s inherently political, fucking deal with it. It also isn’t interested in hand holding you through it, which I respect. This is, to my understanding, Onyebuchi’s first novel aimed at the adult sci-fi market, and I’m honestly deeply impressed with what he’s done with this story. There is one section of this book that may feel a bit info-dumpy, but the way it’s structured, it ends up being a keystone to understanding the rest of the novel. His breakdown of the research he did in the back and how he extrapolated it out also gave me some new future reading to be excited about, when I can find it. Yes, there is the biblical retelling here (and some neat shoutouts to the original story throughout the text), but this is inherently also a book about the prison system and gentrification and the realities of how and who a space colony system would cater to, with a good sprinkling of radiation and automated policing. There are a lot of characters, but it’s an epic like the tale it’s based on, and I don’t mind it at all. I’d call this afro soc-fi, because it doesn’t take the inherently rosy view of afrofuturism, but focuses on the role of the community in these peoples’ lives and in how the science fiction plays out, and how they’re stronger for it.
(I also have an issue with some of the reviewers here going “oh waaaaah it’s too hard to understand or oh bawwww I don’t want politics in my sci fi”, in case you couldn’t tell.)
This comes out on January 25th and is my first automatic recommend of 2022. Pick this up, you won’t be disappointed.
(I also have an issue with some of the reviewers here going “oh waaaaah it’s too hard to understand or oh bawwww I don’t want politics in my sci fi”, in case you couldn’t tell.)
This comes out on January 25th and is my first automatic recommend of 2022. Pick this up, you won’t be disappointed.
June 20, 2023
Brilliant, imaginative, provocative, and, at times, terrifying. Goliath takes us to disturbingly plausible dystopian future, through the perspectives of the many denizens who call it home.
March 1, 2022
Reading Vlog: https://youtu.be/PYRn9-TJsz4
Goliath is an outstanding example of literary science fiction with the ability to interrogate the pressing fears of the day- from climate change and race wars to disease, gentrification, technological advancement, class division, and more. It contains a non-linear story structure and is told in an elevated style of prose that readers might find challenging, but I promise it is well worth the effort. This novel manages to be both experimental and fiercely relevant to the human experience.
It's hard to talk in depth about this book because so much of the poignancy comes from the experience of reading and slowly gaining context for the world the characters are functioning in. Part three really does this and changes how you think about everything that came before. It's a book I anticipate reading again and taking different things away.
In short, the book is set in a not-too-distant post-apocalyptic future where (mostly) white and wealthy people have fled this radioactive planet onto space colonies. Those left behind struggle to survive and make a life for themselves. But there is so much nuance and depth to the characters, the themes, and the way Onyebuchi explores very difficult topics. And the thing is, the world of this book doesn't feel all that distant or far-fetched. It feels like an all-too-real possible future. It's often dark and gritty, so do take a look at content warnings if you need them. I would recommend reading this review for CW's and just for the fantastic way they talk about the book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm going to be thinking about this one for awhile and would definitely recommend it. Just know you will need to take your time and put in effort. It would be a great book to read and discuss with people. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Goliath is an outstanding example of literary science fiction with the ability to interrogate the pressing fears of the day- from climate change and race wars to disease, gentrification, technological advancement, class division, and more. It contains a non-linear story structure and is told in an elevated style of prose that readers might find challenging, but I promise it is well worth the effort. This novel manages to be both experimental and fiercely relevant to the human experience.
It's hard to talk in depth about this book because so much of the poignancy comes from the experience of reading and slowly gaining context for the world the characters are functioning in. Part three really does this and changes how you think about everything that came before. It's a book I anticipate reading again and taking different things away.
In short, the book is set in a not-too-distant post-apocalyptic future where (mostly) white and wealthy people have fled this radioactive planet onto space colonies. Those left behind struggle to survive and make a life for themselves. But there is so much nuance and depth to the characters, the themes, and the way Onyebuchi explores very difficult topics. And the thing is, the world of this book doesn't feel all that distant or far-fetched. It feels like an all-too-real possible future. It's often dark and gritty, so do take a look at content warnings if you need them. I would recommend reading this review for CW's and just for the fantastic way they talk about the book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm going to be thinking about this one for awhile and would definitely recommend it. Just know you will need to take your time and put in effort. It would be a great book to read and discuss with people. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Read
December 10, 2021Goliath is the kind of book that's appreciated slowly. It's rich and intense with detail; every sentence holds so much. It explores the lives of those left behind on Earth when the wealthy have colonised space, the Earth now a remnant and husk of what it once was.
The story contains a kaleidoscope of vignettes and stories, intersecting with one another yet also fragmented because of the disconnect the characters feel with one another. There's a lot of dialogue and the story provides a snapshot of quiet moments in the character's lives in which you may have to do the work to derive and engage its meaning.
Gentrification, class, racism, climate change, and colonisation are explored across the story, and I liked the anti-gentrification stance. The story is slow and weighs heavy - not necessarily bad things. What was most distinct to me was how this story is deeply unsettling this is - not because of its vision of the future, but because it feels so... familiar. This isn't a piece of dystopian imagination; it feels more like an inevitable trajectory of our world as we know it now.
Goliath is critical, harrowing, and I saw somewhere that someone called it 'urgent' - and that is exactly what it is.
The story contains a kaleidoscope of vignettes and stories, intersecting with one another yet also fragmented because of the disconnect the characters feel with one another. There's a lot of dialogue and the story provides a snapshot of quiet moments in the character's lives in which you may have to do the work to derive and engage its meaning.
Gentrification, class, racism, climate change, and colonisation are explored across the story, and I liked the anti-gentrification stance. The story is slow and weighs heavy - not necessarily bad things. What was most distinct to me was how this story is deeply unsettling this is - not because of its vision of the future, but because it feels so... familiar. This isn't a piece of dystopian imagination; it feels more like an inevitable trajectory of our world as we know it now.
Goliath is critical, harrowing, and I saw somewhere that someone called it 'urgent' - and that is exactly what it is.
February 20, 2022
3.5 Stars
Who would be left behind when humanity leaves earth behind? Sadly, the answer would likely be the marginalized.
This was a well written piece of literary fiction with some hard hitting themes of surrounding race and class. While this is classified as science fiction, it reads more like a piece of literary fiction that uses a science fiction future to reflect on the prejudices and class divisions of the present day.
The topics in this novel are undoubtedly important and will likely hit home for readers who have experienced prejudice and injustice in their own lives. I really appreciated the themes, but I will admit that the narrative structure did not fully immerse me into the story. I think I wanted the story to feel more futuristic and instead it read more like a contemporary piece of general fiction, which is just not a genre I normally read.
I would recommend this book to a wide variety of readers (including those who don't normally read sci fi). This book will appeal most to readers who like reading complex ownvoice narratives that explore important, difficult themes.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
Who would be left behind when humanity leaves earth behind? Sadly, the answer would likely be the marginalized.
This was a well written piece of literary fiction with some hard hitting themes of surrounding race and class. While this is classified as science fiction, it reads more like a piece of literary fiction that uses a science fiction future to reflect on the prejudices and class divisions of the present day.
The topics in this novel are undoubtedly important and will likely hit home for readers who have experienced prejudice and injustice in their own lives. I really appreciated the themes, but I will admit that the narrative structure did not fully immerse me into the story. I think I wanted the story to feel more futuristic and instead it read more like a contemporary piece of general fiction, which is just not a genre I normally read.
I would recommend this book to a wide variety of readers (including those who don't normally read sci fi). This book will appeal most to readers who like reading complex ownvoice narratives that explore important, difficult themes.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
January 31, 2022
Non-spoiler Video Review: https://youtu.be/F7CMyNg_PSE
Actual Rating: 4.5/5
This book was a journey for me. On my first read I was very confused and disconnected and was thinking of dnfing it until I was in the right headspace but I continued and trusted the author and I am so glad I did cause I really loved this story and ended up re-reading it right away after finishing. Its dense in its writing, it will not hold your hand with the non-linear narrative structure and it will reference things without explaining it to you on page. Despite these barriers I thoroughly enjoyed my journey with this piece of literature. You can tell research and thought went into predicting this near future apocalypse and its one of those modern sci-fi books I can see becoming a classic.
Actual Rating: 4.5/5
This book was a journey for me. On my first read I was very confused and disconnected and was thinking of dnfing it until I was in the right headspace but I continued and trusted the author and I am so glad I did cause I really loved this story and ended up re-reading it right away after finishing. Its dense in its writing, it will not hold your hand with the non-linear narrative structure and it will reference things without explaining it to you on page. Despite these barriers I thoroughly enjoyed my journey with this piece of literature. You can tell research and thought went into predicting this near future apocalypse and its one of those modern sci-fi books I can see becoming a classic.
