The Power

By: Naomi Alderman

Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

In this stunning best seller praised as "our era's Handmaid's Tale", a fierce new power has emerged - and only women have it (Washington Post).

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; 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. And, with this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets. From award-winning author Naomi Alderman, The Power is speculative fiction at its most ambitious and provocative, at once taking us on a thrilling journey to an alternate reality, and exposing our own world in bold and surprising ways.

©2017 Naomi Alderman (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Narrator Adjoa Andoh capably portrays an international cast of characters in this thrilling novel about the reshaping of the world when women develop powerful electrical abilities. Andoh makes the most of her vocal range, tone, and pacing, as well as an extensive catalogue of accents. The audio presentation particularly shines in the development of the character Allie into Mother Eve, especially in some scenes in which the Mother Eve persona drops and Allie speaks in her own voice." (AudioFile)

"Captivating, fierce, and unsettling...I was riveted by every page. Alderman's prose is immersive and, well, electric." (New York Times Book Review)

Faulty Premise

It was (or could have been) a good story, but what it devolved to was channeling the worst fears of the whiny MRA set, who believe that women, if empowered, will turn around and do to them what they've been doing to us for all of recorded history. I don't buy it. Some women would be jerks if they had physical power over men, and there would be some retaliation in play, but not to the degree it has been happening to us all these centuries. Honestly, women roaming around in packs, gang-raping men? Nah. It isn't just a case of they'd do it "because they can" as the author assumes. There are examples of women in power who are tyrants and there are examples of women in power who are not - mostly, they are not. Women, when empowered, make excellent and fair executives, bosses, and professionals. Empowered women actually create the best societies. The author believes that women, empowered, would simply devolve into packs of wolves. I don't buy it. That said, the story and characters were interesting and the reading was well-done.

Interesting premise, clever elements

The premise was fascinating and there were many clever elements. The central characters were fairly well developed, but the story rests more on navigating the central plot more so than conflict or twists, save for a few minor ones. I thought it was ingenious to use unsympathetic characters to illustrate human beings’ capacity for inhumane behavior even when stereotypical gender roles are reversed. It was sobering though to see how damaging patriarchal societies can be, by shining a light on societal norms through a matriarchal lens.

With regard to the voice actor, the “American” accents were terrible - to the point of distraction. I had previously listened to another book voiced by Ms. Andoh and she did a fine job. Further, Brits - even non actors - can usually do a passable American accent, so this was disappointing. No one speaks like this! It was beyond caricature. That said, it was probably a bridge too far to require a single actor to accomplish the wide range of US regional accents, genders, and ages, in addition to all the international accents. The Nigerian, Middle Eastern, and East European accents weren’t horrible, although far from accurate. The East Indian and presumably Latin American accents weren’t great either. It would perhaps have been more believable to just use her English accent throughout. She did, of course, do a good job with the nuances of regional English accents - Cockney-like for the gangsters, Queen’s English otherwise.

Overall, a decent read.

Great book but voice ruins it

I thought this book was pretty good given that it’s hard to find feminist dystopian/sci-fi. I however really could not get behind the voice actress and her constant switching between voices of different characters of which the accents were not so great.

Constantly had my attention

I am currently a college student who studies political science and Feminism studies and this book had me enthralled the entire time. The parts that were extremely uncomfortable I made myself pay attention more, I would recommend this to any of my friends and am currently in a womxn’s centered book club and I’m so extort discuss this book.

Women have the power...

Interesting Sci-fi book with women having all the power. Great questions asked. Really enjoyed this one. The ending kinda petered out, but overall, highly enjoyable.

Solid reading by Andoh.

Perfect book for the current dystopian nightmare we’re experiencing

This book was a great way to mentally escape and imagine life of the tables turned. However, I found the narrator’s character attempts a bit irritating, which distracted from the great story. I know this sounds a bit petty, but overall I thought the book was awesome!

Review contains spoilers after the break.

I really enjoyed some of the manifestations of the power and various sociopolitical outcomes. Some of the characters were great, but motivations and personal arcs felt unnatural and malleable. What really kept me from highly recommending it were the frame story and the omniscient disembodied voice. I appreciate the frame story as an homage to The Handmaid's Tale, but felt it was unnecessary and detracted in Atwood's story as well. The "omniscient voice" however was distracting - to delve deeper will take me into mild spoiler territory.

Spoilers:
Initially "the voice" can be seen as mental illness (although occasionally prescient), and kind of works, but then inexplicably passes to another character turning this from science fiction into a fantasy novel. I dismiss the excuse that it is the author from the frame story who is creating the fantasy element because it is unnecessary in his story as well. It might have been just a quirky narrative device, but in science fiction (and mystery) it is traditional that the reader reads actively - participating in the conjecture, making logical extrapolations and weighing the effort and stakes against an established framework. When science fiction injects fantasy it squanders the intellectual partnership of the reader.

love the story and the narrator

The narrator is great, I could listen to her all day, the story was entertaining and fresh and everyone should read it.

disturbing role reversal

many of us wonder what would happen if the balance of power was flipped on its head. This book starts to explore that idea, and has some very graphic and disturbing scenes that I certainly hope would not become reality. However, it was very well written, and the story took turns that I definitely was not expecting. thank you for the ride.

A story I wish were true.

I loved the way Naomi Alderman describes a world where gender power has been flipped. The performance was beautifully done. #TheRiseOfTheWomanIsTheRiseOfTheWorld #thepower #wow #tagsgiving #sweepstakes