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The Power

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The Power

By: Naomi Alderman
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh, Naomi Alderman, Thomas Judd, Emma Fenney, Phil Nightingale
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About this listen

2017 Winner of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

'She throws her head back and pushes her chest forward and lets go a huge blast right into the centre of his body. The rivulets and streams of red scarring run across his chest and up around his throat. She'd put her hand on his heart and stopped him dead.'

Suddenly - tomorrow or the day after - girls find that with a flick of their fingers, they can inflict agonizing pain and even death.

With this single twist, the four lives at the heart of Naomi Alderman's extraordinary, visceral novel are utterly transformed, and we look at the world in an entirely new light. What if the power to hurt were in women's hands?

©2016 Naomi Alderman (P)2016 Audible, Ltd Dystopian Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political Science Fiction Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Heartfelt Suspense

Critic Reviews

"Electrifying! Shocking! Will knock your socks off! Then you'll think twice, about everything." (Margaret Atwood)
" The Power is a subtly funny, lyrical and utterly subversive vision of an impossible future. As all the best visionaries do, Alderman shines a penetrating and yet merciful light on to our present and the so many cruelties in which we may be complicit." (A. L. Kennedy)
"Alderman is a fluent and powerful writer." ( Sunday Times)
All stars
Most relevant  
Great book, very simple concept well executed. The book takes a simple and obvious concept; that the physical power and strength men have that allows them to dominate women is the reason they have dominated governments, militaries and religion through the ages. It then imagines a future where women have the power to hurt and dominate men in the same way and how that would transform society. This future is not a feminist ideal of equality and peace but rather a dystopia of inequality and violence between the genders which is horrifying for its cruelty and injustice but much more viscerally for the way it holds up a mirror to the horrors of our current world.
Oh and the voice performances on the audiobook are entertaining and energetic.

Fantastic thought experiment!

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What a unique story!
There is a bit of a fantasy element to this story, but if you strip it all back, it's a story about the human condition. A clever novel way to draw attention to the suffering of women through time. The performance was good! So many accents!

Gripping and fantastically insightful.

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Great story premise and well performed.
A great look into the mirror, more than a little scary from both sides. I particularly enjoy the view into the psychology of gender domination. The accents gave a great depth and distance to the scale of the books setting. Each character was fleshed out in a marvellous manner.
Great listen

Great flip of the coin of gender biases

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It wasn’t alway easy content but it’s a story that needs telling, I found it very compelling!

Challenging but necessary read!

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Honestly just so good! The writing is wonderful, the characters are believable and the voice performances are great. Made me feel completely electric.

Brilliant

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Naomi Alderman's gender swapped novel of power dynamics lights-up vital new ideas of gender equality.

Must read for everyone with an wothout a gender

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I have no words. You must read/hear this. I don't know if you'll thank me for it or not, but just do it.

I have no words. You must read/hear this.

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An epic scale speculative fiction that is thrilling to read. Absolutely loved this book.
I came for the what-if-I-could-zap-that-scary-guy-harrasing-me-on-the-way-home, and then stayed, watching open mouthed as the world was thrown into chaos and the best and worst of people drawn out as the sky was falling. I loved the different perspectives, and especially the sting of the last chapter.

wow!

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This is a gripping listen/read. Naomi Alderman, co-creator and head writer of Zombies, Run!, has written a speculative fiction page-turner about an alternative reality in which women have developed the power to emit electric shocks from their hands. All of a sudden, women are the physically dominant sex, and this changes everything. At first, my reaction was "Go girls!" - but there are dark twists galore. Highly recommended.

Compelling

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This book gave an excellent look at how power imbalances can affect society. Well written, and definitely makes you think. Also enjoyable to read!

Clever and thought provoking

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