January 28, 2022
CWs:
depictions of vomit; references to rape; graphic instances of drug use and addiction; descriptions of corpses, murder and death; racism, anti-Blackness, and racial slurs; references to lynching and suicide; descriptions of police brutality, incarceration, violence, and gun violence
I remember when I first heard Tochi talk about his inspiration for this book during an interview for Quarantined Pages (hosted by Britney of Melanin Eclectic) where he described it as "gentrification in space". Cue everybody in the audience absolutely *losing* their mind. To see the story go from a buzzy tagline in a video interview to becoming a fully-fledged novel is so gratifying, especially as a reader.
Goliath is a novel that is incredibly cerebral and abstract. It patchworks together a ton of different characters and perspectives in this not-so-distant vision of the future where those with the means to do so have left the planet for dead in favor of colonizing space. Though Goliath is very much a sci-fi story, it's also firmly grounded on earth as it strives to explore how systemically "forgotten" characters attempt to build their own future from the ruins.
This is a constantly-shifting kaleidoscope of a story where the reader is almost secondary to the storytelling process. It's one of those reading experiences where the world-building is fully-realized and the reader is left to try and catch up on their own as they go. In that way, it's a story that refuses to hold the readers hand at any point, which is something I really respect. This is a story that's best enjoyed slowly, because it forces you to engage, to be present and attentive, and I think the pay-off is worth that little bit of work.
What really struck me about Goliath is its sense of urgency. The story is set in the not-so-distant future, and even though it paints a completely different planetary landscape, it feels eerily familiar and realistic. It reads more like an inevitable trajectory for humanity as opposed to a fictional futuristic projection that spontaneously sprang from the author's imagination. I think what Tochi has highlighted so well is that the issues under-served communities are facing now are the same ones they’ve always faced and the same ones that they will *continue* to face if nothing changes. This vision of the future illustrates how even after the system "collapses," it will continue to function as intended to further marginalize already-vulnerable communities.
I also really appreciate the way Tochi develops dialogue between his characters, because it feels real. He allows characters to talk to each other in the discordant, chaotic way that people actually speak, where there's no way to tell where one thought begins or ends. Every conversation feels like being dropped right in the middle of a story at its climax, but it also feels familiar and grounds the reader amidst this new futuristic technology and landscape.
Above all, I think the question at the heart of this story is how do we understand and determine “value,” especially when it comes to society, community, and people themselves? What kind of legacy are we creating and imparting when we become comfortable with erasing people and leaving them behind, and who are we allowing to be heroes? I think the story presents a really interesting take on those questions, and even though I had some minor issues with the structure of the story towards the end, I still think it gets that message across very effectively.
If you enjoy gritty sci-fi, social commentary, and complexly character-driven narratives that ask big questions about humanity and the future, then Goliath is absolutely the book for you. I continue to be excited by the SFF worlds Tochi Onyebuchi is excavating from his imagination, and I can't wait to see what comes next.
I remember when I first heard Tochi talk about his inspiration for this book during an interview for Quarantined Pages (hosted by Britney of Melanin Eclectic) where he described it as "gentrification in space". Cue everybody in the audience absolutely *losing* their mind. To see the story go from a buzzy tagline in a video interview to becoming a fully-fledged novel is so gratifying, especially as a reader.
Goliath is a novel that is incredibly cerebral and abstract. It patchworks together a ton of different characters and perspectives in this not-so-distant vision of the future where those with the means to do so have left the planet for dead in favor of colonizing space. Though Goliath is very much a sci-fi story, it's also firmly grounded on earth as it strives to explore how systemically "forgotten" characters attempt to build their own future from the ruins.
This is a constantly-shifting kaleidoscope of a story where the reader is almost secondary to the storytelling process. It's one of those reading experiences where the world-building is fully-realized and the reader is left to try and catch up on their own as they go. In that way, it's a story that refuses to hold the readers hand at any point, which is something I really respect. This is a story that's best enjoyed slowly, because it forces you to engage, to be present and attentive, and I think the pay-off is worth that little bit of work.
What really struck me about Goliath is its sense of urgency. The story is set in the not-so-distant future, and even though it paints a completely different planetary landscape, it feels eerily familiar and realistic. It reads more like an inevitable trajectory for humanity as opposed to a fictional futuristic projection that spontaneously sprang from the author's imagination. I think what Tochi has highlighted so well is that the issues under-served communities are facing now are the same ones they’ve always faced and the same ones that they will *continue* to face if nothing changes. This vision of the future illustrates how even after the system "collapses," it will continue to function as intended to further marginalize already-vulnerable communities.
I also really appreciate the way Tochi develops dialogue between his characters, because it feels real. He allows characters to talk to each other in the discordant, chaotic way that people actually speak, where there's no way to tell where one thought begins or ends. Every conversation feels like being dropped right in the middle of a story at its climax, but it also feels familiar and grounds the reader amidst this new futuristic technology and landscape.
Above all, I think the question at the heart of this story is how do we understand and determine “value,” especially when it comes to society, community, and people themselves? What kind of legacy are we creating and imparting when we become comfortable with erasing people and leaving them behind, and who are we allowing to be heroes? I think the story presents a really interesting take on those questions, and even though I had some minor issues with the structure of the story towards the end, I still think it gets that message across very effectively.
If you enjoy gritty sci-fi, social commentary, and complexly character-driven narratives that ask big questions about humanity and the future, then Goliath is absolutely the book for you. I continue to be excited by the SFF worlds Tochi Onyebuchi is excavating from his imagination, and I can't wait to see what comes next.
November 30, 2022
This was kind of a weird mash-up of clifi and dystopian fiction. The world building up front was a little plodding and I didn't really understand the threads of the story until I was about halfway in. But then it got very interesting. This is a social or asocial science fiction novel that explores the extrapolation of social systems in the United States as they exist today. What will happen if the extremes of the abuse of the planet, the white nationalism/race relations, the exploration of biotechnology continue unfettered? Onyebuchi has created a creepy tale about such things. It's creepy because its plausible. I was fascinated.
4ish Stars rounded up with the intent to revisit this book in the future
I listened to the audiobook with a cast. I believe it was a cast to help discern between the many characters. Though well done, it was still confusing. I will be reading this next time to capture what I may have missed. The cast was: Adam Lazarre-White, JD Jackson, Juliana Velez, Kevin R Free, Nidra Sous La Terre, Shayna Small, Stephanie Willis, and Tina Campbell. Personally, I didn't realize there were so many narrators.
4ish Stars rounded up with the intent to revisit this book in the future
I listened to the audiobook with a cast. I believe it was a cast to help discern between the many characters. Though well done, it was still confusing. I will be reading this next time to capture what I may have missed. The cast was: Adam Lazarre-White, JD Jackson, Juliana Velez, Kevin R Free, Nidra Sous La Terre, Shayna Small, Stephanie Willis, and Tina Campbell. Personally, I didn't realize there were so many narrators.
January 13, 2022
Read this review and other Science Fiction/Fantasy book reviews at The Quill to Live
Back in 2020, Jesus, yeah, two years ago, I read a little novella by the name of Riot Baby. Tochi Onyebuchi’s novella hit very close to home considering the events of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd. It was one of my instant favorites, and I still feel the righteous anger that poured out of that book. So I knew I had to keep an eye out for Onyebuchi’s first adult novel. Goliath, is a towering look at a dismal future that is filled with a few small bright moments of people living in the world they were left behind in.
Goliath is more a future history meshed with the fever dream of swirling vignettes surrounding the community of New Haven, Connecticut in the decade of the 2050s than it is an easily distilled narrative. The United States is an irradiated land with pockets of civilization contained to once-great urban centers. Most white Americans, especially those with the means to do so, have moved off planet to inhabit “the colonies.” The people left behind in New Haven are for the most part black and/or Puerto Rican. They cobble together their lives, making communities within the salvage and wreckage of the buildings left behind. Sometimes they even tear down housing to send the materials into space where it will be used to create more room in the colonies. And now, some of those in the colonies are looking back at Earth in the hopes of a new start, moving their lives into the neighborhoods previous generations left behind.
I’m no stranger to challenging reads, so believe me when I say this, Goliath is a task of a novel. Not only in terms of the subject material Onyebuchi tackles, but also in the way he writes it. It is not light, despite the myriad jokes, and it’s not easy to take in despite its relevance to current events. Onyebuchi makes the reader slow down, and work through the story by employing a non-linear structure (for the most part), and barely hints at who is currently the protagonist. It’s both exciting and daunting as there is very little breathing room.
