My first book in March is the remarkable "Lost Ark Dreaming" by Suyi Davies Okungbowa.

My first book in March is the remarkable "Lost Ark Dreaming" by Suyi Davies Okungbowa. This Afrofuturist work presents our beloved Lagos in the blazing intensity of advanced civilisation while standing precariously on the edge of ecological collapse. Okungbowa imagines a futuristic Lagos shaped by environmental degradation and political greed, creating a setting that feels both speculative and disturbingly familiar.

The narrative unfolds through Yekini, whose life is moulded by tragedy and haunting premonitions of who she is meant to become. These visions, sharpened by painful past experiences, guide her toward a decisive commitment when she encounters the child who once saved her. Yekini resolves that her life must serve a singular purpose: exposing the truth behind the long-standing deception that governs their world. Alongside Tuoyo and Ngozi, her journey becomes tied together by a shared history of suffering inflicted by the corruption and excesses of those who rule this futuristic Lagos.

The novel is sustained by several theoretical discourses that animate its depth. As an Afrofuturist text, it situates African realities within speculative futures, reclaiming imaginative space for African storytelling. Ecocriticism runs strongly through the work as environmental pollution and climate devastation shape the conditions of survival in Lagos. Feminist and gender discourses surface through the agency of characters like Yekini and Ngozi, while the presence of queer identities expands the novel’s engagement with gender and sexuality.

The text also engages postcolonial and dystopian studies. The Lagos of Okungbowa’s imagination bears the marks of colonial legacies—resource exploitation, inequality, and power consolidation—now intensified within a technologically advanced but environmentally fragile society. Through this blend of mythology, science fiction, ecocriticism, and postcolonial reflection, "Lost Ark Dreaming" reads not only as speculative fiction but as a cautionary vision of the ecological future that cities like Lagos may yet confront."