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)

Spellbinding

At first I thought the book was a little slow, then as events unfolded, I found myself thinking back to the earlier chapters. The characters were engrossing and very real and the future presented was believable.

This listen was good enough that instead of listening only on my commute, I would keep it playing after I got home.

Great book, made even better by a skilful reading

Usually I'm happy if I don't notice the narrator at all, but for The Windup Girl I'll make an exception. The reading actually enhanced the story for me, and I'll now seriously consider buying other Audible books just on the basis that they're narrated by Mr Davis.

How to speak Asian

Paolo has created a very imaginative world, but it's one with very little explanation. You're tossed into the middle of it, and there are many references you are unfamiliar with. After a few hours, you begin to understand the terminology through force of repetition. Having said that, once you know what's going on THEN he comes back in part II to explain it to you. Thanks, Paolo, but too late. Furthermore, I now know how to pronounce several Asian words, though whether they are Tai, Chinese, or Japanese I have no idea. I also have only an inkling of what they mean. This book needs a glossary for both the science terms and the Asian words. He repeats himself often, so often that you're in the middle of part II before you really feel like anything has happened at all. Still, the characters are deep and the world, though depressing, is extremely fleshed out. It's a good escape, if you like going to a world where you feel a bit lost.

Dark, Disturbing, and Thought-provoking

The Windup Girl starts off a little slowly, and the introduction of characters is a little cumbersome, but it's well worth the wait.

This is probably a four star book, but I rated it at three stars for a couple of reasons. One, the graphic rape scenes were, IMHO, totally unnecessary to furthering the story. I got the picture after the first one; I didn't need the second, more extended and brutal scene to prove the point.

Two, it was never really explained why there were only two kinds of energy available; coal and stored kinetic, with no wind or solar energy. In a story where the world has completely accepted that burning fossil fuel is directly related with climate change, I found it very hard to buy into the idea that most electricity in the story was generated with mutant elephants turning cranks.

On the other hand, the story itself is interesting and intriguing, and the ending is eminently suitable to the story itself, which I found immensely satisfying.

Smart sci-fi

Sci-fi with an emphasis on sci. No gratuitous plot lines. Complex without confusion, evocative, terrifying (a la Oryx and Crake), engrossing from start to finish. Excellent reader. Bravo Audible.

Starts slow but bear with it

Where does The Windup Girl rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Most of the audiobooks I've listened to so far are my favourite books so that may not be the best indicator of the story itself.

What did you like best about this story?

The machinations of Hock Seng -- his history and his character. Of all the characters in this book, he was the most compelling to me.

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

I listened to Snow Crash just after The Windup Girl. I would rate this one slightly higher. I think it was probably a more demanding performance and he handled it just as well.

Any additional comments?

The story started slow for me. It seemed, while I was listening, that the slightest thing would distract me and minutes would go by before I paid attention again. I put it on the shelf for awhile but came back to it. I'm glad I did because once I got past the opening, the story was compelling.

Exquisite work

There is a reason The Windup Girl is up for awards, and I look forward to Poalo Bacigalupi's future work.
A science fiction tale based in the future tropics, and was hooked from the beginning. Jonathan Davis added a great deal to keeping listeners engaged.

Get This Book

In a word. Awesome. The story kept me trapped at the edge of my seat, anxiously waiting to find out what happens next. The setting was well devised - a plausible view of some distant future. The narrator - Perfect. Five Stars. Buy it.

Best. Narration. Ever.

This is a wonderful, dark, completely absorbing story about a time and place different from our own yet plausible as an alternate future born of today. For example: the devastation of famine, disease and violent conflict caused by corporate (and nationalistic) genetic modification, and subsequent control, of food crops and animal husbandry. You don't need to be a science fiction or fantasy fan to thoroughly enjoy this book. You WILL be sucked in and fascinated. It is about much much more than the perceived main character though she provides an intimate window into the times. My one and only hesitation to give this book an overall 5 star rating was the author's ever-so-slightly narrow development of said main character and the fixation on her repeated humiliation. While necessary to the story it was played out almost gratuitously. I also didn't think his forward reflected much of anything in the book even though he describes his inspiration for writing it--but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, Jonathan Davis is just STELLAR! He can narrate anything and anyone. A man with a gentle American accent who left in my memory the distinct voices of Thai and Japanese women (to name just a few characters). I mean: when I think back on the listen I hear the sound of foreign women's voices speaking, not his. That is how good he is. It's unreal how talented, actually, and I cannot recommend his work highly enough.

Handwriting on Monsanto's Wall

This imaginative extension of the consequences of genetic manipulation explores the evolution of moralities and prejudices in an all-too-believable future. There is a glimmer of optimism in the final pages which all but demands a sequel — which I hope will never be written. The book is complete as is. I particularly enjoyed the authors even handling of "shock-and-awe" events that allows them a proper place in the narrative while not allowing them to become the focus. I will pay more attention to GM creativity in the light of this gripping novel.