The Kanshou (Little Blue Trilogy)

Rating:
Summary: An invitation to Transformation
Review: Gearhart continues themes she developed in "The Wanderground" in this thought-provoking beginning to her trilogy. At the same time that she develops an exciting narrative, she raises all sorts of questions about the strategies we should use to create social change. She encourages us to think in new ways about our planet, gender, and communication.

Rating:
Summary: A great beginning
Review: In the not-so-distant future, a series of ecological changes have caused all the animals to die and the population of Earth to dwindle, leaving the ratio of women to men about twelve to one. The Earth (now called Little Blue) has restructured with this new governing force, and the peacekeeping group, called the Kanshoubu, also assist in running the prisons. Since the bulk of the prison population is male, there is a growing worldwide movement to use the prisoners to find the biological cause of violence, but there is also a group advocating against this as well. When three of the world's large prisons stage revolts, the Kanshoubu must quell the violence, even as both sides of the debate continue. In this first book in a new trilogy, Gearhart explores the nature of violence in humanity and the different ways in which each sex deal with it. Told through a series of intriguing characters, this thought-provoking story challenges the reader's own conceptions of violence, leaving the reader to decide alone on which side of the debate to land. While there are similarities with such works as Jean Stewart's Isis series, Gearhart's new trilogy is less of a focus on individuals than on humanity as a whole.