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bookph1le's review against another edition
2.0
This book just did not do it for me, and I loved Ship Breaker and The Drowned Cities, which I thought were extraordinary novels. The worlds they depicted were just as harsh and brutal as this one, but this book just left me cold. Some spoilers to follow, so consider yourself forewarned.
When I write a review like this, I feel like I have to throw in a lot of caveats, such as: obviously I don't dislike dark stories just because they're dark, hence my admiration for his YA novels. I don't dislike books with less than savory characters just because the characters aren't bastions of goodness: hence my love of Gone Girl.
There, now that that's out of the way, I can get to the heart of the matter. My issue with this book is that everything about it just feels lurid to me. From the stomach-churningly creative torture scenes to the creepiest sex scene I've read in a long time, this book just seemed to revel in the depraved nature of its world.
I get it. People really, really suck sometimes. But you know what? They also often don't suck. Darkness is okay. Human nature is dark sometimes. What I don't like is nihilism, and this book felt like it tiptoed right on over into that category. I mean, what is the point of stories filled with unremitting, unrelenting darkness? I don't feel like I learn anything from them and, further, I frankly don't find them realistic because, again, people are very capable of being mind-bogglingly selfless, even in the most dire and horrific circumstances.
Sometimes the novel flirts with this concept, but that's all it does, it flirts, and that flirtation ultimately means nothing. In fact, that concept is looked on with some derision, as when Angel watches his favorite TV show and Lucy reveals to him the cynicism that led to its creation. Every time a character in this book does something good or noble or selfless, it comes back to bite them in the end, and I found it exhausting, causing me to limp to the end of this book.
As for the characters in this book, they didn't feel very nuanced to me. I found Lucy and Angel's relationship especially cringe-worthy because it never seemed to rise above the stereotypical, worn woman drawn to the bad boy trope. Lucy in general did not work for me, though I imagine a therapist would have a real field day with that one. Really, you could take every character in the book and boil them down to this: they're selfish. Yes, I think that people are driven by personal motivations and that they'll do awful things if they're struggling to survive, but I can't get past the sameness of every character in this book. They have different names, different genders, different races and ages, but they're all pretty much the same.
I still intend to reach Bacigalupi's other works as Ship Breaker and The Drowned Cities grabbed me almost immediately, while this one took me a long time to get into, and then left me slogging my way to the finish. Hopefully, this book was simply an outlier.
When I write a review like this, I feel like I have to throw in a lot of caveats, such as: obviously I don't dislike dark stories just because they're dark, hence my admiration for his YA novels. I don't dislike books with less than savory characters just because the characters aren't bastions of goodness: hence my love of Gone Girl.
There, now that that's out of the way, I can get to the heart of the matter. My issue with this book is that everything about it just feels lurid to me. From the stomach-churningly creative torture scenes to the creepiest sex scene I've read in a long time, this book just seemed to revel in the depraved nature of its world.
I get it. People really, really suck sometimes. But you know what? They also often don't suck. Darkness is okay. Human nature is dark sometimes. What I don't like is nihilism, and this book felt like it tiptoed right on over into that category. I mean, what is the point of stories filled with unremitting, unrelenting darkness? I don't feel like I learn anything from them and, further, I frankly don't find them realistic because, again, people are very capable of being mind-bogglingly selfless, even in the most dire and horrific circumstances.
Sometimes the novel flirts with this concept, but that's all it does, it flirts, and that flirtation ultimately means nothing. In fact, that concept is looked on with some derision, as when Angel watches his favorite TV show and Lucy reveals to him the cynicism that led to its creation. Every time a character in this book does something good or noble or selfless, it comes back to bite them in the end, and I found it exhausting, causing me to limp to the end of this book.
As for the characters in this book, they didn't feel very nuanced to me. I found Lucy and Angel's relationship especially cringe-worthy because it never seemed to rise above the stereotypical, worn woman drawn to the bad boy trope. Lucy in general did not work for me, though I imagine a therapist would have a real field day with that one. Really, you could take every character in the book and boil them down to this: they're selfish. Yes, I think that people are driven by personal motivations and that they'll do awful things if they're struggling to survive, but I can't get past the sameness of every character in this book. They have different names, different genders, different races and ages, but they're all pretty much the same.
