Laurie R King predominantly writes crime novels, including a very successful series following on from the original Sherlock Holmes stories (see my review here). Califa’s Daughters, however, is a novel set in a dystopian world in the near future and she has chosen to publish it under the pseudonym of Leigh Richards.
The world as we know it no longer exists. From the remains of our civilisation new communities have evolved which are mostly self-contained and which trade with one another. Only the very oldest of inhabitants can remember life with technology. The disease which ravaged the population has killed mostly men, and boys who are born often don’t live very long. Men have become precious and are protected by women and not allowed to participate fully in the life of their community – they have also become a valuable asset.
Dian is a warrior who trains other fighters and leads the protection of her home town. When a group of travellers from elsewhere ask for sanctuary for their community she sets out to find out where they come from and if they are hiding any secrets which would endanger the people she loves. This book is about her journey, the different communities she encounters and what she discovers when she reaches her destination.
There are lots of brilliant ideas in this book and it’s a very thoughtful look at how people survive and how our two sexes relate to one another. The author looks at our stereotypes of manliness and femininity and then turns them on their head without preaching to the reader. Dian is an engaging heroine who is strong but still vulnerable and who encounters a lot of surprises on her journey.
I did find that the book seemed to me to be badly paced. The big events which explain things to Dian and which endanger her life occur at the end of the book and those events feel compressed, whereas the beginning of the journey in which not a lot happens fills more pages. Maybe we needed the extra space at the beginning to absorb the details of the world which the author has created but the end part of the book felt rushed to me.
Despite my reservations about the pacing I found this book very readable and entertaining. The author has created some great characters and some interesting situations for them to negotiate. An enjoyable story.
Anne Is Reading 