/lit/ - Literature

>>20794995
The Water Knife - Paolo Bacigalupi (2015)

I wanted to like this more than I did. This was my second attempt to read it, the first was around the time it was released. I remain convinced that Bacigalupi is better at short fiction than novels. I wouldn't call this a page turner, but rather somewhat the opposite, it was almost like there was resistance to continuing on. That's odd because I had moderate interest and liking for it, despite its many problems.

The plot was about a contestation over legal documents about water rights. Considering the wider events of the book they may mean even less than you'd think, but it can be difficult to come to terms with the changing reality of the world. At least that's what it was about at a high level. On a page to page basis it's miserable people being terrible to each other. There's murder, torture, drugs, and sex. Based on what others have written, this has caused several readers a lot of distress. I think that may be due to how and where the book was promoted when it was released. It found an audience, but I don't think it was quite the right one. As for the sex, the first major scene was with a drugged out teenage lesbian in a threesome with a man due to a life or death situation. The second followed shortly after a rescue from a non-sexual torture scene and involved erotic asphyxiation.

None of the three viewpoint characters could be really described as the protagonist. I didn't find any of the characters, whether viewpoint or not, to be sympathetic. Based on my previous experiences with the author, that's intentional. There's the titular water knife, a male fixer who does whatever his boss requires to maintain her control. Then there's the female journalist who seems determined to break the silence and report on what's really happening, but maybe it's just that she can't admit to herself why she really does it. Lastly there's the teenage refugee who's trying to make the best of a awful situation, but the world is intentionally rigged against her.

The setting was mostly implied as it almost entirely take place in Phoenix, Arizona. The US is collapsing due to climate disasters, which are more severe in the West. Each state now has its own sovereign military and the western states have seceded in every way except legally. There isn't outright war between the states, but it's close, and indirect casualties are mounting. The federal government pretends there's nothing wrong and the states do the same. California increasingly ignores any semblance of the rule of law and comes ever closer to taking everything for themselves. Texas has already collapsed. Mexico has become the Cartel States. China is ascendant and is economically and culturally taking over the parts of the US that the federal government has disregarded. The time period is unclear, though Fallout 9 is referenced. The Water Knife does give Fallout vibes.

Rating: 3.5/5