Tool of War

This book was so good. Bacigalupi brings you right back into his world without missing a beat. The strength of his stories, to me, is their realism. They are not only emotionally true (and brutal in their truth), but they are also frighteningly and viscerally real. This dystopia is less stark fantasy than bleak possibility. You feel like it really could happen. But of course that’s in large part due to the fact that so many of his horrors are grounded in reality. There are child shipbreakers, child soldiers, slaves/classes both subservient and feared. Death via-drone does rain down, an unannounced and sudden calamity. (Some would argue corporate interests already control most of the world and drive much of our bloodshed.) The books in show more this series should be right up any socially conscious teen’s alley and are ripe for discussion.

As for Tool of War specifically, this book functions as a sequel to Ship Breaker and Drowned Cities and as the long awaited backstory of Tool, the autonomous man-beast hybrid and fearsome ally of the previous books’ protagonists. It is satisfying on both counts and more than met all of my expectations. It is an excellent read, replete with all of the tension and violence you’d expect of a man-made war beast’s struggle for survival, but also surprisingly heartening and certainly not without a sliver of hope. (Okay, there's a lot of gore and darkness, but there is some light. Think pack. Think kin. )

While the book does offer a bit of a recap of events from the series' previous entries (the good kind that actually fit the flow of the story and don’t feel like info dumps), and while the story is independent, it really won’t pack as much punch and could be a bit confusing for those who haven’t read the first two. So go ahead and read the entire series if you haven’t already. You won’t regret it. Bacigalupi is a master at his craft.

ARC provided by NetGalley. show less

When I read the first two books in this series, I thought Bacigalupi's world was the most convincing near-future climate change scenario I'd ever read in fiction, with the exception of the dramatic collapse of the US into civil war, to be rescued by Chinese peacekeepers. ("Rescued.")

That part seems a lot more convincing now.

At any rate, it was well written, compelling, with great characters, and as always a little bit too real and believable to be entirely comfortable. Recommended.

Not everyone's cup of tea, but I found this to be engaging and thoughtful young adult science fiction (as were the first two in this series). Raises questions about war and what we fight for; what is human (or inhuman); and what binds us together with others. Quite violent, but mostly in service to some of the larger themes. I would read another in this series (and hoping this is not the final novel in a trilogy).

all the books in a trilogy don’t have to be the same kind of book, but here it’s the characters - reading them feels different than in the first two installments - the reader’s view of them and their interior lives are a bit like a b movie version of miami vice thru the looking glass rated M for mature audiences for violence -

So why’d I keep reading ?

The action - this book has some page turning action

The speculative settings and their economies - reading them is like trying the future on for size

The Tool character - because ever since Relic’s Impossible Creatures who hasn’t wondered what the internal life of an augment would be life? It’s a reasoned mashup of Caliban, and Grendyl, and Frankenstein and the bears from show more dark fables and woodsmens’ disaster lore all rolled into one - this is no lion, no aslan because human made for war, for fear ?

The honest-dishonest female subordinate & survivor, Jones - I haven’t seen her name in most of the top tier reviews but she’s a character worth getting to know ! I encourage you to read the book just tobmeet this character alone, there are few like her in YA fiction but plenty like her in the real world - Want to try on for size what it’s like to have to fit in with the guys and have a crazy creep for a boss and not be able to quit your job ? She’s your gal and I for one am damn glad she survived - in part through her simple honesty and will to survive when confronted with raw power.

Why didn’t I like it as much ? It felt a little too much like it was written for the screen . show less

Tool of War by Paolo Bacigalupi is the third book in his Shipbreaker trilogy. Set far into the future, Bacigalupi envisions a world shaped by climate change and run by multi-national companies. In this novel, we finally have as a main character, Tool, the genetically engineered, DNA-spliced augment, who was bred as a killing machine. Blood-lust, survival and loyalty are part of his genetic make-up, but after breaking free of his servitude, he now represents the ultimate threat to those who used to control him for Tool also was designed to turn other augments away from their masters and to think for themselves.

All the previous characters from the first two books appear in this one, and the point of view shifts between them and some new show more characters as well. Tool has appeared in all three books, but it is in this one that he finally takes center stage and we learn more about his intricate relationships with other humans and augments.

I have really enjoyed this YA science fiction trilogy. Bacigalupi is a master at world-building; and the on-going story has proved to be just as intriguing. The tension builds throughout the book until the final confrontation between Tool and the man who created him. There is a fair amount of violence and bloodshed so it is more suitable for the older YA spectrum. Tool of War is a strong, entertaining addition to the author’s post-apocalyptic series. show less

I expected a five-star book and to be moving this series to my favorites. Maybe screaming to the rooftops how much this worked. But, alas. Approximately the first half was: dull. Some newly introduced points of view were not a welcome addition. I felt like I'd traveled back in time and was watching some generic Jason Bourne lite. Paraphrasing: "We have the target." "Blow it up, captain, my captain." "The target is on the move." Snooze.

This was a revenge book which I'm apparently one of the biggest suckers for in the world. I expected much better.

On a side note, if I see the word 'dirigible' in my next 100 books, it will be too soon. It seemed if it was used 7 times on a page, the word 'airship' would finally be substituted. Just call it show more an airship or a ship, with maybe dirigible used once or twice. But dirigible dirigible dirigible. You tired of seeing dirigible yet? Or is it just me? Dirigible. show less

I don't know why, but Bacigalupi's books always have a "gritty, dirty" feel to them. Not sure how to describe them. This is a good book, well written as always. I enjoyed that we get to learn a bit more about Tool and his pack members.