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Rosewater by Tade Thompson
Dec. 30th, 2025 07:15 pmI suspect I have higher tolerance than most for books with unpleasant protagonists, provided the book recognizes that the protagonist sort of sucks. I have very low tolerance for books where the protagonist sucks and the book thinks the protagonist is A+ super amazing. Those grate on me and I really get very annoyed. But I think even a little acknowledgment that the protagonist has flaws can smooth things for me quite a bit.
Kaaro, the protagonist of Tade Thompson’s Rosewater, is not a particular pleasant or likable person. He has lots of moral failings, from casual sexism to a general lack of interest in others, a frustrating passivity with respect to the morality of how he is using his psychic powers for his main job (government interrogations) and/or freelance jobs (finding lost things, bank security, etc.). He is a bit better morally now than he was as a kid (stealing things he didn’t need just because his psychic powers helped him know where valuables were), but he between his own lack of moral direction and the forces taking advantage of his powers, he is not much improved, and certainly doing more consequential things than stealing a few hundred bucks or some jewelry.
I don’t think we are supposed to see Kaaro as admirable or flawless. I do think we are supposed to find some of his personality charming, which may or may not land, but the most interesting things going on in the story are probably about connection and isolation. Kaaro’s ability is to be connected to other people (via a ubiquitous network of microscopic alien fungus that permits mental and emotional information to be perceived by those who are sensitive like Kaaro). As is often the case with these sorts of stories, we see exploration of identity in relation to how one is delineated from others, how access to someone else’s mind can bring or undermine closeness, how a telepath’s respect for someone’s mental privacy is fundamental to respecting their personhood. While Kaaro is not a great person when it comes to responsible use of telepathy in general, I think the book does a nice job of exploring these familiar themes in an interesting way through this flawed protagonist.
Where the book really stood out for me (and overcame the unnecessary time jumps in narrative presenation) is the alien consciousness and world building for the setting. The Nigeria of 2066 in which the story is set, and the city of Rosewater (which I did enjoy seeing in the different time periods, just maybe not jumping back and forth between them so much), were great! Rich settings! The different forces at work (Wormwood, Section 45, the Political Dissidents, the swaths of people seeking healing), were all great parts of the setting and world!
This is the first Tade Thompson I’ve read; I’ll probably read more.
Kaaro, the protagonist of Tade Thompson’s Rosewater, is not a particular pleasant or likable person. He has lots of moral failings, from casual sexism to a general lack of interest in others, a frustrating passivity with respect to the morality of how he is using his psychic powers for his main job (government interrogations) and/or freelance jobs (finding lost things, bank security, etc.). He is a bit better morally now than he was as a kid (stealing things he didn’t need just because his psychic powers helped him know where valuables were), but he between his own lack of moral direction and the forces taking advantage of his powers, he is not much improved, and certainly doing more consequential things than stealing a few hundred bucks or some jewelry.
I don’t think we are supposed to see Kaaro as admirable or flawless. I do think we are supposed to find some of his personality charming, which may or may not land, but the most interesting things going on in the story are probably about connection and isolation. Kaaro’s ability is to be connected to other people (via a ubiquitous network of microscopic alien fungus that permits mental and emotional information to be perceived by those who are sensitive like Kaaro). As is often the case with these sorts of stories, we see exploration of identity in relation to how one is delineated from others, how access to someone else’s mind can bring or undermine closeness, how a telepath’s respect for someone’s mental privacy is fundamental to respecting their personhood. While Kaaro is not a great person when it comes to responsible use of telepathy in general, I think the book does a nice job of exploring these familiar themes in an interesting way through this flawed protagonist.
Where the book really stood out for me (and overcame the unnecessary time jumps in narrative presenation) is the alien consciousness and world building for the setting. The Nigeria of 2066 in which the story is set, and the city of Rosewater (which I did enjoy seeing in the different time periods, just maybe not jumping back and forth between them so much), were great! Rich settings! The different forces at work (Wormwood, Section 45, the Political Dissidents, the swaths of people seeking healing), were all great parts of the setting and world!
This is the first Tade Thompson I’ve read; I’ll probably read more.
