Review by Chris Bartholomew © 2007
The Gender Divide by David Boultbee
To enjoy reading The Gender Divide, you don't have to know where the writer got the ideas for the story, but I found this fascinating. Having never wondered such things in my life, seeing the story develop knowing where it all began made it better for me; here is an excerpt from the website for the book on the concept:
"A recurring idea in science fiction involves altering the menstrual cycles of women. It is one of those background items that is just there, much like computers and space travel.
While working at a biotech company, I quickly learned how interconnected all the systems in the body are. It is difficult to affect one part of the body without affecting other parts. That is why so many drugs have side effects.
I started wondering what would happen if there was an unusual side effect to stopping menstruation. Menstruation starts at a young age and runs for roughly forty years. During that time there is a lot of biological activity that is occurring. What happens if that all that energy is available elsewhere? What if women started living longer than men?
That was the early idea for the story. From there I began to wonder how this disparity in life span would impact world politics, economics, the military, and society. The balance of power would gradually shift from men to women, resulting in massive changes."
Fascinating. Here is the book blurb, and then my full review:
Ryan Peters is an anomaly. In a world where women live four times as long as men do, Ryan is one of a few men with a similar lifespan. This difference in lifespan has had profound consequences on the world balance of political, economic, and military power and has created a social Gender Divide that threatens to tear the world apart.
Determined to close this Gender Divide, Ryan will sacrifice anything to succeed. The Gender Divide has already cost him the one true love of his life and even though he has a second chance, he won't let that stand in his way. He is even willing to give up his own life … and in a sense he already has.
Part of being a publisher and editor, the good part is getting to know a writer and his/her work. It's nice to be asked to do a review, but you always wonder if this is going to be an enjoyable experience, reading the work, or a chore, in this case it was a purely enjoyable experience. I like this writer's style, he gets you into the characters, hits the floor running and it never stops, and when this story ends, you'll hope he's planning on writing another, and another.
The book blurb is well done, enough so that the writer just dove right in there without having to explain much, getting the story off to a great start. There is no jumping around here, no wasted words, he captures your attention from the start, which is not easy to do, but it is well done here.
The very concept of the book makes your mind wander through the problems such a world would make, the idea of marriage where the woman would live way beyond her husband, the idea of a woman having a boy child that she knows she will well outlive, all of these questions and more are answered here.
(The Gender Divide has already cost him the one true love of his life and even though he has a second chance, he won't let that stand in his way. He is even willing to give up his own life … and in a sense he already has.)
You will be surprised how this is so, from the very first pages of the book. It's extraordinary reading, a book that will live in your thoughts long after you've read it, the possibilities, oh the possibilities. I highly recommend The Gender Divide to anyone who likes to be immersed in a fine story, written by an author that I am certain will become well-known.
The author of The Gender Divide would like for you to visit this link
