Aquifer (Blink) Hardcover – August 6, 2013

In a world with a limited water supply, there is one person who goes underground to the Aquifer to negotiate with the people who live down there in order to maintain peace and have access to the water source. This story takes place in New Pert, Austrayla which is an interesting component of the story because they are isolated and surrounded by salt water when fresh drinking water is a limited supply. Luca is next in line for this role and has been trained his whole life to take over after his father. Luca is forced into the role a lot sooner than expected when his father goes missing and must risk his life to save his people and the water source. Feelings, emotions and reading is forbidden and what Luca discovers will change his whole life.This story was unique and had some interesting elements that I have not read about before in a book. As in most dystopian worlds, the living conditions and circumstances were hard to deal with. The book has some magical/supernaturalish elements to it as well which I was not expecting. The citizens are forced to wear these metal detectors that show if they are experiencing too many emotions and such and I felt like this concept was not explained and presented well enough. I thought the world building was great, but I thought there were a few things left unexplained leaving unanswered questions and the overall writing was good, but there were some problems I had with the style and use of italics. Luca was an intriguing character. He feels so alone in the world and makes such great sacrifices for the community. I did feel like a lot of the time I was feeling really sad for him and I do not believe there was enough character development as there should have been. I was not totally sold on Luca being the hero. The underground world was so fascinating and I wish that more time was spent on that part of the story.Overall it was a unique setting and situation presented in the genre of YA Dystopian. I feel that those who love and devour dystopian novels would be interested to pick this up. It is a good book, but I wouldn’t say it was outstanding so I feel like those who are so-so on dystopian might not be able to enjoy it.

The Earth of the future is a wasteland. The once precious liquid that sustained life -- fresh water -- has vanished, leaving only its salty counterpart in its stead and a people struggling to eke out a meager existence on the dusty wastelands that once teemed with life. Fresh water is only available from one source, the Aquifer, and once a year the Toppers send their Deliverer into the bowels of the Earth to broker a deal with the fearsome Water Rats who control the Aquifer for a year's supply. Luca is the son of Father Massa, the current Deliverer, the path to salvation stamped indelibly on his psyche since childhood. In a world that demands conformity and employs fearsome Amongus, watchmen tasked with stamping out any hint of individuality or emotion. At sixteen and on the cusp of adulthood, Luca begins to question everything he's been taught, and finds himself drawn to the forbidden -- bursts of emotion, rumors of scratchings (i.e., books) that once set the world on fire. When his father disappears on his yearly water pilgrimage, the responsibilities of Deliverer fall to Luca -- a weight he's unsure whether or not he's capable of carrying thanks to the newly-formed questions and doubts filling his once-ordered life with tumult. With the help of Seward, a wily pirate, Luca goes rogue in an attempt to discover the truth of the Aquifer and his calling -- a truth with the power to destroy the fabric of Luca's society, or set two worlds free forever.Aquifer came on my radar when the new Blink imprint from Zondervan was announced earlier this year. With a goal of publishing YA fiction that would appeal to both faith-based and general-market readers (regarding the former, those certainly tap into both markets in my experience), I was eager to explore the types of titles this imprint brings to the market. Aquifer promises a dystopian adventure in the vein of The Hunger Games and other novels of that ilk -- a world at once both familiar and strange, where an item that supports the very fabric of life, so often taken for granted, becomes scarce, the pivot on which the very future of society depends.Friesen's New Pert, Austrayla, is the epicenter of activity, the social hub whose survival depends on a steady supply of water from the Aquifer. I loved the dystopian Australian setting, as it frankly isn't one often seen in fiction in my experience -- and as it is surrounded by salt water, its very setting adds to the sense of isolation and imminent peril facing Luca and his people. Of the characters, Luca is the most well-drawn, but while that is to be expected given his status as the novel's hero-in-training, it's frustrating when to the relatively colorless by comparison supporting players -- those for whom Luca has been trained from birth with the understanding that he is in many respects as their "savior" and defacto leader (albeit a relatively powerless one thanks to the Amongus).While Aquifer isn't a Christian novel per se, it definitely seems informed by a biblical worldview, and that aspect of the storyline is both its greatest strength and its most maddening quality. Luca first encounters faith when he meets the Wishers, whose faith in an unseen power and ability to avoid the Amongus' power to detect unsettling, emotional "wrinkles" intrigues him, thus priming him for the realization that there is more to living than the strictly proscribed boundaries in which he exists. However, the novel sets Luca up as a Christ-figure (the historical implications of naming his father "Massa" are also somewhat troubling, as if Luca is the savior then his father is a god to the people, though powerless), without an alternative, without fully exploring what or who it is calling on Luca to live a radical life, to embrace truths so wild they are capable of sparking revolution.Although hampered by a sluggish start, Aquifer contains a refreshing (no water-related pun intended) premise whose biggest drawback is, perhaps, a lack of depth. While Luca is a competently-realized hero, he is surrounded on the whole by frustratingly one-dimensional characters (particularly Luca's "love" interest), very literally sheep without a shepherd -- and if that was the intent, the allegorical content of the storyline veers into extraordinarily heavy-handed territory, which does a disservice to an otherwise potentially interesting premise. With a greater focus on world-building and supporting character development, subsequent installments exploring Luca's heroic journey and attempts to revitalize a faith-starved world hold promise. Aquifer is in many respects an uneven effort, but it is ultimately a thought-provoking read that's left me curious for Friesen's (and this new imprint's) future work.

The character Luca is a young man who has to grow up fast and take on the responsible of being the new Deliver. Two worlds exist, the world above and the world below and although both are inhabited by humans, the world below is believed to be controlled by Rats. Those Rats control and ration water to those above and once a year the Deliver goes below with light rods to trade for another year of water. Those who live above called Toppers are controlled by Amongus, the council of Nine and the so called leader the Peace Maker. An interesting read but be patient as it starts out a little slow.