Named one of the best novels of the year by Time, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Locus and the American Library Association. Winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards, the Compton Crook Award and the Campbell Memorial Award.
Post-apocolyptic, dystopian, future Earth, cyberpunk and probably more, this science fiction read is astoundingly good. OK, great. Really great. Paolo is a rich writer who tells this story set in a future Thailand through the viewpoint of several characters: Anderson Lake, a calorie man trying to unlock Thailand's secret new food sources and trying to discover their seed bank for his corporation; Hock Seng a relocated Chinese man who escaped genocide and dreams of reclaiming his lost standing in the world; Jaidee, a revolutionary who fights for the good of Thailand; Kanya, his second-in-command with motives of her own; and Emiko, the windup girl created as a bioengineered toy.
The nuance and reality of this story are stunning. It's like reading a tapestry. Like life, it's beautiful, twisted and brutal. Yes, it's that good. It deserves all the acclaim it gets. I'm really glad I bumped into this book.
I won't say anything more about it, because if you haven't read it yet, I'd hate to spoil it for you. Paolo is my new science fiction author hero. I hope he keeps writing and is prolific.
I eagerly await Paolo's next book. You can learn more about him and his work at: http://windupstories.com/
Have you read The Windup Girl? What'd you think? If you haven't, have you read Paolo's Ship Breaker? I have that on my list of books to buy.
The next Wistful Read, to be discussed in September, Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. It, too, has gotten a lot of good buzz. Steampunk. I'm looking forward to reading it.
Check out Jon Mac's release: Mythik Imagination, three pulptastic short stories. Love the retro sci-fi art on the cover. Available from Smashwords and Amazon. Jon blogs at Mythik Imagination and has a great feature on Wednesdays, which I love, Weird Wednesdays where he finds bizarre and wonderful things to fuel the imagination. Looking forward to reading Jon's stories. I find the titles very appealing.
