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bookph1le's review
5.0
I feel like Tool jumped out of the book and ripped me wide open. This is definitely not the book to reach for if you want a light beach read, but it is a devastating, amazing work. More complete review to follow when I've recovered from it a bit.
Full review:
The Drowned Cities is the kind of book that feels like it's beating you senseless while you're reading it. It pummels you and, just as you think you might be able to take a breath, it's back and pummeling you again. Obviously, this is not an easy read, but this is an incredibly deep book that deals with some extremely important issues that most of us in the Western world like to just ignore. As Bacigalupi shows us in this novel, we can't ignore them. We can't afford complacency. There will be some spoilers in this review.
When I first heard this book wouldn't pick up with the story of Nailer, I was disappointed. I really loved Ship Breaker because it was not only filled with exciting action, it was also extremely well written. However, that book is far different from this one, and not just because this book deals with a different cast of characters, with the exception of Tool. It's more that, in this book, the action takes a backseat and Bacigalupi's prodigious talents as a writer are the focus. Yes, there is action in this book, but it's not the sort of action-flick action that was more present in Ship Breaker. Instead, the action in this book is the tide against which the characters are fighting. Though the characters were fantastic in Ship Breaker, this book, above all else, is a book about its characters. You are drawn along with them, you experience their tragedies and their fears in a way that is so visceral it's difficult to explain. When I read this book, I really felt like a spectator, watching in horror as the story unfolded before me.
One of the biggest, most disturbing themes in this novel is that of survival and what it means to be a survivor. Whenever the book is told through Mahlia's eyes, this is the question the readers must confront. Like Mahlia, I was very conflicted. I could see where she was coming from, and I agreed with her philosophy--but then, before I could get comfortable, Bacigalupi amped up the discomfort. Mahlia would start thinking about the doctor, about the soldier boys and, suddenly, things were far less clear than they had seemed just a few pages before. This is the real strength of the novel. It forces the reader to see that things are rarely cut and dried. Sometimes there are obvious good guys and obvious bad guys but, for the most part, people are just trying to survive. It's extremely uncomfortable to take a good, hard look at this and to try to figure out what the moral solution is--if one even exists in the first place. The doctor may seem like a foolish idealist while Mahlia is more of a practical realist, but what does that mean for the world at large? What does it mean when your focus in life narrows down to just making it from one way to the next? What actions would you find yourself excusing in that circumstance?
This is not the only difficult issue in the book, though. Bacigalupi also tackles the question of war and child soldiers and the atrocities inherent in using kids to wage war. When reading from Mahlia's perspective, it's easy to see these "soldier boys" as evil, but when the story shifts to telling their side, it's not so easy to dismiss them this way. Do you blame the boys for their acts or do you blame the circumstances that have driven the boys to act as they do? I cannot stress enough how important this issue is. Though The Drowned Cities is set in a post-apocalyptic America, child soldiers have been widely used throughout history and, in fact, are being used as I type this. Yet this is a problem that is so devastating and disturbing, one that is so difficult to solve, that most people either willfully ignore it or are ignorant of it because there's so little coverage of it in our media.
What has become obvious to me in reading two of Bacigalupi's works is that he is an author who likes to pose the big questions, one who wants to force his readers to really think, and I admire him for this. What he has done here is no easy task. It takes a lot of skill to take such a violent, disturbing story and to write it from such a variety of perspectives without resorting to trite classifications of who's bad and who's good. Instead, what Bacigalupi does is show that people are often a victim of their circumstances, and that their motives may not be as cut and dried as they seem when viewed from the outside. This is a book that needs to be read, discussed, and reflected on for a very long time. I have no doubt that this is a book that, years from now, I will still be thinking about and struggling with.
Full review:
The Drowned Cities is the kind of book that feels like it's beating you senseless while you're reading it. It pummels you and, just as you think you might be able to take a breath, it's back and pummeling you again. Obviously, this is not an easy read, but this is an incredibly deep book that deals with some extremely important issues that most of us in the Western world like to just ignore. As Bacigalupi shows us in this novel, we can't ignore them. We can't afford complacency. There will be some spoilers in this review.
