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)

Great story and performance

Loved everything about it. The narration and creativity of the story are top notch. Well worth grabbing this one.

very engaging.

it had a slowing start for me but needed to be for the true character development. then the story came alive and listening made me ask myself questions about my world, too. I'd like to think we're better but.......

interesting but slow

this book is slow. soooooo slow. the author is incredibly descriptive, which is great for immersion, but entire chapters feel unnecessary. that said, the concepts are novel and interesting. this book is worth the read if you have the time and patience.

Great Story, slow listen

What did you love best about The Windup Girl?

the world and characters were so well detailed that it was easy to visualize them and imagine this horrible world that they were working in. The accents done by narrator Johnathan Davis were very good.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Windup Girl?

when Emiko quits being submissive to those who abuse her and she fights back and kills about 8 important people at once.

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have only listened to Davis once before on a compilation, so I can't really compare.

Any additional comments?

Davis' narration starts slow. The first third of the book has Davis pausing an addtional beat or two for I suppose dramatic event, but it more dragged the listen for me. Maybe this was his decision on how the book was written, I'm not sure. As the book continued, his pace picked up as did the action and made this an overall good, satisfying listen.

Mixed feelings

Although the performance was great and the concept intriguing, I felt like the story had numerous puzzle pieces that never quite went together. The concept of the windup girl was never fully explored and neither was she the central character of the book. It just wasn't as clean as I hoped it would be.

Excellent

Twisting through this story was captivating as they say with paper I could not put it down waiting for the next turn

Fantastic edgy sci-fi

The story is raw and at times excessively vulgar, but to a point in for a purpose. It is very well written, character development is top-notch, and it is very engaging. This story is about a possible future of unintended consequences and the lives people may live in such a works. Sci-fi worth reading and sharing with others.

**snoring. ..**

meh, the idea behind this story is good but the execution of this book & the reading of it leave a lot to be desired.

Very entertaining

It was tough to stop listening to this fascinating futuristic story filled with unique characters

A different take on the genre

Its dark and gritty, like most dystopian sci-fy. But the setting and the cultural blending makes it belivable and interesting to listen to.