I’m a big fan of The Windup Girl and Paolo’s short stories in the same universe.

The Water Knife is mightily prescient; at its heart, desperate misfits try to secure the rights to water across Arizona and Nevada for their masters. The wider background is that the world has a water shortage, and companies will do anything to secure the rights to water.

Most of the action centres on the Colorado River as various actors secure it, divert it, block it and do anything to keep it flowing for their needs. Angel is the main protagonist, an ex-gang member turned Water Knife. A Water Knife is an agent who secures and protects water rights by any means necessary; legal, covert, or violent. Angel is good at this, working for the ruthless Catherine Case, shutting down small communities, disproving their claims and not adverse to intimidation and murder.

Lucy Monroe is a blogger, a respected writer, “I’ll stake my Pulitzer on it!”, slumming it in Phoenix City, trying to make a living and expose the corruption at the heart of these water wars. She’s a tourist in these ghetto’s but finds it hard to disconnect.

Maria Villarosa is a refugee from Texas, trying to make it both through fair means and foul, but often caught up in the politics and gangs of the area. Determined, innocent, smart.

The bulk of the book follows these three characters through exciting, dark, violent and sometimes depressing scenes. The background is believable, and if you’re a geographer, you’ve probably followed similar case studies to this, such as the Nile, but perhaps these news items from further afield don’t get as much airtime.

Lucy, Angel and Maria give a real mix of perspectives on this broken world and are fascinating, engaging and, at times, sympathetic characters. There is a crackle of electricity as their paths start to converge and they run across each other.

There are many heart-stopping moments, as chases, battles, and scenes of jeopardy leave us on the edge, wondering what will happen to these characters. Plenty of side characters meet extremely grisly deaths; this is not for the faint of heart.

Overall, the human stories play second fiddle to the overarching destruction being wrought by droughts and the retreat of the aquifers. It gives pause for thought that refugees escaping environmental disasters may not be too far away, but are sitting right within our country. Bacigalupi balances these micro and macro stories masterfully, and I’m now excited to pick up his latest novel, Navola.

I gave this 8.5 out of 10.

_{NB: The 2026 Reading Challenge is again slowing down, impacted by family events, work and an unwise RPG schedule, but I hope to get back to a two-week cycle, starting next with Graham Greene’s The Lawless Roads, review due 14th April!}

TTRPG Thoughts:

This would make an excellent setting for a post or near post apocalyptic setting. Twilight 2000 springs to mind, but also deeper investigative RPGs that allow the trace of bureaucratic details on the rights to water across the USA. Hot City, Cold War is also a strong possibility, as there is not a page turned when a character doesn’t double-cross another and strong mechanics around this are needed.