Paolo Bacigalupi - The Windup Girl

In the not to distant future, a series of genetic plagues have devastated global food production. Climate change, rising sea levels, war and the rise of oppressive regimes have forced countries to aggressively protect their borders and their natural resources. The huge city of Bangkok, Thailand is protected by enormous sea walls from the rising oceans, and internally by military forces representing different factions of the government. These personnel, though heavily corrupt, are dedicated to preventing the explosion of further epidemics spread by uncontrolled disease imported into the country. Fossil fuels are frowned upon, and energy comes from the tightening of springs through human and animal power - the new technology being sufficient to drive vehicles, but also offering a potential lucrative source of profit for those who develop new versions.

This is the frighteningly real future world in which Paolo Bacigalupi sets The Windup Girl. The main figure is Anderson Lake, in the style perhaps of the old European colonial representatives who embodied their national interests, except he represents AgriGen, a massive agricultural conglomerate capable of deploying vast sums and heavily armed forces to gain access to new genetic sources. Lake's shady past includes at least one bungled attack on a Scandinavian seed bank, but here in Bangkok he's got wind of a renegade genetic scientist who might offer access to impossibly valuable sources of genetic material.

But at the heart of government there are other forces who want to stop Lake and his ilk. Their interests lie, at least partly, in defending Thailand's state. But they are also factional, and tensions between government departments are reaching a boiling point as the wider global crises are putting pressure on the world. Emiko, the "windup" of the title, is a New Person, a specially bred woman used for the whims (sexual and otherwise) of the rich and powerful. She's been dumped in Bangkok and has become trapped in sex work. Lake becomes obsessed with her, and the two of them find themselves at the centre of a convoluted and violent attempt to overthrow the Thai government so that AgriGen can move in and capture the county's genetic wealth.

Its a well thought through story, built within a clearly drawn future world. It's particularly exciting because Bacigalupi uses the threat from the western multinationals to open up the contradictions and tensions at the heart of the Thai government. Despite the books blurb, and perhaps the impression I've given so far, much of the book focuses on the lives of people in Bangkok. The workers in Lang's factory who frequently lose their lives in accidents, and Lang's manager Hock Seng, a refugee from anti-Chinese pogroms in Malaysia are so well drawn that they make the book seem more real than many similar future fantasies I've read. Hock Seng in particular, is ever fearful and prepared to flee another pogrom - desperate not to make the mistakes that cost him the lives of his families previously.

Emiko is also a brilliant drawn character. Very much a victim - she rapidly becomes a powerful figure of resistance, who is inspired by rumours of communities of New People deep in the jungle. Can she escape the sudden collapse of the social order and live in peace with others like her?

Finally there are key characters in the White Shirts who move from defenders of the existing order to representatives of the new - prepared to resist the external corporations and Thailand's internal enemies.

This is a brilliantly drawn book that weaves many different strands together. The cast of characters is diverse, and excellently drawn. They move around a world that seems incredibly real, a future that is entirely possible. Where the corporations that have destroyed global ecosystems in their quest for money haven't been defeated and constantly threaten more chaos. Highly recommended.

Related Reviews

Bacigalupi - Ship Breaker