I still intend to reach Bacigalupi's other works as Ship Breaker and The Drowned Cities grabbed me almost immediately, while this one took me a long time to get into, and then left me slogging my way to the finish. Hopefully, this book was simply an outlier.
chocm's review
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jessieddavis's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
edtkeith's review against another edition
4.0
A great read that will unfortunately play out in some form or fashion that follows this story, hopefully after I'm gone.
ttodd86's review
2.0
Not as good as I had expected or hoped. An interesting premise, but there are several shortcomings in the execution, most notably the thin characterizations. Sadly, the one thing that I fear I will remember from this book is a sex scene that feels not only out of place with the rest of the narrative and style, but reads like it was written by a group of 15 years old boys. Disappointing.
caroline_rk's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
jimhart3000's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
brian_alexander's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
midici's review
3.0
*3.5 stars
The Water Knife is a bit of a speculative fiction novel - it takes a look just one step forward and a sidestep over. In a time of rapidly changing climate The Water Knife takes a look at a likely future in which many parts of the states are in a state of extreme drought and are scrambling for control of water rights. Water means life. Without water people are left to scramble, fighting and killing for anything they can get.
It's an on-the-ground perspective: Angel, the water knife who does whatever his boss needs in order to keep her iron control over Las Vegas' water supply, Lucy the journalist who's fed up with watching people die around her and has made more than one enemy with her articles, and Maria, the refugee who dreams of going North, where water still falls from the sky.
I don't know a lot about US water rights (I'm Canadian) but I am aware that there are "senior" and "junior" rights and that already people have starting fighting about water rights in places like California. There was a ring of truth in the setting and world Bacigalupi created, as if it's something you can already make out in the distance, coming steadily closer.
I did find some of the character interactions a bit cheesy. The tough-guy-with-emotional-depths cliche, the steely-eyed reporter becomes part of the story, the way the two of them go back and forth between helping each other and trying to kill each other...
I'm not sure if I wanted the story to focus in closer (some of the stuff with Mara did not seem necessary, like every scene involving hyenas) or zoom out a bit so I could get a look at the bigger power plays at work. All in all a pretty good read.
The Water Knife is a bit of a speculative fiction novel - it takes a look just one step forward and a sidestep over. In a time of rapidly changing climate The Water Knife takes a look at a likely future in which many parts of the states are in a state of extreme drought and are scrambling for control of water rights. Water means life. Without water people are left to scramble, fighting and killing for anything they can get.
It's an on-the-ground perspective: Angel, the water knife who does whatever his boss needs in order to keep her iron control over Las Vegas' water supply, Lucy the journalist who's fed up with watching people die around her and has made more than one enemy with her articles, and Maria, the refugee who dreams of going North, where water still falls from the sky.
I don't know a lot about US water rights (I'm Canadian) but I am aware that there are "senior" and "junior" rights and that already people have starting fighting about water rights in places like California. There was a ring of truth in the setting and world Bacigalupi created, as if it's something you can already make out in the distance, coming steadily closer.
I did find some of the character interactions a bit cheesy. The tough-guy-with-emotional-depths cliche, the steely-eyed reporter becomes part of the story, the way the two of them go back and forth between helping each other and trying to kill each other...
I'm not sure if I wanted the story to focus in closer (some of the stuff with Mara did not seem necessary, like every scene involving hyenas) or zoom out a bit so I could get a look at the bigger power plays at work. All in all a pretty good read.
katieinca's review
4.0
I got three chapters in, noticed we were already at three completely unrelated narrators. Also we have black helicopters and a murder victim who worked for local government but had a get rich quick scheme related to complex water politics. OH, I said, I'M READING AN EPIC SAGA, apparently.
Which I don't necessarily object to, so I kept reading. And this is one that has a completely-readable-if-a-bit-disorienting opening, and then somewhere between a third and half way through turns into one of those things where SOMEONE is almost about to die ALL THE TIME. Or lose fingers, or something.
Terrific characters. Utterly believable narrative arcs for each. And a semi-post-apocalyptic semi-dystopian drought scenario that is ALL TOO believable. If it reminded me of anything it's [b:Reamde|10552338|Reamde|Neal Stephenson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1305993115s/10552338.jpg|15458989], but without the MMORPG or international travel. And instead more depressing things to think about the continued ability of parts of this country to sustain human life. Whee!
Which I don't necessarily object to, so I kept reading. And this is one that has a completely-readable-if-a-bit-disorienting opening, and then somewhere between a third and half way through turns into one of those things where SOMEONE is almost about to die ALL THE TIME. Or lose fingers, or something.
Terrific characters. Utterly believable narrative arcs for each. And a semi-post-apocalyptic semi-dystopian drought scenario that is ALL TOO believable. If it reminded me of anything it's [b:Reamde|10552338|Reamde|Neal Stephenson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1305993115s/10552338.jpg|15458989], but without the MMORPG or international travel. And instead more depressing things to think about the continued ability of parts of this country to sustain human life. Whee!