Lost Ark Dreaming - by Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Off the coast of West Africa, decades after the dangerous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, the region's survivors live inside five partially submerged, kilometers-high towers originally created as a playground for the wealthy. Now the towers' most affluent rule from their lofty perch at the top while the rest are crammed into the dark, fetid floors below sea level. There are also those who were left for dead in the Atlantic, only to be reawakened by an ancient power, and who seek vengeance on those who offered them up to the waves. Three lives within the towers are pulled to the fore of this conflict: Yekini, an earnest, mid-level rookie analyst; Tuoyo, an undersea mechanic mourning a tremendous loss; and Ngozi, an egotistical bureaucrat from the highest levels of governance. They will need to work together if there is to be any hope of a future that is worth living--for everyone"--

Book Synopsis

"Suyi Davies Okungbowa is a scholar of place and a master of worlds--his grasp of how we are shaped by the spaces we occupy makes him one of the most exciting authors writing in SFF."--Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

A Most Anticipated in 2024 Pick for Goodreads BookBub She Reads Men's Health FanFiAddict Screen Rant

A Library Journal May 2024 Prepub Alert Pick

The brutally engineered class divisions of Snowpiercer meets Rivers Solomon's The Deep in this high-octane post-climate disaster novella written by Nommo Award-winning author Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Off the coast of West Africa, decades after the dangerous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, the region's survivors live inside five partially submerged, kilometers-high towers originally created as a playground for the wealthy. Now the towers' most affluent rule from their lofty perch at the top while the rest are crammed into the dark, fetid floors below sea level.

There are also those who were left for dead in the Atlantic, only to be reawakened by an ancient power, and who seek vengeance on those who offered them up to the waves.

Three lives within the towers are pulled to the fore of this conflict: Yekini, an earnest, mid-level rookie analyst; Tuoyo, an undersea mechanic mourning a tremendous loss; and Ngozi, an egotistical bureaucrat from the highest levels of governance. They will need to work together if there is to be any hope of a future that is worth living--for everyone.

Review Quotes

""The strength of Lost Ark Dreaming lies in Okungbowa's careful attention to the details. . .The story of three characters from different social classes learning to work together remains compelling."--The Washington Post

"Okungbowa's writing prods at divisions and hierarchies, walls and structures, widening the cracks that already existed to deftly reveal that such separations are not as solid as they pretend to be."--Los Angeles Review of Books

"Both an imaginative work of climate fiction and a shrewd condemnation of contemporary sociopolitical institutions. Lost Ark Dreaming is truly the best of its genre--cautionary, humanizing, and reflective all at once."--Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

"A quick read with novel-sized tension and lovely, high-concept ideas about immigration, class and community. It's thought-provoking while maintaining the pacing and enjoyment of the action-adventure kind of book I expect from Okungbowa."--Rebecca Roanhorse, New York Times bestselling author

"Lost Ark Dreaming reads like a locked-room-styled dystopia slick as a fast-paced horror with the tones of social commentary. A surreal fusion of African politics, climate fiction, and mythology in the tongue of poetry and philosophy."--Tlotlo Tsamaase, author of Womb City

"Prepare to be swept away by this epic-on-the-inside novella that will immerse you deeply and immediately with its intensity, pace and vision. Absolutely unputdownable!"--Samit Basu, author of The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

"Seriously well-worth reading."--Lightspeed

"Okungbowa successfully layers POVs to pull off a very big story in a small amount of time, a tale of a future that seems all too possible given the pace of gentrification and climate change. Lost Ark Dreaming simply cannot be missed."--Reactor

"Beautifully written, paced, and imagined, Lost Ark Dreaming is a novella I hope every fan of dystopian post-apocalyptic fiction picks up and tries out."--Grimdark Magazine

"A potent and heady mixture of science fiction, myth, allegory and the power of story and communication"--Nerds of a Feather

"Okungbowa's clear-eyed look at present dangers and the compassion and conviction of his characters as they come to confront the dark realities of their society lend the tale a memorable and even heroic resonance."--Locus

"Lost Ark Dreaming dares us to imagine an alternative future - if we can but find the language for it."--Interzone

"For fans of genre benders, dystopia, and stories of great humanity, Lost Ark Dreaming is a feast of meaning. The novella may be short, but Okungbowa achieves a feat of compression. Readers will be drawn into a fast-paced story set in an intensely imagined world of science, spirits, and poetry."--Shelf Awareness

"Okungbowa (Warrior of the Wind) offers readers an amazing, character-driven story set in a vivid, dystopian world."--Library Journal, starred review

"Okungbowa skillfully probes the trio's immediate distrust of each other, exposing their prejudices and ignorance, while ramping up the action to almost Dune-like intensity. . . .Where the writing really shines, however, is in the small details, like the orange-peel necklace Ngozi wears in memory of his lost sister. Readers will be gratified."--Publishers Weekly

"Okungbowa's latest is action packed and bold, a Mami Wata folklore-inspired story of capitalist, green-washing corruption and of postapocalyptic revolution, reminiscent of Rivers Solomon and Ursula K. Le Guin. This novella is thought provoking and will spur readers to challenge their own complicities and take action. while also featuring a fast pace and a compelling narrative." --Booklist

About the Author

Suyi Davies Okungbowa is a Nigerian author of fantasy, science fiction and general speculative work. His latest novel is Son of the Storm, first in the epic fantasy trilogy, The Nameless Republic. His debut godpunk fantasy novel David Mogo, Godhunter (Abaddon, 2019), won the 2020 Nommo Ilube Award for Best Speculative Novel by an African. His shorter works have appeared in various periodicals and anthologies and have been nominated for various awards. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Arizona, and currently teaches at the University of Ottawa.