I approached this book (a christmas present) with a degree of duniousness. I'm not really a fan of "what if" books, which can often seem as the author is too pleased to have thought of their central conceit, and forgotten to write a book to go with it, but Alderman here does something interesting with the genre - she's written a good old fashioned page turner.
The basic premise: that woman develop the power to generate electricity, becoming, at a stroke, far more dangerous than men, could have been the backdrop to a chaotic potboiler, with revolution almsot instananeous. But Alderman eases the idea along, positing a world where some parts descend to lawlessness but others continue, with only subtle shifts in power (there's a particularly good running gag about a pair of newscasters whose relationship evolves as The Power becomes a moving force in the world: ending with the irascible male half being replaced with a good looking young man "well, I wouldn't know about that Kristen, but here's what I do know about, apple bobbing!").
The book shifts to the points of view of various players (amusingly including a token male). Roxy, the tough scion of a London crime family is a particularly engaging character, and her story arc probably held me the most. I was less convinced by the politician mother, Margot and her unstable daughter, Jocelyn. I rather felt their relationship was glossed over a touch, when it was the more interesting thing about them, as opposed to Margot's rise to power (though that is a key ingredient in the book's rather rushed ending). The story of Tunde (the token male) felt a little pat, a quick comment on instant celebrity, though the character himself was interesting, watching his fear grow almost at a rate almost analagous to the world's descent into darkness.
There's a a lot to love about this book. Alderman's world is initially believable. It's easy to imagine terrorist groups of men's rights campaigners, and the differing reponses in different parts of the world. My main problem came with the end, which felt a little forced, as is, well, this idea's run out of steam now, let's end the world (not really a spoiler, the book is framed as an historical work being written 5000 years in the future by a man, whose female publisher is slightly incredulous, and in what is one of the book's better punchlines, suggests he might like to publish it under an assumed female name). She has a lot of fun puncturing a few male tropes, and it really does make you think. You do find yourself wondering what her world would be like, and it's well worth a wander around in.
The basic premise: that woman develop the power to generate electricity, becoming, at a stroke, far more dangerous than men, could have been the backdrop to a chaotic potboiler, with revolution almsot instananeous. But Alderman eases the idea along, positing a world where some parts descend to lawlessness but others continue, with only subtle shifts in power (there's a particularly good running gag about a pair of newscasters whose relationship evolves as The Power becomes a moving force in the world: ending with the irascible male half being replaced with a good looking young man "well, I wouldn't know about that Kristen, but here's what I do know about, apple bobbing!").
The book shifts to the points of view of various players (amusingly including a token male). Roxy, the tough scion of a London crime family is a particularly engaging character, and her story arc probably held me the most. I was less convinced by the politician mother, Margot and her unstable daughter, Jocelyn. I rather felt their relationship was glossed over a touch, when it was the more interesting thing about them, as opposed to Margot's rise to power (though that is a key ingredient in the book's rather rushed ending). The story of Tunde (the token male) felt a little pat, a quick comment on instant celebrity, though the character himself was interesting, watching his fear grow almost at a rate almost analagous to the world's descent into darkness.
There's a a lot to love about this book. Alderman's world is initially believable. It's easy to imagine terrorist groups of men's rights campaigners, and the differing reponses in different parts of the world. My main problem came with the end, which felt a little forced, as is, well, this idea's run out of steam now, let's end the world (not really a spoiler, the book is framed as an historical work being written 5000 years in the future by a man, whose female publisher is slightly incredulous, and in what is one of the book's better punchlines, suggests he might like to publish it under an assumed female name). She has a lot of fun puncturing a few male tropes, and it really does make you think. You do find yourself wondering what her world would be like, and it's well worth a wander around in.
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