In The Power the world is a recognizable place: There's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; and a tough London girl from a tricky family. But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power: They can cause agonizing pain and even death. With this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets.
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Massive fan of this book. Alderman basically flips the gender norms of our world whilst also adding in 'The Power' - the ability for all women to be able to produce and control electricity. It's a fascinating concept that is also presented as a history or research book with archeological evidence. I loved this aspect, because it kept making me want to find out more about the world.
This presents a potential issue with the book however, as the book is every much about the world Alderman is presenting to us as opposed to the plot. Personally I liked this, as the concept was too interesting and the multi-character perspective was handled very well. Although, some may not enjoy the lack of a true protagonist or overarching plot thread.
Also Im impressed by how well researched the book is - in a sense the book is more about historiography and archeology than anything else - this can be seen in the last few pages of the book and punchline of the afterword that nicely sums up the book. But throughout the nice Alderman refers to different religious, cultural, scientific and archeological facts, demonstrating how well researched and conceptualised this concept is. That justifies so many of the little issues of the book for me, because the world around the characters was built up so well.
(Id give it 4.5 but Goodreads doesn't allow)
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