The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

The Windup Girl is Paolo Bacigalupi’s first full science fiction novel.   It takes place in the Kingdom of Thailand and draws upon some of the characters and themes of his short stories. 

Anderson Lake is AgriGen’s Calorie Man in Thailand.  He searches Bangkok’s back streets for food thought to be extinct in the new world.  Food grown from seeds supposedly lost to history.  AgriGen knows those seeds exist.  Every once in a while in the street markets of Bangkok there appears a miracle of the past.  Lake needs to know where it comes from, who is creating it and how much they will sell it for.  Calories are now currency.  The most important goal in life now is getting enough to eat.  If the plagues and famines don’t take you, the exhausting hunt for enough food will. 

And into this life of desperation the rich have introduced their slaves – the Windups – the New People as they call themselves.  They are genetically mastered to please their creators in a variety of ways.  They are factory slaves with 10 arms, soldiers with superior strength and pretty toys designed only to please.   A windup can’t be pushed too far – they are created in a factory – they have no soul or original thought not programmed into them (or have they?).   Created in Japan, they replace people in jobs that they need and so are not welcome in Thailand.  Yet, they are there.  The Windup Girl is available on Amazon.com.

Paolo Bacigalupi has expanded on many of the ideas and themes from  his award-winning short fiction.  Let’s hope this is not our future.  It’s frightening.  I highly recommend this book.  And, I await Bacigalupi’s next book with anticipation.