This book definitely lived up to its title, in that it genuinely gave me a lot to think about in terms of power.

Mostly that the perception of having power, on a wide enough scale, becomes almost indistinguishable from power itself. If enough people feel they are more powerful than a separate group, they start to behave that way, and it more or less begins to manifest.

It also made me realize that inequality, simply by existing, creates power. It's very difficult for something like that to exist without it creating the perception of strength, and as the book points out in many different ways, power desires to be used, and there's often not a lot to be gained by not using it.

I've seen some spectacularly dumb questions on the Goodreads site regarding this book. Most of it seems to come from people (let's be honest, mostly men) that haven't read it and seem indignant about the entire premise.

But Alderman isn't really trying to villain men in this work, if anything she's surprisingly objective on the matter. The point she appears to be making is that the differences between the sexes have less to do with any chemical make up, and more to do with who is perceived to have and deserve the advantages.

The Power is also an immensely readable book. So much of this story just flowed by. There's a level of sheer confidence to the prose that I just found intoxicating for the bulk of its run. Alderman has a sense of pace, plotting and arrangement that makes it look graceful and effortless.

If I have an issue with the story overall, it's a decidedly American one. When women start getting the electrical powers in the states, they immediately start freaking out about it and saying they're dangerous. And while I don't doubt that part, it suggests a British author to not point out that almost anyone in the United States can walk into many super stores and buy lethal weaponry with very little friction in the process. Angry men have been able to buy a powerful, convenient tool to murder their whole family here for a very long time.

Her points, worldwide, make a lot of sense, but not pointing out that locking up women with lethal powers in America would be insanely hypocritical seems like a missed opportunity.

And the framing device, where this story is presented as historical fiction from the far-future, is novel, and gets in a few ironic digs, ultimately feels kind of unnecessary.

But it's an overall stellar read, and well worth the it.