"Having read and enjoyed 'The Wind-up Girl' and (really enjoyed) 'Ship Breaker' by the same author, I was very disappointed in 'The Drowned Cities,' particularly since I read it precisely because it's a companion to 'Ship Breaker.' However, besides the "drowned cities" connection (which was referenced but not elaborated in 'Ship Breaker'), the similarity pretty much ends. Even though Tool, a lesser character from 'Ship Breaker,' becomes a significant character in 'The Drowned Cities,' the characterization is different, such that Tool comes off less humane and sympathetic in the latter. What really dragged the story down for me, though, was the lack of story: Bacigalupi's protagonist spends much of the book in redundant deliberations over her ethical dilemmas, which creates the effect of overt moralizing on the author's part. Similar issues were crafted much more deftly in the first book."
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