Alderman's The Power

The Power / Naomi Alderman
New York: Little, Brown, 2017, c2016.
386 p.

Not a shocker for anyone that I've finally read this book. Everybody has!

And it is well worth the time, especially if you like feminist dystopias, as I do.

I'm sure the plot of this one is no secret by now: in the indeterminate near future, adolescent girls suddenly discover they have the power to electrically shock others, eventually realizing fatal shocks are possible. The potential for violence that women now have literally in their hands shifts the power balance between genders: now men are afraid in the way that women always have been.

There are various strands that come together in the story: a young foster girl from a religious, hypocritical home -- who becomes a leader in this new women's ascendancy; a Nigerian man who becomes a reporter of sorts; the daughter of a London crime family; and a few more. These characters experience this new world order and find their place in it in their own ways.

As the Power grows, and all women seem to change and receive the ability to shock and/or electrocute men, society shifts. It seems that there is a new war of sorts, the world over, as women look to take over what they've been refused forever. And the Power of immediate violence does appeal to some in the same way it does for men in our contemporary world: there are scenes of war crimes that are terrible and terrifying. 

I wasn't 100% convinced by some of the plot resolution, and had some issues with the way the story fell out. And I didn't feel engaged by the character of the man who was reporting on the changes; while I can see why he was there, it felt a little raw, a little bit too much "not all men", at least in this current climate. 

I felt the influence of Margaret Atwood in this book, so perhaps appropriate that she blurbed it. The Handmaid's Tale feels like a shadow behind this book, both in the idea of a female-centred dystopia and in the inclusion of 'documents' from after the action has taken place. The use of a document from the far future was the part that didn't work for me, though. I felt that it strained credulity, and also wasn't necessary -- the point of the book was clear without the addition of this extra element.

Nonetheless, this was a thrilling read, creative and not at all sentimental about what power does to people, whether male or female. While I didn't think it was perfect, and had some reservations about it, I still enjoyed reading it and would recommend to any reader who enjoys speculative fiction, especially those with women at the centre. It certainly shines the light of metaphor and speculation upon the way our world works now.