Are you ready for this? Prepare thyself for the unthinkable: A positive book review from me! Spoiler Alert: I like this book. A lot.
Paolo Bacigalupi (a name I only mis-typed twice just now) has delivered a brilliant science fiction novel about the collapse of the global economy, genetically engineered plants run amok, cyborgs, food wars, politics, race relations, religion, and, well, lots of other things.
The Windup Girl is set in Bangkok several centuries from now. Genetically modified animals and crops have (accidentally) swarmed across the world, destroying countless species of plants and animals and bringing most countries to their knees. The dwindling Japanese have created a race of New People to replace their shrinking work force. American companies feed the world with sterile foods that cannot be planted and grown, only bought. Oil-starved machines have been replaced with animal labor. Hideous diseases are constantly mutating to kill plants, animals, and people.
Through hard work, sacrifice, and dedication, the Kingdom of Thailand has survived this global collapse (the Contraction) by balancing power between a brutal Environmental Ministry that burns factories and farms to contain the endless contagions and a schemeing Trade Ministry that wants to engage with the outside world and usher in a second age of global Expansion (we’re in the first one right now).
To explore this world, the author gives us several characters from very different worlds, including:
- Anderson, the American industrialist trying to get access to Thai genetic material and open Thai markets to his company.
- Hock Seng, the Chinese refugee who lost an corporate empire and his family and is now trying to rebuild his life as a hated migrant worker.
- Jaidee, one-time muay thai champion turned government agent dedicated to protecting his homeland from biological invaders.
- Emiko, a Japanese “windup” abandoned by her owner and left to survive as a sex worker and hunted by the authorities for being unnatural.
It’s rich, it’s complex, it’s exciting and horrifying and thought-provoking.
But it’s not perfect. For starters, it takes a very long time for the various characters’ story lines to coalesce into a real plot. Much of the book feels like four separate stories jammed together to paint a richer portrait of this dystopian future. This issue no doubt comes from the author’s background in writing short stories instead of novels.
There is also a certain stagnant quality to the character arcs. Each person clings to their central identity throughout the whole book without evolving or learning or changing at all. Which made the chapters feel a bit repetitive.
When the plot finally does come together, it still feels a bit thin. There’s plenty of action and drama, but I didn’t find myself very invested in the outcome.
Bottom line: The Windup Girl is a well-conceived novel that explores countless science fiction concepts in technology, biology, economics, and politics. But it suffers from a disjointed and less-than-epic plot. Still, it’s 350 pages worth reading.
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