Angola - Transparent City - Ondjaki

13th Jan 2025: just pottering about on a rainy day, updating the blog page, and i was looking at the Big List. I noticed I've got quite a few of the countries stating with the letter A knocked off. But Afghanistan was still blank. After a bit of research Afghan Science Fiction looks like its going to be a more in depth search, that I'm just not in the mood for today. So I skipped over to Angola, and did a bit more research, this was a little more rewarding and I came across Ondjaki. He's written a fair amount of fictional books, and Transparent city was the closest I could find to Science Fiction. So I've added it my Audible Library, and if it is Science Fiction I'll pick up a physical book also. So it's cost me an audible credit which I pay £7.99 for. Oh yeah, as a little side note i'm starting to log how much I spend on this project now too. Just because I like stats.

22 Jan 2026

I finished the audio book today, and I'm torn, very torn. I mean it was a fun book, dealing with corruption at a low levels and at the very highest levels of the Angolan political spectrum. It was enjoyable with some very funny scenes and stories. I feel I've learnt more about Angola, then I ever knew; which was pretty much nothing! So the reason I'm torn is because. I'm just not sure how Science Fiction this book is. There is a character that is slowly turning invisible, and towards the very end of the book ends up floating also. There are weird things that happen, such as solar eclipse suddenly doesn't happen. Even though it was predicted by NASA. There is also an unusual scene when a dead body is incredibly heavy and ends up making a hole in the floor and falls through all six floors of the building. None of these incidents seem remarkable to the people around these moments. They are just commented on and seen as a little unusual. But life just goes on. So i'm not sure if it belongs in this project or not. I've done a little more research and the same author has another book, which may have a little more science fiction.

I'm not sure if this is me just trying to convince my self, but The invisible man by HG Wells is often seen as science fiction. The odd astral phenomenon makes it sound more science fiction too! It has a dystopian fee to it also. So the book is going to sit in the project for now, and I'll look out for the author's other books too... and if they are more convincing as science fiction I'll buy the Physical book, and it WILL be part of the project!