Luckily, Onyebuchi’s writing continues to astound me. His grasp of dialogue, especially when it comes to how people tell the insane stories that make up their lives, is near unparalleled. The interruptions people make with side comments, the questions that propel the narrative, the emotional reactions of the listeners that all serve to speed up or slow down one’s storytelling are pitch perfect. Onyebuchi makes you feel like you’re listening in to their lives while they’re out building a house, or taking one down. They aren’t just there to fill space, either. They impart an importance in their mundanity. Interspersed between these long winded stories are short sentences detailing the actions that are being carried out, whether it’s the hammering of a 2×4 or the digging out of bricks from the rubble. Onyebuchi highlights that what builds a community, especially in a place so desolate and left behind, isn’t the structure itself, but the people who live, dream, and build it.
This is juxtaposed against the story of Anthony as he attempts to build a new life for himself on Earth after leaving the colonies. He’s come alone and hopes to secure a home for him and his boyfriend who is left in the colonies for weeks while Anthony sorts out their future. It’s lonely, it’s focused on the materials of the home, whether electricity will be accessible and his demons start to saturate the home before David even gets there. It’s a wonderful dichotomy that just screams from Goliath the further in one reads.
I think I had only one negative experience with this book, and that’s at about the halfway point (at least in the ARC), the narrative completely switches perspectives. I had grown used to the cadence Onyebuchi developed, learning the different characters and their lives in New Haven, when all of the sudden it drops them to pick up two brand new narratives. These narratives become the next third of the book before picking up where Onyebuchi left off with the previous characters. These perspectives were welcome in terms of their content, but the integration felt abrupt for me.
But outside of that, they were just as mentally challenging and well crafted as the other sections. One, a sort of interview that details a man’s life up to the 2050s and the myriad ways the world falls apart and the situations he finds himself in. The other is a lot more jarring, as it’s told from the perspective of a white supremacist neo-confederate soldier on the run from a U.S. Marshall. It definitely sticks out like a sore thumb, but in the most deliberate way possible. There’s not much else to say because it’s something you kind of have to experience in context, but Onyebuchi handles it with aplomb.
Goliath is a tough novel to review, especially when trying to place it within the context of contemporary science/speculative fiction. I still don’t even have a fully formed opinion on it as I try to take it apart in my head. It stands on its own, and Onyebuchi is so creative in his exploration of a very real future, it feels like I’m doing a disservice by reviewing it like this, instead of providing a full literary analysis with cited sources. It’s a novel that takes its time and asks the reader to take a stroll with it to fully appreciate the stories Onyebuchi is attempting to tell. It’s both entertaining and deeply discomforting. He succeeds in stepping out of the usual narrative boundaries, and pulling me out of my comfort zone in so many different ways, from subject matter and themes to structural experimentation. It really is just something you have to experience yourself to appreciate and I hope you do.
Rating: Goliath 9.0/10
-Alex
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.
Back in 2020, Jesus, yeah, two years ago, I read a little novella by the name of Riot Baby. Tochi Onyebuchi’s novella hit very close to home considering the events of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd. It was one of my instant favorites, and I still feel the righteous anger that poured out of that book. So I knew I had to keep an eye out for Onyebuchi’s first adult novel. Goliath, is a towering look at a dismal future that is filled with a few small bright moments of people living in the world they were left behind in.
Goliath is more a future history meshed with the fever dream of swirling vignettes surrounding the community of New Haven, Connecticut in the decade of the 2050s than it is an easily distilled narrative. The United States is an irradiated land with pockets of civilization contained to once-great urban centers. Most white Americans, especially those with the means to do so, have moved off planet to inhabit “the colonies.” The people left behind in New Haven are for the most part black and/or Puerto Rican. They cobble together their lives, making communities within the salvage and wreckage of the buildings left behind. Sometimes they even tear down housing to send the materials into space where it will be used to create more room in the colonies. And now, some of those in the colonies are looking back at Earth in the hopes of a new start, moving their lives into the neighborhoods previous generations left behind.
I’m no stranger to challenging reads, so believe me when I say this, Goliath is a task of a novel. Not only in terms of the subject material Onyebuchi tackles, but also in the way he writes it. It is not light, despite the myriad jokes, and it’s not easy to take in despite its relevance to current events. Onyebuchi makes the reader slow down, and work through the story by employing a non-linear structure (for the most part), and barely hints at who is currently the protagonist. It’s both exciting and daunting as there is very little breathing room.
Luckily, Onyebuchi’s writing continues to astound me. His grasp of dialogue, especially when it comes to how people tell the insane stories that make up their lives, is near unparalleled. The interruptions people make with side comments, the questions that propel the narrative, the emotional reactions of the listeners that all serve to speed up or slow down one’s storytelling are pitch perfect. Onyebuchi makes you feel like you’re listening in to their lives while they’re out building a house, or taking one down. They aren’t just there to fill space, either. They impart an importance in their mundanity. Interspersed between these long winded stories are short sentences detailing the actions that are being carried out, whether it’s the hammering of a 2×4 or the digging out of bricks from the rubble. Onyebuchi highlights that what builds a community, especially in a place so desolate and left behind, isn’t the structure itself, but the people who live, dream, and build it.
This is juxtaposed against the story of Anthony as he attempts to build a new life for himself on Earth after leaving the colonies. He’s come alone and hopes to secure a home for him and his boyfriend who is left in the colonies for weeks while Anthony sorts out their future. It’s lonely, it’s focused on the materials of the home, whether electricity will be accessible and his demons start to saturate the home before David even gets there. It’s a wonderful dichotomy that just screams from Goliath the further in one reads.
I think I had only one negative experience with this book, and that’s at about the halfway point (at least in the ARC), the narrative completely switches perspectives. I had grown used to the cadence Onyebuchi developed, learning the different characters and their lives in New Haven, when all of the sudden it drops them to pick up two brand new narratives. These narratives become the next third of the book before picking up where Onyebuchi left off with the previous characters. These perspectives were welcome in terms of their content, but the integration felt abrupt for me.
But outside of that, they were just as mentally challenging and well crafted as the other sections. One, a sort of interview that details a man’s life up to the 2050s and the myriad ways the world falls apart and the situations he finds himself in. The other is a lot more jarring, as it’s told from the perspective of a white supremacist neo-confederate soldier on the run from a U.S. Marshall. It definitely sticks out like a sore thumb, but in the most deliberate way possible. There’s not much else to say because it’s something you kind of have to experience in context, but Onyebuchi handles it with aplomb.
Goliath is a tough novel to review, especially when trying to place it within the context of contemporary science/speculative fiction. I still don’t even have a fully formed opinion on it as I try to take it apart in my head. It stands on its own, and Onyebuchi is so creative in his exploration of a very real future, it feels like I’m doing a disservice by reviewing it like this, instead of providing a full literary analysis with cited sources. It’s a novel that takes its time and asks the reader to take a stroll with it to fully appreciate the stories Onyebuchi is attempting to tell. It’s both entertaining and deeply discomforting. He succeeds in stepping out of the usual narrative boundaries, and pulling me out of my comfort zone in so many different ways, from subject matter and themes to structural experimentation. It really is just something you have to experience yourself to appreciate and I hope you do.
Rating: Goliath 9.0/10
-Alex
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.
February 26, 2023
4.5*
This is a hard book to review and despite my personal enjoyment, there are several things a reader should know going into it. Just to be prepared.
1. This book is told in a non-linear timeline and it doesn't point out when a certain scene takes place within it (no dates or even years marked). I was aware of this going into the book and the first two plus the last part of the book I had little to no struggle placing the scenes. Many scenes are, in fact, in chronological order in the timeline of given POV.
The third part is split between two completely new POVs, one of which can be easily placed years ahead of the beginning of the book, the other one I can't place even now.
2. This is not your typical fun Sci-Fi book. It's a litreray science fiction novel about the consequences of climate change, segregation, and gentrification. About hope, pain, and privilege. Oftentimes, it's just slice of life in a post-cataclysmic world.
I found it deeply moving, shocking and thought-provocing. But it's also an ambious and dense read that'll take all your concentration but is truly worth it.
3. There are almost no info-dumps. This a fully crafted world that you open your eyes to on a day like any other. You learn about the world by paying attention to conversations, side-notes, and the personal stories of each character. Only in part three do you learn how the United States of America became the place they are at the beginning of the book.
Correspondingly, this book focuses on the USA. We get a few little mentions of what the rest of the world thinks about the States, but never learn how the last 30 years played out for them. I assume Onyebuchi wanted to rather focused on the things he knew about in detail instead of playing a guessing game for other countries. The events in other countries aren't important for the characters in the book to whom it pays very close attention.
4. This book is deeply founded in American (especially Black American) history and events of today. There are things the book just assumes you know about and doesn't care to explain. While I was at times able to fill these gaps, by far, not all. I'm an international reader who's never been to the U.S. and despite having a basic grasp of societal issues and American history, it wasn't a main part of my own education. I cared a lot about the characters and was able to ignore my gaps of knowledge, but I would recommend an international reader to have a map of America and an internet connection nearby while reading.
