Throwback Thursday – The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

Throwback Thursday is a weekly feature to highlight books from the past. It can honestly be anything as long as its not a book that is a current release. Maybe its a book that I read and reviewed and just want to highlight, maybe its a book I read before I started reviewing or maybe its a book that has a sequel coming out soon or maybe its a backlist book from my TBR that I just want to revisit and decide if I will make the time to read. Pretty much, anything goes. 

This week’s choice is The Water Knife bu Paolo Bacigalupi. It is a fantastic book that deserves to be mentioned again regardless. However, I was reminded of it in particular because of the recent stories about the real life water crisis in Channai (a city of 9 million in India, that has had their water supplies dry up). Obviously Channai is a real place in a seriously dangerous situation, so I don’t want to sound disrespectful by mentioning a link with a book of fiction. But I think good fiction can highlight serious concerns and issues, and The Water Knife is about a dystopian world where water is so scarce cities have shut down, mafia style gangs control access and there is a huge disparity between the rich and the poor and their access to the water needed to continue their lives. Bacigalupi’s book is very dark and gritty, and I think part of that comes from being entirely too possible of a future, especially after hearing Channai.

You can read my full review and check out more details about the book:

In the American Southwest, Nevada, Arizona, and California skirmish for dwindling shares of the Colorado River. Into the fray steps Angel Velasquez, leg-breaker, assassin, and spy. A Las Vegas water knife, Angel “cuts” water for his boss, Catherine Case, ensuring that her luxurious developments can bloom in the desert, so the rich can stay wet while the poor get dust. When rumors of a game-changing water source surface in drought-ravaged Phoenix, it seems California is making a play to monopolize the life-giving flow of the river, and Angel is sent to investigate. There, he encounters Lucy Monroe, a drought-hardened journalist, and Maria Villarosa, a young refugee who survives by her wits in a city that despises everything she represents. For Angel, Lucy, and Maria, time is running out and their only hope for survival rests in each other’s hands. But when water is more valuable than gold, alliances shift like sand, and the only thing for certain is that someone will have to bleed if anyone hopes to drink.