The Windup Girl

By: Paolo Bacigalupi

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover 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; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-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? In The Windup Girl, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi returns to the world of The Calorie Man (Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winner, Hugo Award nominee, 2006) and Yellow Card Man (Hugo Award nominee, 2007) in order to address these poignant questions.

BONUS AUDIO: In an exclusive introduction, author Paolo Bacigalupi explains how a horrible trip to Thailand led to the idea for The Windup Girl.

©2009 Paolo Bacigalupi (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award, Best Novel, 2010
• Nebula Award, Best Novel, 2009
• Best Books of 2009, Publishers Weekly
• 10 Best Fiction Books of 2009, Time magazine
• Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy 2009, Library Journal

"Paolo Bacigalupi's debut sci-fi novel is a stunner, especially as interpreted under the careful ministrations of narrator Jonathan Davis. The novel postulates a corrupt near-future society in Southeast Asia, where powerful corporations vie for control over rice yields by wielding bioengineered viruses as tools for profit." ( AudioFile)

" The Windup Girl will almost certainly be the most important SF novel of the year for its willingness to confront the most cherished notions of the genre, namely that our future is bright and we will overcome our selfish, cruel nature." ( Book Page)

"A classic dystopian novel likely to be short listed for the Nebula and Hugo Awards" ( SF Signal)

Slow

I really wanted to enjoy this book, unfortunately that ended up not being the case. It took me almost two weeks to finish this audio, because there just wasn't much reason to come back to it. There are a lot of great ideas in this story, compelling plot aspects...and they just sit there. The realism and humanity of the story are overshadowed by the lack of truly gripping plot movements and characters.

Very Engaging

This may be one of those stories - You love it or you just don't get it. If you enjoy sci-fi at its best you'll enjoy the future world the author build along with a great story and characters.

Meloncholy Sci-Fi(ish)

Overall not a bad book. It was the same middle-tone through out. A near post-famine world in which gen-mod food is the new iron fist. It felt like there were several opportunities in which this book could have really taken off but decided to keep an even distribution between subplots and characters instead. Personally after hearing the introduction a book based on the author's experiences that inspired this novel would have been more interesting.

Wow. A great experience!

Some of the terms and words in this book are unfamiliar in this futuristic tale, but if you are patient and listen through the first chapter, it becomes much easier to understand.

The Windup Girl

It started a little slow but built into a fantastic listen! I will definitely recommend this book.

GDB - Great Darn Book

OK, someone! will complain about the sex parts; "Is it really necessary to have one of the central characters BE that sexual?" (Or if you like, "Suffer such explicit sexual humiliation?")
yes.
This is a future with Genetic Engineering Run Wild. This is a future in a time and place you can see, smell, hear and darn near touch. This is a location that is precisely today and absolutely in a distorted and warped future.
Reader read it well. Writer nailed the locus - and the characters.

Richly Realized, but a total downer

Beautiful richly realized world, and a very interesting scenario, but the characters are not as richly realized; other than perhaps, the Windup girl herself. There are many other reviews which will delve into the pros and cons of the story. I will simply say this: Not one good thing happens to any of the characters anywhere in the story. Only the conclusion itself gives some small hope for one of the characters, but that's it. So if you would like to be uplifted, or excited, or engaged in any positive way; skip this one.

Enthralling and thought provoking!

The characters voices are well distinguished, and the writing is peppered with local tradition and custom references. The setting and narrative is totally immersive, and I haven't enjoyed something along these lines since Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age. If you liked that you'll love this too!

Wow! Rarely have I been so impressed!

Fantastic book! I've never heard of the author before, but this blew me out of the water. Well thought out, with multiple character holding conflicting viewpoints, and yet all can be sympathized with. The world Bacigalupi has created is dystopian and primitive, yet wonderful and advanced. Brought me right into the story. Can't recommend enough.

Good book overall but a little slow starting

Any additional comments?

This book is intricately well written. Its a little slow starting but totally worth it!