5. There are no clear answers in this book. There's no solution for apparent problems. There is closure to be felt at the end of the book , the world simply moves on. It's a moment in time that Tochi Onyebuchi captured here. A moment that hasn't happend yet but might, if things don't change.
It's a warning and a prophecy. It's a cry into the void to finally change things.
It's frightening and it's beautiful.
And deeply fascinating.
This is a hard book to review and despite my personal enjoyment, there are several things a reader should know going into it. Just to be prepared.
1. This book is told in a non-linear timeline and it doesn't point out when a certain scene takes place within it (no dates or even years marked). I was aware of this going into the book and the first two plus the last part of the book I had little to no struggle placing the scenes. Many scenes are, in fact, in chronological order in the timeline of given POV.
The third part is split between two completely new POVs, one of which can be easily placed years ahead of the beginning of the book, the other one I can't place even now.
2. This is not your typical fun Sci-Fi book. It's a litreray science fiction novel about the consequences of climate change, segregation, and gentrification. About hope, pain, and privilege. Oftentimes, it's just slice of life in a post-cataclysmic world.
I found it deeply moving, shocking and thought-provocing. But it's also an ambious and dense read that'll take all your concentration but is truly worth it.
3. There are almost no info-dumps. This a fully crafted world that you open your eyes to on a day like any other. You learn about the world by paying attention to conversations, side-notes, and the personal stories of each character. Only in part three do you learn how the United States of America became the place they are at the beginning of the book.
Correspondingly, this book focuses on the USA. We get a few little mentions of what the rest of the world thinks about the States, but never learn how the last 30 years played out for them. I assume Onyebuchi wanted to rather focused on the things he knew about in detail instead of playing a guessing game for other countries. The events in other countries aren't important for the characters in the book to whom it pays very close attention.
4. This book is deeply founded in American (especially Black American) history and events of today. There are things the book just assumes you know about and doesn't care to explain. While I was at times able to fill these gaps, by far, not all. I'm an international reader who's never been to the U.S. and despite having a basic grasp of societal issues and American history, it wasn't a main part of my own education. I cared a lot about the characters and was able to ignore my gaps of knowledge, but I would recommend an international reader to have a map of America and an internet connection nearby while reading.
5. There are no clear answers in this book. There's no solution for apparent problems. There is closure to be felt at the end of the book , the world simply moves on. It's a moment in time that Tochi Onyebuchi captured here. A moment that hasn't happend yet but might, if things don't change.
It's a warning and a prophecy. It's a cry into the void to finally change things.
It's frightening and it's beautiful.
And deeply fascinating.
June 13, 2022
A non-linear polyphonic novel with really fantastic speculative qualities. While some of it is set in present day, the assumption of what is happening now—such as with climate effects—masterfully slots in current day issues that some readers would consider topical and debatable in such a way as to be foregone conclusions, as an effortless form of world building, even as it signals the inherent political times and nature of the narrators.
Riot baby is a great novel. This is transcendent. It’s complex and dense with allusions and metaphor; steeped in marginalized culture and the rendering of the future is so vivid because of the ways in which the marginalized perceive the world. And yet it’s also not always dire. Unwilling to shed unnecessary blood from the characters that have things that give them life, propelling them into their deeds. It is critical of the intrusions into those lives at a much more comprehensively systemic way than Riot Baby too.
Every element of craft has improved. I loved the dialogue and the prose work, and how it doesn’t hold the readers hand at all. The audiobook was fantastic and was literally polyphonic, with a full cast. I already want to get a physical copy and re read it. There is cyberization in the future and community spaces and quandaries that kept me completely hooked throughout. I can’t imagine it not being one of my favourite books of the year. What a southpaw sidewinder of a book.
Riot baby is a great novel. This is transcendent. It’s complex and dense with allusions and metaphor; steeped in marginalized culture and the rendering of the future is so vivid because of the ways in which the marginalized perceive the world. And yet it’s also not always dire. Unwilling to shed unnecessary blood from the characters that have things that give them life, propelling them into their deeds. It is critical of the intrusions into those lives at a much more comprehensively systemic way than Riot Baby too.
Every element of craft has improved. I loved the dialogue and the prose work, and how it doesn’t hold the readers hand at all. The audiobook was fantastic and was literally polyphonic, with a full cast. I already want to get a physical copy and re read it. There is cyberization in the future and community spaces and quandaries that kept me completely hooked throughout. I can’t imagine it not being one of my favourite books of the year. What a southpaw sidewinder of a book.
January 16, 2022
*I received this book in a giveaway*
DNF at page 83. I try to finish books that I win in giveaways so I can give an informed review. At the end of page 83, I could not take it anymore. This book is a mess. There is no plot. It is random scenes after an apocalypse that don't seem to go anywhere. The idea was interesting but the story never forms. Also, there is no character development. I kept forgetting which character did what because there was nothing to make them unique and memorable. That is a problem. One other thing that bugged me was use of the n word. I realize that the main characters are black and refer to each other as the n word as a term of endearment or familiarity so that part didn't bother me. As a reader I want to be drawn in to the story and the world where it takes placce. The use of the n word was alienating - as if to say, "you don't belong in this world." I wasn't drawn in at all. I was put off by it. I kept reading hoping it would get better. By page 83, I figured that it never would and I just could not suffer through another 250 pages so I gave up. I don't recommend this one.
DNF at page 83. I try to finish books that I win in giveaways so I can give an informed review. At the end of page 83, I could not take it anymore. This book is a mess. There is no plot. It is random scenes after an apocalypse that don't seem to go anywhere. The idea was interesting but the story never forms. Also, there is no character development. I kept forgetting which character did what because there was nothing to make them unique and memorable. That is a problem. One other thing that bugged me was use of the n word. I realize that the main characters are black and refer to each other as the n word as a term of endearment or familiarity so that part didn't bother me. As a reader I want to be drawn in to the story and the world where it takes placce. The use of the n word was alienating - as if to say, "you don't belong in this world." I wasn't drawn in at all. I was put off by it. I kept reading hoping it would get better. By page 83, I figured that it never would and I just could not suffer through another 250 pages so I gave up. I don't recommend this one.
February 28, 2022
Y'all this book fucked me up!
Hoping to reread this later this month when my audio hold comes in because I need another read to process everything this book did.
Goliath is a post-climate apocalypse story that studies several characters: the ones left behind on Earth, and the ones privileged enough to escape to the space Colonies and are now migrating back.
This book is something else y’all. And I mean this in the best way. My brain is sometimes able to sit for like 30 mins and read, but this book had me captivated. I spent around 2 hours sitting on my couch (a miracle in itself) finishing the second half of this book.
Goliath will be a challenging book for many to read, especially white readers. This book offers a hard look at the future. One that doesn’t pull any punches from the racism and anti-Blackness that is rampant in the world. I don’t say this to dissuade anyone from reading, but to be aware of what you’re getting into. This is a book that needs an open mind and one that’s willing to juxtapose the truth with what society wants us to believe.
Rep: Mainly cishet Black and Brown cast, white gay MC, achillean MC with two moms, sapphic elderly female side character.
CWs: Death, drug use/abuse, addiction, violence, murder, colonisation/re-gentrification, child death, cursing, genocide, blood, gore, gun violence, racial slurs, racism, mentions of climate disaster and mass radiation exposure. Moderate: police brutality, rape, sexual violence, suicide attempt, imprisonment, prison riot, hostage situation, kidnapping, child abuse.
Hoping to reread this later this month when my audio hold comes in because I need another read to process everything this book did.
Goliath is a post-climate apocalypse story that studies several characters: the ones left behind on Earth, and the ones privileged enough to escape to the space Colonies and are now migrating back.
This book is something else y’all. And I mean this in the best way. My brain is sometimes able to sit for like 30 mins and read, but this book had me captivated. I spent around 2 hours sitting on my couch (a miracle in itself) finishing the second half of this book.
Goliath will be a challenging book for many to read, especially white readers. This book offers a hard look at the future. One that doesn’t pull any punches from the racism and anti-Blackness that is rampant in the world. I don’t say this to dissuade anyone from reading, but to be aware of what you’re getting into. This is a book that needs an open mind and one that’s willing to juxtapose the truth with what society wants us to believe.
Rep: Mainly cishet Black and Brown cast, white gay MC, achillean MC with two moms, sapphic elderly female side character.
CWs: Death, drug use/abuse, addiction, violence, murder, colonisation/re-gentrification, child death, cursing, genocide, blood, gore, gun violence, racial slurs, racism, mentions of climate disaster and mass radiation exposure. Moderate: police brutality, rape, sexual violence, suicide attempt, imprisonment, prison riot, hostage situation, kidnapping, child abuse.
