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The Water Knife
Paolo Bacigalupi
2015 · Science fiction
How it reads
The Water Knife is science fiction (eco-thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is dark. It goes to difficult places and doesn't look away. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.
It's set in an international setting, in the future, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are survival. In weight it's heavy and literary — denser, more serious, and more demanding of you.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is dark — no rescue, no neat bow. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something dark
- you want a book that pulls you through
- you want something to chew on
Maybe not if…
- you need something cosy, heartwarming or funny
- you need a happy ending
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- science fiction
- Author gender
- male
- Author experience
- established
- Setting: place
- international
- Setting: time
- future
- Mood / feeling
- dark
- Pace
- fast paced
- Tone / weight
- heavy and literary
- Length
- medium
- Narrative style
- third person, several viewpoints
- Publication era
- recent
- Popularity
- moderately known
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Themes
- survival
- Ending style
- dark
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
The Book of JoanLidia YuknavitchShares: science fiction, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, fast paced
The Last: A NovelHanna JamesonShares: science fiction, dark mood, fast paced, dark ending- FirewalkersAdrian TchaikovskyShares: science fiction, dark mood, fast paced, dark ending
The unitNinni HolmqvistShares: science fiction, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, dark ending
Zoo CityLauren BeukesShares: science fiction, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, fast paced
Future Home of the Living GodLouise ErdrichShares: science fiction, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, future setting
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