So what do I want to come back with? Probably the next big science fiction writer.
It is such a great feeling when you finish a book and realize it was not just a great read but a phenomenal read. The Wind Up Girl is crafted perfectly and complements its authors ingenious ideas with superb writing.
This was my most eagerly anticipated read of 2010. The novel is one of the most critically acclaimed of the year (extraordinarily for a debut novel). It won two of the genres biggest awards, the Hugo and Nebula award. It also won the John W Campbell and the Locus first novel.
The Wind Up girl is set in a future Thailand struggling for survival; survival from the flood waters that skim it’s protective walls, survival against the incurable gene plagues ravaging the world and survival from the genetics that hack down food crops and destroy the vital calories needed to keep the population. There is a battle in the city between the money hungry traders who are eager to ignore environmental legislations and the environmental white shirts who struggle with the balance between the contraband gene tampering and the government, tampering themselves, to survive. Then there are the Thai rulers, struggling to maintain their culture and spirit in a new world that butchers it.
It was a breath of fresh air to read a future sci-fi set in Thailand. The future Thailand is a steam-punk dystopia energized by its factions - each struggling for dominance. It’s clear that the energy of the city is bubbling to a violent climax. Notoriously compared to William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer the plot has the darkness and violence of a noir - with multiple corrupt characters and plot twists.
It’s also an environmental Sci-Fi. What makes it a good one is that the plights of The Wind Up Girls Thailand have roots in today’s society. Bacigalupi creates a haunting world because its believable. He mixes this with the fanciful, from evaporating Cheshire cats to terrifying armoured megathons.
Defying the majority of environmental sci-fis, Bacigalupi leaves his story open ended and without defining the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. You are left with a feeling of resolution but no clear idea who was right; who won and who lost. Follow this lack of decisiveness; there are no outright heroes or villains in the novel. For example, Jaidee the head of the white shirts (the environmental military entrusted with keeping the genetic terrors at bay) should be a hero but in the first scenes he is seen accepting bribes from traders. He then destroys their shipments, ignoring the illicit money he has just received to protect them. He terrorizes and threatens all who stand in the white shirts path, considering it a lesser wrong for protecting his country. He reminded me of Jack Bauer, but instead of protecting his country against terrorists, he protects it from the biological threats. There is also Kanya; his deputy who is really a double agent. She struggles between choosing between which of her masters is really providing justice and helping the nation. Is there really an answer when both are shedding blood?
The Wind Up girl is a key character and a metaphor of the books message. She is a new person; a Japanese creation. She is created with human modification. She has immunity from disease, strength and quicker reflexes. However, because she is designed to serve and delight others she is also built with flaws such as no pores to give her perfectly smooth skin. This causes her to overheat if she moves too fast. She is also designed to move in wind up, stutter stop motions: a deliberate feature to ensure she can be spotted from a real person. She has also been built with innate psychological qualities - like a labrador she craves a master and to serve. The Thai’s regard her as an abomination – unnatural and dangerous. She is constantly treated as inferior, when she herself points out; really she is superiorly designed in every way. The doctor Gi Bu Sen (a master at gene hacking) comments the world could be much better off if we all gave in and became new people ourselves.
The novel is a tremendous read that is never predicable and leaves you turning each page eager for more. The characters are engaging and you long to know what will happen next. Is there a sequel? Only time will tell! All I know is, after reading this book you know that Paolo Bacigalupi is the next big thing in Sci-Fi.
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