![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Memory-of-Water-Cover.jpg?resize=199%2C300&ssl=1\")
By Emmi It\u00e4ranta\n\u00a9 April 16, 2024, Voyager
\nFile Size: 2.6 MB
\n274 pages
\nISBN-13: 978-0062326164\n
<\/p>By Emmi It\u00e4ranta
\n\u00a9 April 16, 2024, Voyager
\nFile Size: 2.6 MB
\n274 pages
\nISBN-13: 978-0062326164\n
Noria is a 17-year-old in the Scandinavian Union, which is occupied by the Chinese state of New Qian. Global warming changed everything. Fresh water is so scarce that wars are fought over who will control or even access it. Against all traditional practices, Noria\u2019s father has trained her to be a tea master and entrusted her with an enormous secret\u2014the location of a hidden spring, and how to tend it. But secrets have a way of getting out, and when the soldiers begin watching the town, watching Noria, she must choose between her own safety and kinship with her people.<\/p>\n
Memory of Water is certainly a cautionary tale. Yes, it\u2019s speculative fiction, but it could almost be written about today. Water isn\u2019t quite so scarce in our own world as it is in Noria\u2019s, but overall resources\u2014of water and other necessities for life\u2014are leaning strongly in that direction. The backstory of how water came to be so scarce is revealed in snatches throughout, but it rings true even in our own world. Climbing temperatures, winters warming even in the northern regions until, in Noria\u2019s time, snow is a thing of myth and fable. Electricity is a thing of the past, along with remnants of debris in the plastic grave, where other past-things are buried, and where villagers are known to scavenge for items that may still be useful in some new way.<\/p>\n
But it isn\u2019t only water that\u2019s scarce. Gardens wilt and fail; freedoms are curtailed; and privacy is a dream. Alongside the water theme, Memory is also a tale of dominance. The military controls everything, not just water but the people\u2019s freedoms. Everything is regulated, even books, which are now contained on pod-books where facts can be easily modified across the entire system to match the needs of the government. The power state reflected in these pages mirrored many contemporary situations, so much so that it raised the hair on the back of my neck more than once. It\u00e4ranta shows that in a situation where government slides in gradually, mindfully placing its controls piece by piece, it\u2019s easy to ignore the tightening noose. As long as it\u2019s happening to someone else, somewhere else, the best response is to look away, lest you draw the government\u2019s attention to yourself and your family. But of course, that only allows the noose to tighten more. No one wins except the government.<\/p>\n
With beautiful, flowing prose, Memory of Water is a lyrical, yet harrowing story of one possible future for humanity. Definitely recommended.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Emmi It\u00e4ranta \u00a9 April 16, 2024, Voyager File Size: 2.6 MB 274 pages ISBN-13: 978-0062326164 Noria is a 17-year-old in the Scandinavian Union, which is occupied by the Chinese state of New Qian. Global warming changed everything. Fresh water is so scarce that wars are fought over who will control or even access it….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-1JD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":539,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/08\/the-girl-on-the-train\/","url_meta":{"origin":6673,"position":0},"title":"The Girl on the Train","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"January 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"By Paula Hawkins The Penguin Group, ISBN: 9780698185395 Paperback, \u00a92015, 416 pages Rachel\u2019s teetering on the edge. 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