Sunday, May 20, 2012

The Drowned Cities


The Drowned Cities. by Paolo Bacigalupi. 2012. 448p. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 

Genre: science fiction, dystopia

Honors and Awards: none, recently published in May 2012
Review:In a dangerous, post-apocalyptic America, war orphans Mouse and Mahlia, along with a genetically engineered half-man named Tool, face death and destruction as roving gangs of child soldiers wage civil war amongst the remnants of the nation's capital.

Opinion: Like Bacigalupi's previous book, Ship Breaker, this is a brutal, in-your-face, rollercoaster of a book. While explicitly marketed towards YA's, older tweens (13 and up) would likely enjoy this book. Although it is dark, the language is tamer and it somehow feels less severe to me than Ship Breaker. With a strong female protagonist, Bacigalupi opens up his potential audience to girls as well as boys.
Ideas: This is yet another addition to the popular and growing oeuvre of dystopic and post-apocalyptic fiction for young people. I'd recommend this to mature youths who are fans of similar works.

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