Lagoon Nnedi Okorafor Quotes

Just because you are American does not make you American.

The tarantula scrambles faster, certain that he will make it across. Certain of his extraordinary speed. Crunch.

You might have liked the United States more,”” she said. “They’ve got more stuff. And if your spaceship is broken, they can probably fix it better.

Dedicated to the little blue jellyfish I saw swimming the Khalid Lagoon that sunny day in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

I am the unseen. For centuries I have been here, beneath this great city, this metropolis. I know your language. I know all languages. . . . My cave is broad and cool. The sun cannot send its heat down here. The damp soil is rich and fragrant. I turn softly on my back and place my eight legs to the cave ceiling. Then, I listen. I am the spider. I see sound. I feel taste. I hear touch. I spin this story. This is the story I’ve spun.

Adaora was beginning to see why Ayodele’s people had chosen the city of Lagos. If they’d landed in New York, Tokyo or London, the governments of these places would have quickly swooped to hide, isolate and study the aliens. Here in Lagos, there was no such order.

Sometimes a man must throw caution to the wind.

When she was afraid, nervous, or uncomfortable, all she had to do was focus on the science to feel balanced again. It was no different now.

If there were aliens, they certainly wouldn’t come to Nigeria. Or maybe they would.

When are aliens ever not evil?” “E.T.?” Rome said.

School will bring you more success than marriage.

He wished he were at his home in Abuja with a glass of cool Guinness, watching Star Wars on his high-definition widescreen television. He loved Star Wars, especially the more recent instalments. There was such honour in Star Wars. In another life, he’d have made a great Jedi knight. Being a vigilante loyal only to justice was always better than being any kind of head of state.

Look, Brother Chris, women are . . . weak vessels. It is identified in the Bible.

Human beings have a hard time relating to that which does not resemble them. It’s your greatest flaw.

Does the soul transform too? Adaora wondered. She'd never believed in God, but she was a scientist and knew that matter could be neither created nor destroyed. It just changed form.

All of them watched the footage, even Fisayo. After it finished, none of them said a word, yet in their minds, they saw plenty. Jacobs saw an end to living with parents who refused to accept him. His sister Fisayo saw all of Lagos in flames. Seven saw infinite possibilities and a people from outer space that could make the world embrace and love everyone. Rome saw the rise of Rome.

How can a man slap his wife ‘in the name of Jesus’? You instructed him to do so! You think I didn’t see your e-mail to him a week ago? ‘Break her with your hands, then soften her with flowers.

She flies higher than she’s ever flown before, maybe she is trying to leave the earth. She isn’t sure, she isn’t thinking about it. She’s far in her mind, deep in her own thoughts, the air on her wings feels amazing, she is swimming, rolling through the air as if it’s water. She lifts her head as she flies and lets out a series of loud chirps. And that’s when she sees it. The largest bat ever. Flying faster than any hawk or eagle or owl, roaring like some sort of monster. She doesn’t know the human word ‘dragon’ otherwise she would call it that. There is no time to flee. No time to turn. No time to shriek, and no pain. It is like being thrown into the stars.

You fit get me inside dere?” he asked, his voice lusty in her ear. “I go try, baby,” she whispered.

Anthony was calm as an underground river. Father Oke was a volcano ready to erupt.

I am the spider. I see sound. I feel taste. I hear touch. I spin the story. This is the story I’ve spun. I am Udide Okwanka.

These roads are full of ghosts.

sharklike creature collide with Agu. A moment later, the creature was flying out of the water, hurled a hundred feet in the air. Adaora could see its great toothy jaws gape. Then splash!

Edgar never used the rhythm to do violence again. But when he got on stage, when he rapped and let the words flow from his tongue like warmed honey, he could feel it. It would be there when he needed it. So far, he hadn’t needed it.

would you have felt?

THE BOY AND THE LADY

Lagos–Benin Expressway.

In many ways, Bar Beach was a perfect sample of Nigerian society. It was a place of mixing. The ocean mixed with the land, and the wealthy mixed with the poor.

He’d learned the hard way that he could never trust people during such times. Anyone could get swept in to the mob’s violent mentality at any moment.

After it finished, none of them said a word, yet in their minds, they saw plenty. Jacobs saw an end to living with parents who refused to accept him. His sister Fisayo saw all of Lagos in flames. Seven saw infinite possibilities and a people from outer space that could make the world embrace and

The cure for anything is salt water— sweat, tears, or the sea. —ISAK DINESEN ( pseudonym of Danish writer Baroness Karen Blixen)

I think it’s some sort of octopus or squid,” Adaora said. “Chale, those things are smart,” Anthony said. Adaora had been thinking the same thing. Cephalopods were the smartest invertebrates on earth. One that was alien-enhanced . . . Those men didn’t stand a chance.

My plan was genius. Seriously, the woman was an idiot. She really believed her Caucasian blood and money made her irresistible to one of Nollywood’s top film directors. She’d even told me these things in those exact words. She had no clue that she sounded like a racist condescending asshole. There was a very pure strain of White Privilege running through her. So why not capitalize on her idiocy?

The mute boy never knew his father or mother. He was found in a Dumpster and then placed in an orphanage. No one ever bothered to name him, and he never knew how to name himself. He was only eight years old.

You three were chosen," Ayodele said. "You made sense. I know we've made the right choice.

...she had returned to the beach out of habit. Since dropping out of university, this stretch of sand was where her future resided. She would walk it until the day some man wanted more than just to have sex with her. Since she'd put aside her dream of being a nurse, she'd embrace the idea of being a wife, like her mother. A woman who minded the home, the children and lay on her back for only one man. The prostitution was just to make ends meet until that time came.

Bar beach was where she knew her destiny waited for her.

It was still clear and wet. She touched the water that lapped at her shoes and brought it to her lips. Still salty. A low wind blew gentle waves on the water and the sun was setting. "Take me!" she shouted at the ocean. The air smelled cloyingly fishy, yet the more she inhaled, the clearer her mind felt. Clean, clean air. "Take me!" She threw off her gym shoes and socks and moved into the water.

What did you do to that crazy woman?" she asked Ayodele, who sat beside her in the car now holding her hand. "I took her to the water," Ayodele said. "That's all she wanted.