The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm is a truly fascinating sci-fi set in Africa. Talk about fabulous worldbuilding! It’s surprisingly accessible and gives us only a little “weirdness” at a time so we have time to acclimate.

Interesting how this almost absurd world can seem so plausible. Why is that? Not just the details, but the confidence with which they’re presented. The author isn’t arguing, isn’t trying to convince the reader. The POV character takes his world for granted, even, which makes the bizarreness seem mundane. Fabulous.

Fab description on page 66: “It was ten o’clock at night. The vast city of Harate was spread out like a jeweled sea. Traffic lights blinked at the tops of buildings. Busses, taxis and limos swarmed through the skyways, patrolled by cops in night-black cars that reflected no light. They were like patches of moving darkness in the rowdy, noisy traffic.” Delicious.

How, with all these POVs, does it stay Tendai’s story? It does but I want to dig into it later and see how it does.

The plot twists and turns—then the line on pg. 296, “Because with courage, you weren’t afraid to look at the truth. You weren’t afraid to ask questions or do the right thing.” One of my favorites by far. This book deserves further study. Mental note made.