Water Rites

by Mary Rosenblum

We failed to check global warming. In this dry future water is the most valuable resource. It is power. And in the US, the Army Corps of Engineers has become the guardian and keeper of water. Life is metered by water - by it's lack and its location. And who controls it. Major Carter Voltaire, newly in charge of The Pipeline, the enormous water project that keeps much of the western US alive, finds himself standing between thirsty locals and the need to provide water to the many. He has seen devastating water riots and must find a way to prevent that from happening here, while protecting precious water. There are no good answers.

Genres: Science Fiction

305 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2007

About the author

Mary Rosenblum was a science fiction/fantasy and mystery author. She grew up in Allison Park, "a dead little coal mining town outside Pittsburgh PA," and attended Reed College in Oregon, earning a biology degree. She attended the Clarion West workshop in 1988.

Her first story came out in 1990 and her first novel in 1993. Her career began, and has largely returned to, science fiction. However, from 1999 to 2002 she wrote the "Gardening Mysteries" novel series under her maiden name, Mary Freeman.

She was also a cheesemaker, teaching the craft at workshops. At the age of 57, Rosenblum earned her pilot's license. Rosenblum died on March 11, 2018, when the single-engine plane she was piloting crashed near an airfield south of La Center, Washington.
(from Wiki)

Reviews

[Lord Humungus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first three stories in this collection are sort of background stories for the larger novella, The Drylands, that comprises the rest of the book. All of the pieces could certainly stand on their own.

The stories cover similar ground to Paolo Bacigalupi's _The Water Knife_, though written many years earlier. _The Water Knife_ is definitely grittier and more 'cyberpunk', for lack of a better description. Rosenblum takes the time to develop the interpersonal relationships more, and to describe the relationship the people have with the land. It felt like a slow-moving Western, which I can appreciate.

The desiccation of the land has profound effects on its inhabitants, and I thought this was presented in an interesting way. The novella originally began as a longer take on more of the same, but with a mystery story at the center. Somewhere along the way I feel the author went adrift, and I felt I was re-reading the same handful of scenes with minor variations. Because of this sense of repetition, I tried to get to the climax sooner, skipping over much of the flavor and detail that made the earlier stories so evocative. When the big reveal finally comes, it's less of a surprise than the reasons behind it. The Drylands isn't a bad story but I feel it would have resonated better with some tightening.

I'd recommend this collection for the first few stories.

[LAB · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a few years into the future and climate change has severely altered the USA. Lake Michigan is nearly dry and the Columbia River's weak trickle is shunted through pipes. The US Army Corps of Engineers are now the water police, a very dangerous and difficult job. The Corps is pitted against local farmers whose water rations are reduced and the industrial farmers in the Willamette Valley who grow weeds that are chemically altered to become food. Water wars are on the horizon. Into the mess comes Carter, a Corps officer changed with preventing war while simultaneously further reducing the water flow. He is joined by Nita, an unusual local who has difficulty dealing with reality--although the source of her trouble might surprise you.

Water Rites is Mary Rosenblum's science fiction account of what the future may hold. Some of the book has been previously published as her Dryland series. Reading the stores as they are strung together in this book highlights the author's inventiveness and sense of social justice. Not really a collection of short stories, Water Rites is a coherent tale of power, loyalty, and adaptation sprinkled with murder, mystery, and a splash of romance. I enjoyed the book.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm... Tough rating here. This is actually a previously released novel (The Drylands) and three novelettes previously only published in magazines in the early '90s. The story is excellent. And the three novelettes included at the beginning are great for some background stories of the characters involved in the main novel. I had actually read all of these before, but all around 20 years ago. When I got this book I didn't realize at first that it was material that I had already read, but since it had been so long I re-read it and enjoyed it as much as I remember. It's actually kind of cool, and a little disheartening, about how many of Mary Rosemblum's predictions of technology and climate either have come true, or are currently coming true.

However, I was SUPER disappointed at the number of typos that were included in this book. I expect a number of errors from new, self-published authors, but it is unacceptable to have so many glaring issues in a story that was previously published without those errors! That's right, my old copy of Drylands from 1993 does not have all the typos that Water Rites has. It's almost like someone retyped the story by hand, or used a very bad OCRed scanned copy. Not only are there a number of instances of things like 'him' becoming 'them' or 'her', but there are also misspelled words that should have easily been caught by a spell checker. This didn't diminish from my overall enjoyment of the story, but it was very disappointing nonetheless.

So if you're OK with dealing with the typos, this is a great collection of Drylands stories. If they'll drive you crazy, it's worth trying to track down an old copy of the original Del Rey novel, and even the old novelettes from the old Asimov's and Analog magazines.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great post climate change book, containing three short stories and a novel, all linked.

The world building is well done, and the setting is vivid. It takes place in a future Oregon which has the climate of Arizona, and more than a little of the culture of the dust bowl. There are two main characters in the novel, Carter, a commander of the all powerful Army Corps of Engineers (all water in this future US is rationed by the Corps) and Nita, an empathic mother who is searching for a missing husband. Someone is setting the soaker hose farmers and the Corps against each other, killing farmers and soldiers as people scream for revenge. Carter and Nita are drawn to each other, but water riots, agent provocateurs, and the missing husband are more immediate concerns.

The only issue I had was with the editing / typesetting by Fairwood Press. Quotation marks are totally random.

While the writing isn't as polished as in Horizons, the characters are compelling and Mary Rosenblum paints a very believable future.

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this era of global warming, water will become crucial and the one who controls water has the most power. One soldier, struggling to make sense of a potential water war, finds unusual allies. Very relevant sci-Fi.

[Neile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this down, and finished at 3:00 this morning.