Xiaolong looks extremely excited today, though the big helmet she has over her head may have something to do with it.
“Hi friend!” she exclaims when she sees you, her voice slightly muffled. “Varian made this for me, especially since I read this book recently and loved it so much that I couldn’t stop talking about it.”
She pulls off the helmet, and shakes her head a little. “It was a little cramped inside there. My gills weren’t out and free. But that’s why I want you to read this book, friend! It’s important that we look after our environment, the thing that gives our magic life and power.”
She plops down, and holds a book out to you. “So, this book is called Want…“
Blurb:
Jason Zhou survives in a divided society where the elite use their wealth to buy longer lives. The rich wear special suits that protect them from the pollution and viruses that plague the city, while those without suffer illness and early deaths. Frustrated by his city’s corruption and still grieving the loss of his mother, who died as a result of it, Zhou is determined to change things, no matter the cost.
With the help of his friends, Zhou infiltrates the lives of the wealthy in hopes of destroying the international Jin Corporation from within. Jin Corp not only manufactures the special suits the rich rely on, but they may also be manufacturing the pollution that makes them necessary.
Yet the deeper Zhou delves into this new world of excess and wealth, the more muddled his plans become. And against his better judgment, Zhou finds himself falling for Daiyu, the daughter of Jin Corp’s CEO. Can Zhou save his city without compromising who he is or destroying his own heart?
CW’s review:
Note: the following review is an edit and report of a review I wrote in my old book blog, Read Think Ponder.
It’s been two years since I read this book, and it’s still a book I think about often. Want has everything that you want in a science-fiction: powerful socio-political discourse about environmentalism and inequality, incredible characters, and is critical yet accessible. Set in the distant future, Want follows Jason Zhou and his friends who work together to bring down a corrupt organisation that perpetuates the inequality and poverty within Taipei. There are very few books that ever satisfy my sociologically-inclined and discoursing heart, but Want was such a book – and more.
The Quiet Pond 