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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own. 

A young, blue-skinned humanoid girl named Kyo in a world-shattered future discovers a diary that tells the tale of humanity’s destruction and the importance of water in author Nina Munteanu’s “A Diary in the Age of Water”.

The Synopsis

Centuries from now, in a post-climate change dying boreal forest of what used to be northern Canada, Kyo, a young acolyte called to service in the Exodus, discovers a diary that may provide her with the answers to her yearning for Earth’s past—to the Age of Water, when the “Water Twins” destroyed humanity in hatred—events that have plagued her nightly in dreams. Looking for answers to this holocaust—and disturbed by her macabre longing for connection to the Water Twins—Kyo is led to the diary of a limnologist from the time just prior to the destruction. 

This gritty memoir describes a near-future Toronto in the grips of severe water scarcity during a time when China owns the USA and the USA owns Canada. The diary spans a twenty-year period in the mid-twenty-first century of 33-year-old Lynna, a single mother who works in Toronto for CanadaCorp, an international utility that controls everything about water, and who witnesses disturbing events that she doesn’t realize will soon lead to humanity’s demise. 

A Diary in the Age of Water follows the climate-induced journey of Earth and humanity through four generations of women, each with a unique relationship to water. The novel explores identity and our concept of what is “normal”—as a nation and an individual—in a world that is rapidly and incomprehensibly changing. (Inanna Publications)

The Review

The author has done a fantastic job of instilling both horror and hope into this narrative. The way the author weaves both post-apocalyptic and sci-fi elements into real-world threats to our environment, in particular water, made this a gripping novel that was impossible to put down. 

Character development and imagery played huge roles in the story here, as the author wrote the narrative in a journalistic style that showcased four generations of women who had ties to water. Both the bond these women shared and their struggles in the face of environmental disasters made the story much more profound, especially when real-world facts about current political administrations and actions against the environment were included, making this fictional sci-fi world feel much more realistic.

The Verdict

A must-read sci-fi and post-apocalyptic read with an eco-twist, author Nina Munteanu’s “A Diary in the Age of Water” is a hit. The beautiful way the author relates these characters to the audience along with numerous facts both historically and scientifically that readers were treated to make the story come alive in a way most aren’t able to accomplish. An eye-opening story for those who are still on the fence about climate change, this is the perfect fall read for both sci-fi readers and eco-interested readers alike. Be sure to grab your copy today!

Rating: 10/10

About the Author

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist and SF, fantasy and eco-fiction writer. She has published eight novels and a dozen award-winning short stories translated into several languages. Her novels are mostly eco-fiction and thrillers that explore humanity’s tense co-evolution with technology and Nature.

Nina is also editor of several publishing houses and ezines. She teaches writing at the University of Toronto and George Brown College. Her three textbooks “The Fiction Writer”, “The Journal Writer” and “The Ecology of Story” are used in colleges, universities, and writing institutions throughout the world. Her latest non-fiction book “Water Is…” explores the many identities of water (www.TheMeaningOfWater.com). Find more on Nina and her work at www.ninamunteanu.ca.

The books that appear on my bookshelf are all books I recommend. You will not find a book on my shelf or a book review from me that is not a recommended book; if I don’t like it, it won’t be here.