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Saturday, August 20, 2011

The Windup Girl*

I love science fiction. But it can be hard to read. By that I mean you absolutely have to pay close attention and it helps if you possess a scientific mind, one which can not only imagine but comprehend a future based on scientific principles you may or may not be familiar with. And while I have no trouble at all paying close attention I do not possess a scientific mind. I barely passed most of my science based courses in high school and college - even when I studied my ass off. Which is why reading The Windup Girl was more challenging than some of the books I read.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book immensely and if you like scifi, I think you will, too. Here's the basic premise:

Anderson Lake is a calorie man, living in Thailand where he's searching for "foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history's lost calories." Emiko is the windup girl, a "creche grown" creation who moves in stop-stutter time. She is New People, perfect and beautiful, designed to be as loyal and as obedient as a dog. "Regarded as soulless beings...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."** When the two meet, events proceed in an unexpected fashion and this is probably why I like scifi so much; it almost always surprises me.
 
The Windup Girl is no exception.


Paolo Bacigalupi also wrote Shipbreaker, which I loved.

* This book won the 2010 Hugo Award.
** from Amazon's review





10 comments:

  1. Ha! I was shopping for books last night and was torn between The Wind UP Girl and Ship Breaker. I went with Ship Breaker. I'll have to check this one out next time. Thanks for the review. :)

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  2. I really liked Shipbreaker, LG.

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  3. It's on my list to read. And I don't like high-tech science fiction either. I've kept my books low-tech and easy to follow.

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  4. I think you'll like it, Alex. The gene splicing technology was especially interesting.

    but I should warn you all, it's quite graphic, as in blood/sex, so if that bothers you, you might want to choose something else.

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  5. I loved Ship Breaker! Thanks for the review--this book is on my TBR.

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  6. Ooooh sounds like a fab book to read!! Chilling stuff too! I do tend to switch off when reading sci-fi books and short stories at the very technical bits but if the story is strong enough, I stick with it! Thanks for your review and info to this book! take care
    x

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  7. thanks for the recommendation. i like sci fi too and it sounds good =)

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  8. I LOVED Ship Breaker SO much. I really need to read this one!

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  9. I'll have to check this out -- if it's available on Kindle. Looking for a new, good read, and I loved Ship Breaker (also on my Kindle).

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  10. I've picked this book up (I've managed to acquire a copy of every Hugo winner so I keep it going), but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. From what you wrote I look forward to it.

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