Melanie Bosktad Horev

It’s a new twist on an old dichotomy of who’s the weaker sex. In this misandrist dystopian society, men have been reduced to stud bulls for breeding purposes. Women have been elevated to positions of power that allow them to choose men to breed with. The heinous practice of an annual Olympic style tournament identifies the most physically gifted men to mate with women, ensuring the next generation of children are improved specimens of physical and mental prowess. Unfortunately for the men, only the females are of value. Boys are sent to the nursery dome where they reside until they are old enough to breed with the women. Once men outlive their usefulness as breeders, they face an unpleasant and short-lived future. However, it gets worse when the young protagonist finds there are plans in place to remove the need for men forever. Scientific advances have made men obsolete and time is running out for those with a Y chromosome. ‘The Female Breeders’ examines the inequality of the sexes and touches on the mental and physical torment it imparts on individuals. Unfortunately, the book only brushes upon this when it examines it from the female perspective. More time on this would have provided much needed context by fleshing out the central female antagonist. Overall, it was an interesting concept, but not gripping by any stretch of the imagination. I’m of the opinion if you put a group of men together in a glass dome with a few women armed with weapons to control them, they’ll still try to crack onto them or at best launch an escape. Testosterone is weird like that. Hard to control when kept in check for too long. It’s nearly as unbelievable as a society of women trying to live together peacefully. Eventually boredom, gossip and cattiness will set in and Friday nights of Vodka shots, bad singing, drunken hussies and fistfights will emerge. Let the good times roll and keep your ‘Female Breeders’. Pass me a bottle of Scotch, a pack of cigarettes and gosh darn it, get me a good book, a bad man!… (altro)