Book 22 - Naomi Alderman "The Power"

[jazzy_dave]

Naomi Alderman "The Power" (Penguin)



"The power to hurt is a kind of wealth."

"They do it because they can."

"Power doesn't care who uses it."

"That is the trouble with history. You can't see what's not there. You can look at an empty space and see that something's missing, but there's no way to know what it was."

This work of speculative fiction starts with the premise that women have evolved a power, a skein that grows on their chests and gives them the tremendous power to generate and harness electrical energy. It turns out that this power is not universal among women; there are, of course, genetic variations. But the impact of this power, the power to hurt or even kill another being, on societal structures, norms, and deviations provides a world in which author Naomi Alderson can fully explore the role of power in human relations and organizations. Her novel is timely. It is also engaging and adequately complex to address the issues on the table.