The Water Knife

This novel considers what will happen when the Southwest runs out of water, a very real possibility, especially with climate change, and something I care about as a Utah resident.

It pulls you into the action right away and keeps you on your toes until the very end, weaving together the narratives of a few different characters, including a journalist, a refugee from Texas, and a henchman (aka “the water knife”) who’s paid to destroy rival water supplies.

An alum of Oberlin College (like me!), Paolo Bacigalupi is a master of telling engaging stories about possible futures defined by climate… show more.

As a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, I love this intense climate thriller as an all-too-real exploration of how climate change—and the water crises that may ensue—might play out for my city and state. Bacigalupi is an expert at not pulling punches, while also getting you invested in exciting plots and brutal but complex characters. I recommend this book to people who want a plausible vision of how the stressors of climate change can lead to breakdown and violence without a single apocalyptic catastrophe. It’s sobering, but also a helluva read.

Another master sci-fi storyteller shows us a world where climate change runs rampant and mega-corporations have swooped in to monopolize the world’s dwindling supply of potable water. This novel can be particularly grisly, so be warned. If you’re looking for a (somewhat) less dark vision of the future, Bacigalupi has also written an excellent climate change duology for teens, Ship Breaker and The Drowned Cities.

For my money, nobody does a better job of showing us possible worlds after environmental collapse than Paolo Bacigalupi. Rigorous extrapolation of trends that are happening right now makes his work barely science fiction at all. The Water Knife is about what happens when the western U.S. runs out of water—and make no mistake, this is happening. What does it look like when a community successfully plans for it? And what happens when a community doesn't? Read and find out.