The Water Knife

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In chapter 13, Angel thinks about his first meeting with Lucy: “He’d known her. And she’d known him, too” (141). realizes. Why does Angel think that he and Lucy know each other even though they had never met previously? What does he believe they share in common? Would you say that he is correct? Why or why not? In this fast-paced sci-fi thriller set in the not-too-distant future, Bacigalupi offers a supercharged and haunting tour de force that speaks to our most pressing contemporary issues, pushing us to consider how we engage with—and how we can and should protect—the world we inhabit and the resources that ensure our survival. Through the quest for power that unravels as the story of The Water Knife, the author also constructs a sharp dialogue about ethics, identity, allegiance, and what mankind will do when stretched to its outermost limits. As the story roars to its conclusion with passion and suspense, readers will find themselves thirsting for more. Questions and Topics for Discussion When rumours of a game-changing water source surface, Las Vegas dispatches elite water knife Angel Velasquez to Phoenix to investigate. There, he discovers hardened journalist Lucy Monroe, who holds the secret to the water source Angel seeks. But Angel isn’t the only one hunting for water, Lucy is no pushover, and the death of a despised water knife is a small price to pay in return for the life-giving flow of a river. She is an award-winning journalist who is disillusioned by corporate greed that is turning Phoenix, Arizona into a wasteland. She delves into the convoluted world of water rivalry and understands the lawless networks that run the water supply. Her world intertwines with Angel and Maria as she pursues the same legal documents they wish to possess for their own agendas. Maria Villarosa Pfeiffer, Lee. "Knife in the Water". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021.

Consider the structure of the story. How do the alternating chapters and points of view affect your interpretation of each character? Does one point of view seem to stand out from the others? How do you think that your interpretation of the story would be different if the story was told only from the point of view of a single character? Evaluate the theme of justice in the novel. What examples of justice are found in the novel? Why do the characters discuss the concept of poetic justice? At the story’s conclusion, would you say that justice seems to prevail? If not, what message does the book seem to offer about justice? Domes and condensation-misted vertical farms, leafy with hydroponic greenery and blazing with full spectrum illumination. (p. 10)The introduction, author biography, discussion questions, and suggested reading that follow are designed to enhance your group’s discussion of The Water Knife,an arresting new novel by Paolo Bacigalupi. Introduction Along their journey, they encounter Lucy Monroe, an award-winning journalist, who is being tortured by rivals seeking to locate the senior water rights. However, betrayal; soon follows, as each individual has their own uses for the document, and it becomes a question of who they can trust. Update this section! Paolo Bacigalupi, New York Times best-selling author and National Book Award finalist, dives once again onto our uncertain future with his first thriller for adults since his multi-award-winning debut phenomenon The Windup Girl. For someone who either thinks that global warming is a farce or who doesn’t like political writing generally, or thinks that cli-fi indicates political agenda writing, and therefore didacticism, and therefore stupidity, you’re in a different space. (Urry, 2015)

Bacigalupi also appeals to an American fear of Chinese economic might, by presenting a world where the Yuan is the primary currency ( “all the workers got paid in yuan” (p. 36), and where Chinese construction companies are dominant in erecting the new arcologies infrastructure. On the other hand, we found that the Hobbesian violence of The Water Knife is potentially counterproductive. Authors and critics might hope that portraying a dystopic cautionary future will scare readers into engaging in progressive politics today, but it might not work out that way. At this point, we do not only need more narratives that include and centre climate change, but narratives that are more likely to inspire, guide, and support a just response to climate change in the years and decades to come.” (Schneider-Mayerson, 2020, p. 357)What is the Stanford prison experiment? According to Angel, what determines how people act? Lucy asks if people are “anything on their own, inherently” (283) and if they can be better than what they grew up with. How does Angel answer this question? Do you agree with him? What does the novel ultimately seem to suggest? A noir-ish, cinematic thriller set in the midst of a water war between Las Vegas and Phoenix…. ThinkChinatownmeetsMad Max.”—NPR,All Things Considered This involves reading and watching a lot of climate change fiction (cli-fi) and the Fantasy-Hive have kindly given me space for a (very) occasional series of articles where I can share my thoughts and observations. Angel finds Julio at a safe house as he is torturing Lucy, trying to get information out of her as to the location of the senior water rights. Julio has been double-crossing Case and looking to sell the senior water rights on his own to the highest bidder. Angel is forced to kill Julio in a shootout, but not before Angel is shot and injured. Much of the story takes place in a dying version of Phoenix. The Water Knife of the title is an operative of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (i.e. Las Vegas) named Angel. His job is both to serve legal papers denying water rights to Las Vegas' competitors and to bring violence down on those refusing to comply. In Angel's world, water is life and each state understands that legal actions are the least of the tools at their disposal. The book opens with Las Vegas protecting its own water supply via a thin legal disguise and the destruction of a neighboring city's water treatment plant.