November 22, 2021
I was really excited to receive a copy because it has such a great concept. Unfortunately, I just wasn't engaged in book. The world building is good and interesting. However, that was about the only thing that I enjoyed. There didn't really feel like there was a structured plot and it felt like it meandered a bit. There were some odd time jumps and there are many different stories being told that are interweaved together. The book is slow paced and I enjoy very few slow paced books. I also didn't feel connected to any of the characters. They never felt fleshed out and I never felt that I knew who any of the characters were. I really wanted to love this book and the book even started off very strongly for me. Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me and I think there will many people who will love this book.
I received an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway, and I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy.
I received an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway, and I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy.
September 23, 2022
This was fantastic. The writing is gorgeous; the world building is immersive; the characters are riveting; the themes are prescient. I felt things; I thought things. There was head scratching followed by discussions and aha moments.
This book starts with summer and progresses through spring mirroring a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. It is a near future US where the privileged have fled to space colonies leaving the marginalized behind on a wasted Earth. But the systems that created marginalized communities in the first place continue to exist. The narrative flows through a variety of perspectives and impresses on the reader more of a grander sense of the big picture than an anchored, specific story. Themes of climate change, racism, police brutality, gentrification, and classism are threaded throughout. There are numerous Biblical references (such as the title) and I adored how these references challenged and flipped a lot Biblical messages.
I listened to the audio and it was amazing!
I highly recommend this and will likely be nominating for the Hugo awards.
Sexual violence? I feel like probably, but I actually don't remember any. Not confident. Other content warnings? Drug use, racism, violence, Christianity, prison, lynching, dementia, police brutality.
This book starts with summer and progresses through spring mirroring a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. It is a near future US where the privileged have fled to space colonies leaving the marginalized behind on a wasted Earth. But the systems that created marginalized communities in the first place continue to exist. The narrative flows through a variety of perspectives and impresses on the reader more of a grander sense of the big picture than an anchored, specific story. Themes of climate change, racism, police brutality, gentrification, and classism are threaded throughout. There are numerous Biblical references (such as the title) and I adored how these references challenged and flipped a lot Biblical messages.
I listened to the audio and it was amazing!
I highly recommend this and will likely be nominating for the Hugo awards.
Sexual violence? I feel like probably, but I actually don't remember any. Not confident. Other content warnings? Drug use, racism, violence, Christianity, prison, lynching, dementia, police brutality.
April 4, 2022
I’m going to get this out of the way first and foremost. This book was not written for everyone; it was not written for me. I can’t even call it a story, because…well, there is no story. Goliath is a potential snapshot of the future, just like any other science fiction novel.
Goliath was beautifully written, the narrative performance on the Audible, immaculate. I loved the portrait that the author painted. But that is all that Goliath is, a portrait; a picture expressed in words from a particular point of view. I was captivated by the power of Onyebuchi’s words, his visions of the future. But I was bored to death by his lack of a story.
As I was reading Goliath, I thought maybe Onyebuchi was going for a Vonnegut thing, like in Galapagos; but it lacked a focal point, it lacked the satire, it lacked the shoe drop, it had no plot.
Goliath was an opinion piece, an editorial commentary on society, a column. As a reader I could agree with some points, disagree with others, I was not emotionally invested.
I’m all for a socio-political leaning in a book, don’t shove it down my throat, mind you, but hell yeah! Give me your opinion, your point of view, I’m down with that. I have my own, let’s see how they bounce off of one another. But if you want me to care…you’ve got to give me a story. A plot. A sequence of events that lead somewhere. A hero. Give me a Goddamn hero! I want to care about something for f*ck’s sake!
Goliath was beautifully written, the narrative performance on the Audible, immaculate. I loved the portrait that the author painted. But that is all that Goliath is, a portrait; a picture expressed in words from a particular point of view. I was captivated by the power of Onyebuchi’s words, his visions of the future. But I was bored to death by his lack of a story.
As I was reading Goliath, I thought maybe Onyebuchi was going for a Vonnegut thing, like in Galapagos; but it lacked a focal point, it lacked the satire, it lacked the shoe drop, it had no plot.
Goliath was an opinion piece, an editorial commentary on society, a column. As a reader I could agree with some points, disagree with others, I was not emotionally invested.
I’m all for a socio-political leaning in a book, don’t shove it down my throat, mind you, but hell yeah! Give me your opinion, your point of view, I’m down with that. I have my own, let’s see how they bounce off of one another. But if you want me to care…you’ve got to give me a story. A plot. A sequence of events that lead somewhere. A hero. Give me a Goddamn hero! I want to care about something for f*ck’s sake!
July 26, 2022
After I thought about this book, I decided it definitely earned it's five star rating. It's a struggle to read, I'm not going to lie. But it's worth it. Strong writing. Interesting world building. And it doesn't flinch from racism and futuristic ideas of how much people will struggle if you don't have the money to survive. Jobs still matter. There's still gangs, violence, drugs and more. This was a brilliant look at how we as a society could crumble and how the earth could look decades from now. I warn you to pay attention to the trigger warnings, and if you can't handle harsh language or violence then this isn't for you. Otherwise this is a strong, unshakable look at our future. 5 ⭐.
January 25, 2022
I received an ARC of Goliath from Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review.
I seem to have bad luck with books called Goliath. Scott Westerfeld’s Goliath left me disappointed a decade ago, and now I’ve had the same experience with Tochi Onyebuchi—but with a key difference: Onyebuchi’s Goliath is much better than Westerfeld’s. The problem this time is that I had difficulty connecting with the characters because the book doesn’t feel like it was properly assembled—it reads like a half-baked collection of short stories gerrymandered into a novel, and the juxtaposition of the vignettes causes them to clash rather than complement one another. I know there’s a good book here; unfortunately, I was unable to find my way to it.
Goliath takes place in the 2050s, and the US has become like Detroit on a macro scale—the haves are leaving Earth for space colonies, and the have-nots are being left behind in a world that is crumbling into disrepair. The story is splintered between several characters who each reveal a different facet of this “not with a bang but a whimper” apocalypse, and I do mean splintered: the POVs do not mesh neatly, and that may well be the point, but I found it exceedingly difficult to transition from one character to another, and I repeatedly put the book down because I was flung out of the story by these switches and then struggled to get back in again. It’s frustrating.
That said, there’s a lot to like in Goliath. Onyebuchi’s prose is rich and dense, the kind that forces you to slow down and take it in small bites, like a too-sweet dessert. It’s exquisite writing. This is also a Smart Book for Smart People™—it is saturated with socio-political commentary and literary allusions (surprise: there’s a character named “David” in this novel called Goliath), and I sometimes found myself struggling to hold on as Onyebuchi added layer after layer after layer. This is the kind of book I probably would have had a better experience with if I had engaged with it in a classroom setting, which has made a major difference for me before.
I’m not sure what to do with Goliath. I didn’t enjoy reading it, and I didn’t feel enriched by it. But I’m not comfortable claiming it’s a bad book—quite the opposite. I found some passages to be legitimately breathtaking; the first page of the novel is nothing less than a masterclass in worldbuilding, and Onyebuchi consistently demonstrates an extraordinary command of language throughout the book. But I can’t shake the feeling that this novel would have better achieved what it wanted to do if it had been restructured into a collection of interlinked short stories and allowed its characters to have cleaner and more contained arcs within their shared world.
Whether Goliath works for you, I suspect, will depend less upon the kind of stories you like than upon how you like your stories told. Even though it didn’t work for me, I would encourage you to give it a shot and find out for yourself.
I seem to have bad luck with books called Goliath. Scott Westerfeld’s Goliath left me disappointed a decade ago, and now I’ve had the same experience with Tochi Onyebuchi—but with a key difference: Onyebuchi’s Goliath is much better than Westerfeld’s. The problem this time is that I had difficulty connecting with the characters because the book doesn’t feel like it was properly assembled—it reads like a half-baked collection of short stories gerrymandered into a novel, and the juxtaposition of the vignettes causes them to clash rather than complement one another. I know there’s a good book here; unfortunately, I was unable to find my way to it.
Goliath takes place in the 2050s, and the US has become like Detroit on a macro scale—the haves are leaving Earth for space colonies, and the have-nots are being left behind in a world that is crumbling into disrepair. The story is splintered between several characters who each reveal a different facet of this “not with a bang but a whimper” apocalypse, and I do mean splintered: the POVs do not mesh neatly, and that may well be the point, but I found it exceedingly difficult to transition from one character to another, and I repeatedly put the book down because I was flung out of the story by these switches and then struggled to get back in again. It’s frustrating.