When I first heard this book wouldn't pick up with the story of Nailer, I was disappointed. I really loved Ship Breaker because it was not only filled with exciting action, it was also extremely well written. However, that book is far different from this one, and not just because this book deals with a different cast of characters, with the exception of Tool. It's more that, in this book, the action takes a backseat and Bacigalupi's prodigious talents as a writer are the focus. Yes, there is action in this book, but it's not the sort of action-flick action that was more present in Ship Breaker. Instead, the action in this book is the tide against which the characters are fighting. Though the characters were fantastic in Ship Breaker, this book, above all else, is a book about its characters. You are drawn along with them, you experience their tragedies and their fears in a way that is so visceral it's difficult to explain. When I read this book, I really felt like a spectator, watching in horror as the story unfolded before me.
One of the biggest, most disturbing themes in this novel is that of survival and what it means to be a survivor. Whenever the book is told through Mahlia's eyes, this is the question the readers must confront. Like Mahlia, I was very conflicted. I could see where she was coming from, and I agreed with her philosophy--but then, before I could get comfortable, Bacigalupi amped up the discomfort. Mahlia would start thinking about the doctor, about the soldier boys and, suddenly, things were far less clear than they had seemed just a few pages before. This is the real strength of the novel. It forces the reader to see that things are rarely cut and dried. Sometimes there are obvious good guys and obvious bad guys but, for the most part, people are just trying to survive. It's extremely uncomfortable to take a good, hard look at this and to try to figure out what the moral solution is--if one even exists in the first place. The doctor may seem like a foolish idealist while Mahlia is more of a practical realist, but what does that mean for the world at large? What does it mean when your focus in life narrows down to just making it from one way to the next? What actions would you find yourself excusing in that circumstance?
This is not the only difficult issue in the book, though. Bacigalupi also tackles the question of war and child soldiers and the atrocities inherent in using kids to wage war. When reading from Mahlia's perspective, it's easy to see these "soldier boys" as evil, but when the story shifts to telling their side, it's not so easy to dismiss them this way. Do you blame the boys for their acts or do you blame the circumstances that have driven the boys to act as they do? I cannot stress enough how important this issue is. Though The Drowned Cities is set in a post-apocalyptic America, child soldiers have been widely used throughout history and, in fact, are being used as I type this. Yet this is a problem that is so devastating and disturbing, one that is so difficult to solve, that most people either willfully ignore it or are ignorant of it because there's so little coverage of it in our media.
What has become obvious to me in reading two of Bacigalupi's works is that he is an author who likes to pose the big questions, one who wants to force his readers to really think, and I admire him for this. What he has done here is no easy task. It takes a lot of skill to take such a violent, disturbing story and to write it from such a variety of perspectives without resorting to trite classifications of who's bad and who's good. Instead, what Bacigalupi does is show that people are often a victim of their circumstances, and that their motives may not be as cut and dried as they seem when viewed from the outside. This is a book that needs to be read, discussed, and reflected on for a very long time. I have no doubt that this is a book that, years from now, I will still be thinking about and struggling with.
thebookeer's review against another edition
1.0
Raamat on mõtteline järg noorteromaanile "Laevalammutajad". Maailm on endiselt kliimakatastroofi tagajärjel kenasti üle ujutatud ning harjuda tuleb täiesti uut tüüpi elukeskkonnaga. Uppunud linnades valitseb anarhia ning peale jäävad vaid tugevamad. Tugevamate hulka kuuluvad vihased sõjapealikud, kuid veel tugevamaks osutuvad geneetiliselt muundatud inimmonstrumid, kes on aretatud just nimelt relvadeks.
Mulle väga meeldib sellele raamatule eelnenud raamat, kuid "Uppunud linnad" jääb siinkohal niivõrd palju maha. Justkui oleks kirjanik täiesti uut moodi kirjutama hakanud, unustades kõige selle, mis esimese raamatu kaasahaaravaks teeb. Jah, kliimakatastroof on aktuaalne ning hästi kirjeldatud, kuid kõigest muust jääb siin raamatus paraku vajaka. Leian ennast sundimas raamat läbi pureda, kui lõpuks kuskil poole peal alla annan.
Olen siiski kindel, et sellelegi raamatule leidub austajaid, ning et see raamat sattus mu teele lihtsalt valel ajal ja vales kohas.
Mulle väga meeldib sellele raamatule eelnenud raamat, kuid "Uppunud linnad" jääb siinkohal niivõrd palju maha. Justkui oleks kirjanik täiesti uut moodi kirjutama hakanud, unustades kõige selle, mis esimese raamatu kaasahaaravaks teeb. Jah, kliimakatastroof on aktuaalne ning hästi kirjeldatud, kuid kõigest muust jääb siin raamatus paraku vajaka. Leian ennast sundimas raamat läbi pureda, kui lõpuks kuskil poole peal alla annan.
