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The Water Knife, a sci-fi thriller written by Paolo Bacigalupi, presents a dystopian world that is disturbing in its verisimilitude. The novel, however, is ultimately dragged down by shallow main characters, having to resort to shock value to hold our attention.
The story is built around three main points of view: there’s the journalist Lucy, who needs to find out the story behind the murder of a dear friend; there’s a young woman, Maria, who wants to leave the militia-controlled area where she lives in; and the water knife, Angel, a mercenary hired by private companies to “cut” and divert water from certain regions.
The world of The Water Knife is set in a [...]