That said, there’s a lot to like in Goliath. Onyebuchi’s prose is rich and dense, the kind that forces you to slow down and take it in small bites, like a too-sweet dessert. It’s exquisite writing. This is also a Smart Book for Smart People™—it is saturated with socio-political commentary and literary allusions (surprise: there’s a character named “David” in this novel called Goliath), and I sometimes found myself struggling to hold on as Onyebuchi added layer after layer after layer. This is the kind of book I probably would have had a better experience with if I had engaged with it in a classroom setting, which has made a major difference for me before.
I’m not sure what to do with Goliath. I didn’t enjoy reading it, and I didn’t feel enriched by it. But I’m not comfortable claiming it’s a bad book—quite the opposite. I found some passages to be legitimately breathtaking; the first page of the novel is nothing less than a masterclass in worldbuilding, and Onyebuchi consistently demonstrates an extraordinary command of language throughout the book. But I can’t shake the feeling that this novel would have better achieved what it wanted to do if it had been restructured into a collection of interlinked short stories and allowed its characters to have cleaner and more contained arcs within their shared world.
Whether Goliath works for you, I suspect, will depend less upon the kind of stories you like than upon how you like your stories told. Even though it didn’t work for me, I would encourage you to give it a shot and find out for yourself.
March 25, 2022
Tochi Onyebuchi’s has created a layered, complex story about race, gentrification, police brutality, incarceration, white flight, privilege and who gets access to opportunity, tech augmentation of bodies and brains, and tourism for the privileged.
The story takes place primarily in the US, but also in a colony off-world, and it is a really grim, and believable future, of a mostly destroyed land due to environmental disasters, fewer people due to plague(s), crumbling cities and infrastructure, irradiated land, slavery in some parts (guess which?), and enclosed domes.
People are still living in the US, but it’s pretty much mostly BIPoC, as where do you think whites took off to, at least the ones with wealth? Off-world, of course, where it’s clean, life expectancy isn’t severely compromised, and people can contemplate augmenting their bodies with technology.
Using a variety of storytelling methods, such as straight prose, news reports, interviews and documentary, and following multiple characters through their difficult and in some cases intersecting lives, Onyebuchi creates a collage of experiences, mostly grim and violent, but still with people making connections, and looking for meaning and hope.
It’s a complex, complicated story of exploitation and violence, with terror, sadness, laughter, and sheer determination to live. I can’t grasp everything Onyebuchi’s is saying or alluding to (not being familiar with the Bible) but this is a powerful book.
The story takes place primarily in the US, but also in a colony off-world, and it is a really grim, and believable future, of a mostly destroyed land due to environmental disasters, fewer people due to plague(s), crumbling cities and infrastructure, irradiated land, slavery in some parts (guess which?), and enclosed domes.
People are still living in the US, but it’s pretty much mostly BIPoC, as where do you think whites took off to, at least the ones with wealth? Off-world, of course, where it’s clean, life expectancy isn’t severely compromised, and people can contemplate augmenting their bodies with technology.
Using a variety of storytelling methods, such as straight prose, news reports, interviews and documentary, and following multiple characters through their difficult and in some cases intersecting lives, Onyebuchi creates a collage of experiences, mostly grim and violent, but still with people making connections, and looking for meaning and hope.
It’s a complex, complicated story of exploitation and violence, with terror, sadness, laughter, and sheer determination to live. I can’t grasp everything Onyebuchi’s is saying or alluding to (not being familiar with the Bible) but this is a powerful book.
February 3, 2022
I just can't anymore and have to call it quits at page 76. I don't know what's going on, there doesn't seem to be a clear plot. Maybe I'm just not in the headspace to read this book - but for now, nothing is making sense and I don't want to devote any more time to this.
March 4, 2024
This is more a bunch of snapshots of a potential future than a story. It's disjointed, chaotic, and there's just too many characters and too much going on. It's beautifully written, line by line, but that's about all it has going for it.
January 4, 2022
I don't know about this one. I was very much confused on what was going one.
May 17, 2022
My greatest advice is to 1) stick with this one and 2) trust Onyebuchi. This is a book of atmosphere (or, uh, lack thereof), of community, taking a long view of spacetime. It will not open and resolve issues neatly, nor will it provide a sense of concrete character/environment development that readers of more 'traditionally' narrated novels might expect.
I was initially put off and frankly confused by the amount of voices, moving parts, and narratives threaded together in the text, in large part because I couldn't grasp exactly *how* they were threaded in the first place. Then, around the halfway mark, I decided to just sit with the book, let the myriad scenes of familiar and unfamiliar violence, histories past, in progress, and to come, wash over me. I decided not to focus on "nailing down" characters, but letting them do what they do best: tell stories. I immediately found myself compelled by the story of worlds rather than individual people, and felt like I'd finally cracked the code to "getting" this book.
If there is anything to be taken away from this, it's that realities both existent and imagined are themselves characters, and individual persons can be animated to tell those reality-character stories. I'll likely return to this one from the beginning with the knowledge I have now, but what I'll say for certain is that this changes the way I view the "ensemble" novel entirely.
I was initially put off and frankly confused by the amount of voices, moving parts, and narratives threaded together in the text, in large part because I couldn't grasp exactly *how* they were threaded in the first place. Then, around the halfway mark, I decided to just sit with the book, let the myriad scenes of familiar and unfamiliar violence, histories past, in progress, and to come, wash over me. I decided not to focus on "nailing down" characters, but letting them do what they do best: tell stories. I immediately found myself compelled by the story of worlds rather than individual people, and felt like I'd finally cracked the code to "getting" this book.
If there is anything to be taken away from this, it's that realities both existent and imagined are themselves characters, and individual persons can be animated to tell those reality-character stories. I'll likely return to this one from the beginning with the knowledge I have now, but what I'll say for certain is that this changes the way I view the "ensemble" novel entirely.
February 24, 2022
So many thoughts caught up in my chest.
So many jagged feelings.
I need to gather the broken bricks and shattered glass of this reading experience, and build something that reflects the cracked pain and unshakeable truth of this novel.
First, consider the title: Goliath, an epic Biblical reference to an imposing, seemingly unassailable enemy, a big problem you can't get past, under, around, or over, so the only way forward is head-on annihilation.
The problem, as it turns out, may be referred to in monolithic terms, but in actuality, is legion, complex, and occupying both the past, and the present. There is no reason to think that privilege will play less of a role as systemic structures lean towards chaos. It's not just the climate, though catastrophe is one way in which inequalities are magnified. It is in the persistent patterns of oppression, abandonment, and the violent reinforcement of colonization practices.
The themes address environmental racism, the carceral state, the displacement caused by gentrification, and the persistence of patterns which will always favor the powerful.
The author subtly links multiple characters, whose connection to reality is at times slippery and surreal. Their speech patterns and actions match the starkness of their environment: gritty, violent, disturbing, even poisonous, and also introspectively: unsettlingly beautiful.
So many jagged feelings.
I need to gather the broken bricks and shattered glass of this reading experience, and build something that reflects the cracked pain and unshakeable truth of this novel.
First, consider the title: Goliath, an epic Biblical reference to an imposing, seemingly unassailable enemy, a big problem you can't get past, under, around, or over, so the only way forward is head-on annihilation.
The problem, as it turns out, may be referred to in monolithic terms, but in actuality, is legion, complex, and occupying both the past, and the present. There is no reason to think that privilege will play less of a role as systemic structures lean towards chaos. It's not just the climate, though catastrophe is one way in which inequalities are magnified. It is in the persistent patterns of oppression, abandonment, and the violent reinforcement of colonization practices.
The themes address environmental racism, the carceral state, the displacement caused by gentrification, and the persistence of patterns which will always favor the powerful.
The author subtly links multiple characters, whose connection to reality is at times slippery and surreal. Their speech patterns and actions match the starkness of their environment: gritty, violent, disturbing, even poisonous, and also introspectively: unsettlingly beautiful.
February 19, 2022
I suspect one of the best SF novels of the year already this powerful, beautiful and intelligent story explores how existing societal imbalanced of racism and class don’t just vanish with any apocalypse they soon come back with a vengeance. It will stay long in your head after reading it
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Read
January 21, 2023I'm not gonna rate this one mostly because I think I need to reread to fully appreciate it. Like the themes of gentrification, environmental racism, overpolicing of marginalized folks, etc etc were all there, the (too close to home) sci fi/dystopian setting was there, the nuanced and fully realized characters were there. I liked all the parts but I was so confused for so long that the overall picture didn't hit for me. And I genuinely don't think that's this book's fault lol.
I will say the writing was definitely a standout. Very evocative while also being realistic with dialogue (particularly when AAVE was used) and full of lines that genuinely made me stop and think or tugged at my heart strings. That aspect of this book alone makes me want to try Riot Baby by this author. Idk maybe this won't end up being the book for me but I feel like this reading experience isn't enough to determine that yet.
