The Windup Girl

Summary

Paolo Bacigalupi sets his debut novel in a future Bangkok where calorie companies control the food supply, fossil fuels are gone, and bioengineered plagues threaten survival. The story weaves together a foreign factory manager, a desperate official, and Emiko, an engineered being called a windup girl, as power struggles ignite the city. The book offers a vivid vision of biopunk, climate crisis, and genetic engineering.