The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi Narrator: Jonathan Davis
Published by Night Shade Books on September 1st 2009
Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
Genres: Biopunk, Science Fiction
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
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? Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers one of the most highly acclaimed science fiction novels of the twenty-first century.
Julie’s Review:
This book had a really good premise, but was boring, plain and simple. I gave up reading the ebook and switched to audio, and that helped. The narrator was great and did all the accents very well. I liked the concepts with the genetic engineering in food, animals, and people, but the story just didn’t hold my attention. If this wasn’t a book club book, it would probably have been a DNF. As it turns out, most of the book club people didn’t finish the book. This is a good example of an interesting concept but poor delivery.
I’ve had this on my shelf forever! I loved the cover, but had a hard time getting into it. Thanks for the review.
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Aw. I am sorry that it didn’t work out for you, Julie. You’re right, this really has an interesting premise that I would have picked this up in a heartbeat. Bioengineered heroine+ Food crisis= Win. It seems like a hardcore Sci-Fi.
What a bummer that the plot, the romance, and the characters didn’t deliver. I hope that your next read will be better, Julie.
Have a great weekend.
And here I was so excited to see if this is any good because of the awesome cover art. I feel you though, it’s so disappointing for our expectations to be set so high only to be let down like that.