I will say the writing was definitely a standout. Very evocative while also being realistic with dialogue (particularly when AAVE was used) and full of lines that genuinely made me stop and think or tugged at my heart strings. That aspect of this book alone makes me want to try Riot Baby by this author. Idk maybe this won't end up being the book for me but I feel like this reading experience isn't enough to determine that yet.
July 29, 2024
This one goes on my list of the Top Ten Worst Books Ever Written.
Hate spews out from this book on almost every page.
It's not even worth my time to write a review.
It isn't Sci-Fi, it's a rancid piece of filth attempting to start a "race war."
Hate spews out from this book on almost every page.
It's not even worth my time to write a review.
It isn't Sci-Fi, it's a rancid piece of filth attempting to start a "race war."
April 8, 2022
Why do you read Science Fiction? What is it that really draws you in? I could list many things that attract me. When I was a super young reader I was here for the spaceships, as an adult, my favorite thing in speculative fiction is the political stuff that challenges society. That is one reason why my favorite era of SF in the 20th century is from the New Wave on. As that is when the genre really began to challenge everything. That is the key to this book CHALLENGE EVERYTHING.
This is my first-time reading Tochi Onyebuchi and I was more than just impressed, this is a masterwork of speculative (rightfully) angry activism that is equally literature. If you are going to read this book there are a few facts you are going to have to accept. This is opinionated fiction, that is meant to challenge the reader not only with a message but in narrative form. The narrative has a throw you in the deep end feel to it. The story is not told in a direct timeline, the structure of the narrative completely changes in the third part which is a major stylistic change for almost a hundred pages. Despite the radical change in form, this part of the book is the beating heart of the story. The narrative also doesn't hold your hand, it is abstract at times and always requires a mind willing to think deeply about the text. There are times that the story might be confusing for some readers. Not me, but some readers.
The challenges go even deeper. I laughed when I saw a list of trigger warnings for this book in a review. It is not that these things are funny but in a speculative fiction novel that highlights where systematic racism/ Classism collides with global climate and environmental disaster things will get ugly. As Fishbone would say U-G-L-Y Goliath ain't got no alibi. So trigger warnings will include references to rape; graphic instances of drug use; lots of murder, and death; racism, and racial slurs; references to lynching and suicide; descriptions of police brutality, incarceration, gun violence, and a whole bunch of violence in general. How about this, Tochi is keeping it very very real.
There is nothing soft, gentle, or politically sensitive about this novel. Which is kind of a pleasant (from my perspective) divergence from much of modern fiction that at times is afraid to push boundaries. I think the reaction will be interesting as it is a very progressive story politically, but the delivery is zero fucks given warts and all depiction of the post-climate world. Of course, the future TO envisions is one where most of the wealthy have escaped earth to orbital colonies while the marginalized struggle to survive in our mutual home.
I consider this book a masterpiece that has shades of one of my favorite novels of all time John Brunner's 1969 Hugo award-winning Stand on Zanzibar. I thought this book was so damn good that I was curious and looked up a few bad reviews just to see what the negative peeps were saying. TO did lose a fair amount of readers in the first act because people were lost with the slice of life all over the place nature of that first act. This to me was an effective tactic for giving a wide picture of this world. I don't mind being confused as long as the writing is good and interesting moments are involved along the way. It provided excellent moments like...
“The bedsheets chilled their bodies with sweat-soak, rumpled beneath them. They lay side by side, David and Jonathan, and, behind their blindfolds, they traced the arc their drones made over the earth. Lux levels rose in golden bars just outside their vision as the drones dipped through clouds cover and flew past domed cityscapes. Chicago glowed through a blanket of clouds. The drones swooped upward and dwarf galaxies turned from cosmic smudges into multihued ninja shurikens.”
This is not only great prose but excellent world-building where we get a view of the have and have nots. The idea that the wealthy colony folk monitor the earth and wistfully watch the planet they left doesn't drive the story forward but it builds the world. In the moment that will sail past many readers. I wasn't sure at the moment what it meant but I was curious. I am not sure why everyone wants to understand everything right away.
John Brunner in 1969 used a similar tactic of storytelling wise, not confining the story to one point of view, and giving a wide scope of points of view. Goliath does this in way fewer pages. Both books separated by half a century share themes and methods, but of course, the points of view of the authors are radically different. It is funny to see come of the same negative comments too. Not me both books are masterpieces and value radically different takes on the same general idea. Sadly SOZ is hailed now as prophetic for predicting school shootings and reality TV to name just two things, we can only hope Goliath is warning we need, and we avoid this future.
The message as I saw it move from the page into my eyes and straight to my heart was clear. This novel is about the intersection between Racism/Classism and the growing climate change apocalypse. That was Brunner's message as well, but TO's window into it is fresh and vital in a way a book by a radical white Brit in 1968 just can't do anymore no matter how amazing it still is.
“Had nothing to do with the type of life I lived beforehand. Because I think everybody comes to prison, deep down, wanting that. Or at least some version of that. Who comes to prison wantin’ to be turned into an animal?”
During that third part, the book takes on a historical feel. Based on some real events but pushed into the future and fictionalized this part is inspired by the Attica prison riots. It was at this point that I thought I was detecting the wavelength this book was putting out. There is no greater example of the dehumanization of modern racism than the modern prison industrial complex, something I know far too well as I experienced it as an activist. There are many punishments involved in the imprisonment system but the lack of dignity is the root of so much and this novel expresses that very well. There is no way to write about prison without admitting its dark nature of it. The masks come off, racism is open, the class strata of who is fully given human dignity and who is not is open and on the surface so to me this was a really great choice.
How about an example...
“…Your population of guards is pulling from the rural South Carolina job Market? Lotta poor white people bein’ eft behind while the planet’s getting’ warmer and the rich folk are fucking off to space. A lot of the bad stuff white did to Black folk, they did to these kids. Some of these kids came in beyond hope. They watched their parents get spied on by police and picked up in unmarked vans. Had their first taste of first-gen toasters. They just knew how the whole system was. They knew and didn’t give a fuck. I think it just made them more likely to blow the whole place up. Ain’t no cage for their kind of angry.”
This is already a reality of the prison COs and the inherent problems in the system but TO extrapolates this into his speculative future perfection. The first generation toasters are AI mech fighters who alongside drones take high-tech police repression to support the ruling elite of this future. The prisons are full of frontline rednecks but the system is supported by technology.
So is the mission statement of this novel this simple...
“And that is how it started. That’s how…all this got started. The red dust storms, the radiation, the fallout, the war, The Exodusters. All of it.”
A short but powerful moment, but nearly every page of the book contains powerful statements. It is a book that might not be understood when you first go through it. As I started this review I kept talking about the challenge of it. A brutal and literary David Versus Goliath re-mix that never flinches anyway from the hard is what the genre needed this year. Give Goliath all the awards next year at least nominate it for everything. This is as vital a new sci-fi book as I have read in years. Maybe since Carrie Vaughn's Bannerless, or Rivers Solomon's Sorrowland.
The thing is TO has such a powerful voice, singular in tone, training, and writing ability this book is a miracle of awesomeness I have to celebrate. I am dying to have the author on my podcast, to break down this amazing work. I will have to read Riot Baby, but this book feels like an author unleashed. Even though it is my first time reading him. So more than anything I can't wait till the next one.
This is my first-time reading Tochi Onyebuchi and I was more than just impressed, this is a masterwork of speculative (rightfully) angry activism that is equally literature. If you are going to read this book there are a few facts you are going to have to accept. This is opinionated fiction, that is meant to challenge the reader not only with a message but in narrative form. The narrative has a throw you in the deep end feel to it. The story is not told in a direct timeline, the structure of the narrative completely changes in the third part which is a major stylistic change for almost a hundred pages. Despite the radical change in form, this part of the book is the beating heart of the story. The narrative also doesn't hold your hand, it is abstract at times and always requires a mind willing to think deeply about the text. There are times that the story might be confusing for some readers. Not me, but some readers.
The challenges go even deeper. I laughed when I saw a list of trigger warnings for this book in a review. It is not that these things are funny but in a speculative fiction novel that highlights where systematic racism/ Classism collides with global climate and environmental disaster things will get ugly. As Fishbone would say U-G-L-Y Goliath ain't got no alibi. So trigger warnings will include references to rape; graphic instances of drug use; lots of murder, and death; racism, and racial slurs; references to lynching and suicide; descriptions of police brutality, incarceration, gun violence, and a whole bunch of violence in general. How about this, Tochi is keeping it very very real.
There is nothing soft, gentle, or politically sensitive about this novel. Which is kind of a pleasant (from my perspective) divergence from much of modern fiction that at times is afraid to push boundaries. I think the reaction will be interesting as it is a very progressive story politically, but the delivery is zero fucks given warts and all depiction of the post-climate world. Of course, the future TO envisions is one where most of the wealthy have escaped earth to orbital colonies while the marginalized struggle to survive in our mutual home.
