The Power
This was an interesting book that makes a very specific and somewhat disheartening argument about human nature, while managing to leave plenty of room for the rich tapestry that is human nature. It occasionally felt more like an argument than a novel, which is one of my favorite things. Reading it gave me a lot to think about and has, I think, caused a few subtle shifts. The frame story takes place in a future so far-flung, they barely remember the world as it is now. Then it backs up to our near-future and the events that triggered the massive cultural shift. That event is the teenaged girls of the world developing an organ that produces electricity, allowing them to suddenly have the upper hand in most physical altercations. The power spreads out, with all new baby girls being born with it and most older women acquiring it from someone younger. Ultimately it changes everything and nothing. Women gain this physical power and they use it to gain other types of power, to seek v...