PositiveAncillary Review of BooksMore than being about plot, the novel is about wandering lives trying to make their brief time on earth worthwhile, to find companionship in the face of extreme loss of family and identity; Goliath explores an abstract idea of home as a placeholder in the search for meaning. It is a fruitless search, just like their lives, for these people live with the keen awareness that none of the people they grow to love, care for, or somehow save, have any chance of long-time survival. The lack of hope is stark, both in the novel and in its characters; yet, none comment on it ... Onyebuchi does not hold our hands through it. He flings us right into the middle of this dystopia—a dystopia which is really just a plausible follow-up to the reality we come across daily, through social media if not our lived experience ... Goliath offers prophetic vignettes highlighting the circular motion of history, leaving the reader piecing together the timelines of the story leading up to the present. Hence, a substantial portion of the novel is devoted to catching up the reader on the world that the characters inhabit, which may feel tedious, but it is essential to understand the roots of the ways of the world.