I consider this book a masterpiece that has shades of one of my favorite novels of all time John Brunner's 1969 Hugo award-winning Stand on Zanzibar. I thought this book was so damn good that I was curious and looked up a few bad reviews just to see what the negative peeps were saying. TO did lose a fair amount of readers in the first act because people were lost with the slice of life all over the place nature of that first act. This to me was an effective tactic for giving a wide picture of this world. I don't mind being confused as long as the writing is good and interesting moments are involved along the way. It provided excellent moments like...
“The bedsheets chilled their bodies with sweat-soak, rumpled beneath them. They lay side by side, David and Jonathan, and, behind their blindfolds, they traced the arc their drones made over the earth. Lux levels rose in golden bars just outside their vision as the drones dipped through clouds cover and flew past domed cityscapes. Chicago glowed through a blanket of clouds. The drones swooped upward and dwarf galaxies turned from cosmic smudges into multihued ninja shurikens.”
This is not only great prose but excellent world-building where we get a view of the have and have nots. The idea that the wealthy colony folk monitor the earth and wistfully watch the planet they left doesn't drive the story forward but it builds the world. In the moment that will sail past many readers. I wasn't sure at the moment what it meant but I was curious. I am not sure why everyone wants to understand everything right away.
John Brunner in 1969 used a similar tactic of storytelling wise, not confining the story to one point of view, and giving a wide scope of points of view. Goliath does this in way fewer pages. Both books separated by half a century share themes and methods, but of course, the points of view of the authors are radically different. It is funny to see come of the same negative comments too. Not me both books are masterpieces and value radically different takes on the same general idea. Sadly SOZ is hailed now as prophetic for predicting school shootings and reality TV to name just two things, we can only hope Goliath is warning we need, and we avoid this future.
The message as I saw it move from the page into my eyes and straight to my heart was clear. This novel is about the intersection between Racism/Classism and the growing climate change apocalypse. That was Brunner's message as well, but TO's window into it is fresh and vital in a way a book by a radical white Brit in 1968 just can't do anymore no matter how amazing it still is.
“Had nothing to do with the type of life I lived beforehand. Because I think everybody comes to prison, deep down, wanting that. Or at least some version of that. Who comes to prison wantin’ to be turned into an animal?”
During that third part, the book takes on a historical feel. Based on some real events but pushed into the future and fictionalized this part is inspired by the Attica prison riots. It was at this point that I thought I was detecting the wavelength this book was putting out. There is no greater example of the dehumanization of modern racism than the modern prison industrial complex, something I know far too well as I experienced it as an activist. There are many punishments involved in the imprisonment system but the lack of dignity is the root of so much and this novel expresses that very well. There is no way to write about prison without admitting its dark nature of it. The masks come off, racism is open, the class strata of who is fully given human dignity and who is not is open and on the surface so to me this was a really great choice.
How about an example...
“…Your population of guards is pulling from the rural South Carolina job Market? Lotta poor white people bein’ eft behind while the planet’s getting’ warmer and the rich folk are fucking off to space. A lot of the bad stuff white did to Black folk, they did to these kids. Some of these kids came in beyond hope. They watched their parents get spied on by police and picked up in unmarked vans. Had their first taste of first-gen toasters. They just knew how the whole system was. They knew and didn’t give a fuck. I think it just made them more likely to blow the whole place up. Ain’t no cage for their kind of angry.”
This is already a reality of the prison COs and the inherent problems in the system but TO extrapolates this into his speculative future perfection. The first generation toasters are AI mech fighters who alongside drones take high-tech police repression to support the ruling elite of this future. The prisons are full of frontline rednecks but the system is supported by technology.
So is the mission statement of this novel this simple...
“And that is how it started. That’s how…all this got started. The red dust storms, the radiation, the fallout, the war, The Exodusters. All of it.”
A short but powerful moment, but nearly every page of the book contains powerful statements. It is a book that might not be understood when you first go through it. As I started this review I kept talking about the challenge of it. A brutal and literary David Versus Goliath re-mix that never flinches anyway from the hard is what the genre needed this year. Give Goliath all the awards next year at least nominate it for everything. This is as vital a new sci-fi book as I have read in years. Maybe since Carrie Vaughn's Bannerless, or Rivers Solomon's Sorrowland.
The thing is TO has such a powerful voice, singular in tone, training, and writing ability this book is a miracle of awesomeness I have to celebrate. I am dying to have the author on my podcast, to break down this amazing work. I will have to read Riot Baby, but this book feels like an author unleashed. Even though it is my first time reading him. So more than anything I can't wait till the next one.
August 27, 2022
I can see why Tochi Onyebuchi's Goliath wasn't for everyone. It is nonlinear, "political" (I will elaborate on my use of quotes,) and is different than a lot of more well known dystopian scifi in some ways. It was, however, definitely for me. I felt immersed in the story and each character felt real to me. I listened to the audio version despite initially intending to read it in print. I've had very little time to read lately. Those who cast and produced the audio version did an excellent job. I can definitely still enjoy listening to a lower budget, single narrator audiobook and all of them certainly help me to make it through my massive to-read list. But, the multi-narrator approach to this audiobook worked really well. Each narrator, (or should I say voice actor?) performed their narration and dialogue with great skill.
As for the meandering plot and nonlinear style of this book, it performed for me more as an immersive exercise than a typical storytelling. It felt like I stepped into a near-future world and walked through it, listening to people along the way and following some of them throughout their lives. Sometimes I might feel a little lost, but I would find my way back to where I was going. I would see many things in hindsight.
As for people calling it "political" in a negative way, I do understand what they mean. But, I disagree. Honestly, everything seems political to me. Some of it is obvious because the messages step outside of a normative internalized way of being that people are indoctrinated into from birth. This, for instance, is why anything gay or non-cishet is often deemed political. This book often fits into that type of box because it involves a lot of dialogue where many people are discussing their lived experiences of oppression, environmental destruction, and collapse. However, every dystopian book with a white guy hero from a poor background who fights a powerful structure in order to rescue a woman he falls in love with is also quite political, just in a different way. I see how the use of dialogue and story telling could lead some people to feel that they were reading a manifesto, but to me it just read as people speaking their truth in conversation. And, the audio version added great elements to it, showing how each performer and director interpreted these characters. I say all of this as a person who loves manifestos as well, so perhaps my opinion isn't very helpful. But, tl;dr, everything is political.
I will end this here and encourage you to read the story for yourself.
This was also posted to my blog.
As for the meandering plot and nonlinear style of this book, it performed for me more as an immersive exercise than a typical storytelling. It felt like I stepped into a near-future world and walked through it, listening to people along the way and following some of them throughout their lives. Sometimes I might feel a little lost, but I would find my way back to where I was going. I would see many things in hindsight.
As for people calling it "political" in a negative way, I do understand what they mean. But, I disagree. Honestly, everything seems political to me. Some of it is obvious because the messages step outside of a normative internalized way of being that people are indoctrinated into from birth. This, for instance, is why anything gay or non-cishet is often deemed political. This book often fits into that type of box because it involves a lot of dialogue where many people are discussing their lived experiences of oppression, environmental destruction, and collapse. However, every dystopian book with a white guy hero from a poor background who fights a powerful structure in order to rescue a woman he falls in love with is also quite political, just in a different way. I see how the use of dialogue and story telling could lead some people to feel that they were reading a manifesto, but to me it just read as people speaking their truth in conversation. And, the audio version added great elements to it, showing how each performer and director interpreted these characters. I say all of this as a person who loves manifestos as well, so perhaps my opinion isn't very helpful. But, tl;dr, everything is political.
I will end this here and encourage you to read the story for yourself.
This was also posted to my blog.
November 4, 2021
DNF
I received this as an ARC from the publisher as the synopsis sounded interesting to me.
I was expecting a post apocalyptic sci fi type story. It was a few separate stories of people left behind on a polluted and ruined Earth, while the bulk of Earth’s population were living on space colonies. The stories were riddled with rampant drug abuse, profanity, as well as racially divisive undertones. I read sci fi fictional books to escape the political rhetoric being thrown around in this country today. Instead I feel what I read in this book was full of it. Definitely not my cup of tea. I did not complete the book, therefore I gave it a 1-star rating.
I received this as an ARC from the publisher as the synopsis sounded interesting to me.
I was expecting a post apocalyptic sci fi type story. It was a few separate stories of people left behind on a polluted and ruined Earth, while the bulk of Earth’s population were living on space colonies. The stories were riddled with rampant drug abuse, profanity, as well as racially divisive undertones. I read sci fi fictional books to escape the political rhetoric being thrown around in this country today. Instead I feel what I read in this book was full of it. Definitely not my cup of tea. I did not complete the book, therefore I gave it a 1-star rating.
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