Handmaid's Tale/Margaret Atwood/311 pgs.

What once was the United States of America became the Republic of Gilead. In Gilead, women were divided into Wives, Marthas, and Handmaids. The story is told from Offred (as in Of Fred), a handmaid in the Commander's household. It is her job to become pregnant, turn the baby over to the Commander's wife to be raised, and eventually Offred will be disposed of. Offred, unfortunately, remembers life before Gilead existed. It's hard to believe that this novel is over 30 years old--there is so much that is relevant to today's world. Basically, it's a feminist's nightmare: women's main function is to procreate; women no longer hold jobs or have their own money; there is only one religion--and it doesn't favor women! It's a fascinating read, and terrifying in its possibilities. Highly recommended.

Humans, Bow Down / James Patterson / 373 pgs

This was my first James Patterson book. Of course, we all know that James Patterson doesn't actually write his own books, so take that for what it's worth. Unless I read one of his Alex Cross novels, I doubt I'll ever know how *he* actually writes. I was curious about this book because I like a good dystopia novel, and I thought it would be nice to read one that wasn't explicitly teen-oriented.

To be honest, I don't know what I just read. The book is over 370 pages long, and yet it has a bunch of pictures, nearly one on every page, depicting the characters and actions going on. I feel like I'm reading a kid's book. The font is quite large. The main characters, Six and Dubs, act like teenagers, but at one point, they're described as "not yet having reached their third decade" which makes me believe they're adults. At the same time, Six, our kick-ass female heroine, remembers events occurring not yet a decade ago, back when she was just a six year old kid. So, color me confused.

The story involves human-made robot hybrids that nearly succeeded in wiping out humanity in a three day war a decade before. Most remaining humans are "reformed" and live as servants to their Hu-Bot overlords, but many others live in refugee camps outside of Denver, in squalor, with little food to eat or other resources. We never hear of what is going on in the rest of the country, or the world, with the story really only taking place in Denver and the mountains around it. When Six and her friend, Dubs, steal a sports car from a Hu-Bot in the city, they bring down the terror of the Hu-Bots upon themselves and the rest of their human friends. Meanwhile, one Hu-Bot, MikkyBo (I am not making that name up), finds herself starting to feel empathy towards the humans. Furthermore, Mikky's brother (yes, Hu-Bots have families) is dealing with some sort of "glitch" which gives him gender dysphoria. An LGBTR relationship that emerges in the last few pages feels really forced too. And yes, I meant to tack on an "R" at the end of LGBT. If you make it to the end of the book, you'll see why.

I can see this becoming a series by the way it ended, but I honestly don't plan on reading any more if there are sequels.

Robopocalypse (Robopocalypse #1) / Daniel H. Wilson / 368 pgs

I picked up this book because I heard that it was a lot like World War Z but with robots. That's true in some sense. Archos is the first sentient robot in a near future where robots are used in the military, for domestic work, and for factory work. Archos quickly kills the scientist who makes him and sets about with the destruction of mankind. The book is written from the perspective of a man, Cormac Wallace, who was there when Archos is finally defeated. He finds a box that contains video and audio from several different humans who were instrumental in bringing about the defeat of the robots. Cormac transcribes everything he sees and hears in order to create a record of the war for future generations.

I think in the end, I wasn't as impressed with the book as I had hoped I would be. Perhaps my hopes were too high? A book about an unstoppable force that the humans must try to stop in order to survive, written in the style of interviews and action caught on camera a la "World War Z" sounded pretty awesome, but that's pretty much where the comparison has to stop. There are too many mistakes in this book. It was sloppily written. If one decided to write down in a book everything they saw and heard from a box that recorded so much human and robot interaction, you would not write it down in the present tense. Also, if you are transcribing a person who was talking, that person would not be using SO MANY FREAKING ADJECTIVES in their speech. It just wasn't realistic. Unlike zombies, the idea of robots taking over the world is not nearly as far-fetched, so I wanted some realism. The only time I really felt like I got it was in the first chapter when Archos becomes sentient and interacts with his creator. After that, it was all downhill. Asimov remains the King of Robots, in my opinion. I won't be reading the sequel.

The Water Knife / Paolo Bacigalupi / 371 pages

This book takes place in an American future where the water is running out in the southwest.  California, Nevada, and Arizona are competing for the remaining water rights.  Cities that don't get the water will die.  People are desperately trying to reach any destination with water.  States patrol their borders to keep migrants out.  In the mix are companies, like vultures, preying on the weak and trying to get the water by any means.


Angel is a water knife.  He does whatever is necessary to secure water for his boss Catherine Case of Nevada.  She has created a habitat for the rich with unlimited water and climate control.  She needs to keep control of the water as do other competing groups.


This is a violent, dystopian book with lots of action.  The main characters are flawed (especially Angel), but you root for them anyway.  There is a lot of bad language in Spanish.  I truly hope that we never have a world like this, but I'm afraid it is already here in some other countries.