Owen Symes

The book sets up a very interesting world of crumbling society, with a protagonist afflicted with a kind of super empathy that could impede her ability to survive. The potential is there for a fascinating deconstruction of the post-apocalypse genre, beset as it is by machismo and white patriarchy. Alas, the super empathy goes nowhere, leaving us with a protagonist of the typical super-survivor type, just with darker skin and different genitals. She's also trying to found a religion but it doesn't impact her interactions with anyone after the opening section. Given the book's reputation, I was thoroughly disappointed.