Epitaph Road (review)

Thirty years after an airborne plague wiped out nearly all of the male population, women rule the world with a benevolent hand, creating a near-perfect society: virtually all crime and poverty have been eradicated, and the environment has been brought back from the brink of devastation by the all-female government's propensity for nurturing. Kellan Dent is one of the world's rare males, his birth permitted by the administration's population control agency; while he tolerates the company of women, he longs to join his outcast father in the hinterlands outside of the government's territory. After a rather pointed lesson from a rogue history teacher, Kellan overhears his mother discussing a possible recurrence of the plague, right in the area his father is supposedly staying; realizing that the virus is actually a biological weapon created by the nation's leading females, he sets off to warn his dad. We've seen gender dynamics disturbed before in dystopian YA novels, most recently Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go (BCCB 10/08), and it's always a topic ripe for exploration. Here, though, the message is so heavy handed and condemning that readers are left feeling more guilty for their gender's sins (no matter if they're male or female) than contemplative. Old-fashioned at best, Patneaude's notions of gender and its relation to power simply lack the nuance needed to provoke thoughtful discussion, particularly when the ethical dilemmas faced by the main characters are followed by generic solutions. Kellan's struggle as an outcast is, however, compelling, and he's believable in both his isolation and resentment; readers who can relate to his lone wolf attitude will find something to cheer for as he attempts to take down the Man—er, Woman.