Winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel, a new edition of the break-out science fiction debut featuring additional stories and a Q&A with the author. Anderson Lake is AgriGen s Calorie Man, sent to work undercover as a factory manager in Thailand while combing Bangkok s street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history s lost … calories. Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. Emiko is not human; she is an engineered being, grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in this chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe. What happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits and forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? Bacigalupi delivers one of the most highly-acclaimed science fiction novels of the twenty-first century. In this brand new edition celebrating the book s reception into the canon of celebrated modern science fiction, accompanying the text are two novelettes exploring the dystopian world of The Windup Girl, the Theodore Sturgeon Award-winning The Calorie Man and Yellow Card Man. Also included are course-work questions for use in the classroom, and an exclusive Q&A with the author describing his writing process, the political climate into which his debut novel was published, and the future of science fiction.”
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Just finished reading this – it’s been a long time coming! Very cool vision of the future with some wonderful cultural irony and a writing style that lets you form your own opinions about the events transpiring within Paolo’s story. Some want their authors to give them darlings to love and villains to hate, but I think Bacigalupi is aiming this at …
Wow, this was an unexpected gem of a read. While it has many cyberpunk flavors ala Gibson, it creates a unique voice for the genre. The story tackles some very heavy and prescient topics, but doesn’t push a message. Bravo.
Unique style with a familiar flare, enhanced by grounded worldbuilding. I might be wrong, but I saw manga influences throughout. Since I’m not a big manga fan, I couldn’t immerse myself too deep into the story. Despite that one thing, I still enjoyed reading this book.
This book was an interesting Sci-Fi take one what a possible future could look like. I found myself unable to put it down.
Think about what happens when the next virus wipes out enough people to interupt the food/chain and who controls the leftovers.
After a confusing start, this sci-fi novel is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Sensational! Great tempo and each character fights for survival with a personal agenda. The dystopian worldbuilding is phenomenal. Climate change, here we come! Anderson and Kamiko (the windup girl) are multifaceted characters who frame the great powerplay with …
Bacigalupi creates an entirely unique world, somewhat in the vein of William Gibson but not at all derivative. I am always eager for his next book.
The Windup Girl is not an easy read. It takes an effort to absorb it, but then again, so many of the better things in life take effort. To me, this book is like on of the wood carvings you can buy in Chiang Mai to hang on your wall. At first glance, it looks like a nice carving, be it a forest or an ancient mythological scene. But as you gt …
This book is… I am trying to settle on a word and I can’t. One word won’t sum it up. It was beautiful, harsh, a revelation. Bacigalupi’s writing makes me feel like a hack, and I’m a good writer!
Set in future that is easily one that could become reality: Where agribusiness firms wage war on each other with plagues that kill their competitors’s …
The Windup Girl, Author Paolo Bacigalupi’s marvelous debut novel, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The story unfolds in 23rd century Thailand, barricaded with a massive levee system shielding the island from rising sea levels due to global warming. The kingdom, thus isolated from the human-induced plagues of the world, contains the …
A near-future apocalyptic tale that could be all-too-real in the coming decades, Wonderful world building, interesting premise, and it shared a Hugo award – definitely worth the read.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi is set in late-22nd century Bangkok. World civilization has “contracted” after burning all its oil, running out of available energy, and suffering extreme heat and flooding. Gene “hacking” is common, but this has created plagues and invasive species that ravage the world even further. “Calorie” corporations …