Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen’s Calorie Man in Thailand. Undercover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok’s street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history’s lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko... Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; she is an engineered being, crèche-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 a 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, when said bio-terrorism’s genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers one of the most highly acclaimed science fiction novels of the twenty-first century.
The Windup Girl
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Bacigalupi is a worthy successor to William Gibson: this is cyberpunk without computers Time Magazine Not since William Gibson's pioneering cyberpunk classic, NEUROMANCER (1984), has a first novel excited science fiction readers as much ... Paolo Bacigalupi is a writer to watch for in the future. Just don't wait that long to enjoy the darkly complex pleasu The Washington Post An exciting story about industrial espionage, civil war, and political struggle, filled with heart-thudding action sequences, sordid sex, and enough technical speculation for two lesser novels Cory Doctorow This complex, literate and intensely felt tale, which recalls both William Gibson and Ian McDonald at their very best, will garner Bacigalupi significant critical attention and is clearly one of the finest science fiction novels of the year Publishers Weekly (starred review)
--This text refers to the
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About the Author
Paolo Bacigalupi is a rising star in the science fiction community having just won the Nebula award for The Windup Girl. He is also the winner of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best science fiction short story and two Locus Awards for best collection and best novelette. Paolo lives in western Colorado with his wife and son. Ship Breaker is his first novel for young adults.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was the first book I read in 2011 and I can say that the year started on the right foot.
The book setting is Post-Apocalyptic Bangkok, living on time borrowed from both the raising sea levels and the latest versions of food oligopolies biowarfare vectors. The world is slowly shrinking again, the initial catastrophic expansion caused by the exhaustion of the oil reserves. Nevertheless, the main sources of power still are, once more, beasts of burden and the weather.
Collapse of the economies of entire continents, chronic malnourishment, religious cleansings and an endless string of resistant terminal infections have pushed humanity to the very edge of existence. And yet, human greed and blind ambition still offer the impetus for the endless power-games that care not how many lives get trampled under its threads.
An American investor/spy after Thailand's only remaining bio-treasure; a shrewd and ruthless refugee trying to rebuilt his empire lost to murderous fundamentalism; government factions locked in a power-struggle to the death; and a seductively-designed Japanese Windup Girl that will unwillingly serve as the catalyst for the brewing explosion.
The book losses its 5th star because of its ending - and I will say no more to avoid any spoilers.
Other than that, a potent mix of William Gibson and Pierre Ouellette.
RECOMMENDED!
The book setting is Post-Apocalyptic Bangkok, living on time borrowed from both the raising sea levels and the latest versions of food oligopolies biowarfare vectors. The world is slowly shrinking again, the initial catastrophic expansion caused by the exhaustion of the oil reserves. Nevertheless, the main sources of power still are, once more, beasts of burden and the weather.
Collapse of the economies of entire continents, chronic malnourishment, religious cleansings and an endless string of resistant terminal infections have pushed humanity to the very edge of existence. And yet, human greed and blind ambition still offer the impetus for the endless power-games that care not how many lives get trampled under its threads.
An American investor/spy after Thailand's only remaining bio-treasure; a shrewd and ruthless refugee trying to rebuilt his empire lost to murderous fundamentalism; government factions locked in a power-struggle to the death; and a seductively-designed Japanese Windup Girl that will unwillingly serve as the catalyst for the brewing explosion.
The book losses its 5th star because of its ending - and I will say no more to avoid any spoilers.
Other than that, a potent mix of William Gibson and Pierre Ouellette.
RECOMMENDED!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By G. Larouche
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
This is an amazing example of dystopian sci-fi! All the prices and accolades were well deserved!
The story takes place in a pretty post-apocalyptic future Thailand, after genetically engineered food led to new strains of lethal diseases that completely changed the world. The story lines of different characters are cleverly interwoven and give a veiled picture of a highly corrupt and hierarchical society that considers "clean" food items and health regulations as top priorities. The common point between the American rep of one of the big calorie companies, his accountant, a Thai police officer and other minor characters is the wind-up girl, a human-like creature that fascinates and/or repulses everyone. Her actions and the importance she takes in some of the characters lives drive the novel.
I do not want to give anything away, but this was a great read, from the first to the last page! The writing is beautiful and solid. The world created by the author is richly detailed, thought-provoking, and sometimes, creepy in an unnervingly familiar way. I love this book and highly recommend to sci-fi fans, or anyone who enjoys a good dystopian novel.
The story takes place in a pretty post-apocalyptic future Thailand, after genetically engineered food led to new strains of lethal diseases that completely changed the world. The story lines of different characters are cleverly interwoven and give a veiled picture of a highly corrupt and hierarchical society that considers "clean" food items and health regulations as top priorities. The common point between the American rep of one of the big calorie companies, his accountant, a Thai police officer and other minor characters is the wind-up girl, a human-like creature that fascinates and/or repulses everyone. Her actions and the importance she takes in some of the characters lives drive the novel.
I do not want to give anything away, but this was a great read, from the first to the last page! The writing is beautiful and solid. The world created by the author is richly detailed, thought-provoking, and sometimes, creepy in an unnervingly familiar way. I love this book and highly recommend to sci-fi fans, or anyone who enjoys a good dystopian novel.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Plot, characters, setting--awesome on all counts. A challenging read at the beginning, but the rewards are many, up until the very strong ending. This novel has been nominated for the upcoming Nebula Award. Past the first 25 pages or so, I found it extremely hard to put down. Couldn't find anything weak in it. I won't forget those characters.
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3.9 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Windup Girl
The Windup Girl -- Great scifi of a dystopia future. I won't give away details, but it is written quite well with a great vocabulary of words and is a pretty fast read. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Joel Andrews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Memorable, Quite Credible, Dystopian Post-Cyberpunk Literary Debut...
One of the finest novels published in 2009, Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Windup Girl" is a compelling dystopian future post-cyberpunk novel which vividly imagines a world coping with... Read more
Published 16 months ago by John Kwok
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engrossing and feasible biopunk
The Windup Girl is one of the those rare novels for which a sequel is definitely warranted, the risk of course being that it wouldn't live up to its spectacular predecessor. Read more
Published 16 months ago by OpenMind
4.0 out of 5 stars
A for The Windup Girl
Disclaimer: Reviews will mainly concentrate on novels that I enjoyed, and in writing them I will attempt to be succinct and to avoid all manner of spoilery comments. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Zafri M.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Steampunk Novel
Well this book includes mystery sci-fi steampunk and well developed characters all in a distopian future world. Read more
Published 18 months ago by fastreader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great read
This is a very detailed and believable future world. It might not appeal to hard sci-fi fans but it is self-consistent. Read more
Published 19 months ago by David Cameron
4.0 out of 5 stars
Multi Kulti Blade Runneresque
I think this book is a vision of a possible future where the world is undergoing a process of entropy, systems failing everywhere, and there are people who have been displaced... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Leong KEN
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Windup Girl
A great read for near future sci-fi aficionados. Smart, entertaining and thoroughly engaging. A fresh vision of a possible future. Enjoy!
Published 23 months ago by Eugene Miles
5.0 out of 5 stars
A riviting look towards a possible future .....
After having read the first three chapters of this book I was well prepared to give it a far less than favorable review. Read more
Published on Mar 27 2011 by Ronald W. Maron
5.0 out of 5 stars
Biopunk At Its Finest
Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Windup Girl" is a biopunk novel, featuring a dystopic future world where biotech corporations battle for power and money. Read more
Published on Jan 22 2011 by Dave_42
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