Olen siiski kindel, et sellelegi raamatule leidub austajaid, ning et see raamat sattus mu teele lihtsalt valel ajal ja vales kohas.
frannieman's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
iceangel32's review
3.0
I will admit that I don't really remember Ship Breaker...I still don't. However even though this is a sequel the story is not a continuation. This was a story of war and faithfulness. I found it amazing how was is war not matter what context it is in. It could be the future, dystopia, or reality. It is kind of scary.
I liked the way that the lines between savior and soldier were muddied. As soon as you thought that the character was fighting for the good side, you realized that they were not.
I loved Tool. I think that he is not one of my all time favorite characters. Overall a good read.
I liked the way that the lines between savior and soldier were muddied. As soon as you thought that the character was fighting for the good side, you realized that they were not.
Spoiler
You realized that there is no good side in war...war begets war.I loved Tool. I think that he is not one of my all time favorite characters. Overall a good read.
stephxsu's review
3.0
This is very clearly one of those “it’s not you, it’s me” situations. Bacigalupi is a great writer. He can come up with a unique dystopian premise, lay it out in all its entirety, and still proceed to shock readers with the depth of emotions he can conjure up for the characters and their predicaments. A less squeamish reader would probably appreciate the brilliance and magnitude of this impressive story. But I squirm over stories about featuring war, violence, and heartless characters.
It is an intriguing feature of Ship Breaker, and now THE DROWNED CITIES, that I don't think readers are ever supposed to like the main characters very much. They're not lovable: a hard childhood has taught Mahlia to be humorless and untrusting, while Mouse, in comparison, is scrawny and cowardly. I guess we're supposed to empathize with the characters and their predicament: they are once-innocent victims of a depraved, dangerous, and corrupt society turned not-so-innocent from the hardships of life. But, as much as I admire Bacigalupi for what he's done, not yielding to literary conventions of having sympathetic main characters, well... that is a literary convention that I like in my books.
THE DROWNED CITIES moves at a slow pace, but is mesmerizing in terms of how it imagines the future. Unlike the majority of YA dystopias published these days, Bacigalupi's vision of the future unsettles and upsets me precisely because it forces us to admit that there are a lot of things wrong in our current world that could very well make the future what Bacigalupi imagines.
Is THE DROWNED CITIES amazing? Yes. Should people read it as an example of what a dystopian should be like, as well as to reflect on the many things we should address in our world in order to prevent such a future from happening? Yes. Did I like it? Not quite. But it's one of those cases where that's okay.
It is an intriguing feature of Ship Breaker, and now THE DROWNED CITIES, that I don't think readers are ever supposed to like the main characters very much. They're not lovable: a hard childhood has taught Mahlia to be humorless and untrusting, while Mouse, in comparison, is scrawny and cowardly. I guess we're supposed to empathize with the characters and their predicament: they are once-innocent victims of a depraved, dangerous, and corrupt society turned not-so-innocent from the hardships of life. But, as much as I admire Bacigalupi for what he's done, not yielding to literary conventions of having sympathetic main characters, well... that is a literary convention that I like in my books.
THE DROWNED CITIES moves at a slow pace, but is mesmerizing in terms of how it imagines the future. Unlike the majority of YA dystopias published these days, Bacigalupi's vision of the future unsettles and upsets me precisely because it forces us to admit that there are a lot of things wrong in our current world that could very well make the future what Bacigalupi imagines.
Is THE DROWNED CITIES amazing? Yes. Should people read it as an example of what a dystopian should be like, as well as to reflect on the many things we should address in our world in order to prevent such a future from happening? Yes. Did I like it? Not quite. But it's one of those cases where that's okay.
teatimefleetime's review
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Gun violence, Violence, and Classism
Minor: Rape
iceberg0's review
4.0
Really good construction of a post-apocalyptic future with a whole set of cultures emerging in vivid detail.
ajm07's review
Realized it was the sequel to a book and didn't want to read anything out of order.
shannon_reidwheat's review
3.0
Different from Shipbreaker, but equally as good, if not better. I'm looking forward to reading #3.
alboyer6's review
1.0
I didn't care for the Ship Breaker but after reading reviews about how this was different from the first one, I'd thought to give it a chance. But once again, I couldn't come to care what happened to any of the characters. I got to about page 200 and decided that there were other books that I wanted to read more than finishing this one.