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Paolo Bacigalupi’s debut novel, The Windup Girl, swept the science fiction world when it was first published in 2009. Set in 23rd century, this Locus, Nebula & Hugo award winning book features the classic symptoms of a climate fiction novel; climate change, the exhaustion of fossil fuels and dramatic sea level rise. Yet the focus of the novel is centred around bioengineering, specifically the control of genetically modified crops to feed the world’s population.
Megacorporations, like AgriGen, control food production through use of these crops to amass immense wealth and power. Their indiscriminate use of bioterrorism, hitmen and devastating pest plagues constantly create demand for their calories and new modified seeds. The world’s genetic stock is now limited to the seeds and the corporations that control them.
Thailand is the sole exception. It maintains its own seed stock, more genetically diverse than anywhere else in the world and therefore does not suffer from the pest plagues that ravage the rest of the world. Now protected from the sea by levees and pumps, Bangkok must fend off the relentless attempts to open up the country and allow its genetic diversity to be exploited.
Anderson Lake, AgriGen’s representative in Thailand, combs Bangkok in search of new foodstuffs and seeds to find the location of the secret seedbank for hid company. In his search he meets Emiko, the Windup Girl, part of a race of New People created to suit the whims of the rich. As a genetically engineered human, she must hide from the powerful Thai Environment Ministry, who wouldn’t hesitate to kill her or anyone else who threatens the isolationist nature of the country. Lake offers Emiko protection for her help but with political tensions rising out of control, no one can foresee the influence of the Windup Girl.
As first novels go, Paolo Bacigalupi could not have hoped for better. The novel won 5 major awards, finished as one of the Times Magazine’s top 10 books of the year and is often listed as a must-read book within the climate fiction genre. It is almost unique in its focus on bioengineering for which the seeds are being sown in the present day. In 2009 genetically modified crops were a popular news feature, with plenty of articles and documentaries debating the pros and cons of the technology. The Windup Girl capitalises on the negative and paints a vivid and imaginative world in which people’s fears about bioengineering have come to past. Times have changed, and whilst there is still concern around the use of GMO crops, the focus of society is elsewhere and that, perhaps, leaves this modern sci-fi classic feeling a little outdated.
Despite this and its lengthy 500-pages, it is an enjoyable and pacey read, never quite seeming to stagnate or drag despite its wealth of characters. Sub plots weave throughout the book, often drawing away from the main plot and the more interesting strands that involve Lake and Emiko and the political machinations of Thailand. Yet they do not slow the book down. If you are a lover of hard science fiction then I would avert your eyes, for some of the scientific explanations and considerations in this book will not slide with you (Cheshire cats and Spring batteries, I’m looking at you) but if you can suspend your love of hard science for a moment and settle into this biopunk world you are in for an entertaining read.
Daniel George, CEnv, MISEP: I’m a senior sustainability and carbon consultant for AtkinsRéalis, based in their Bristol office. I’m a big reader of sci-fi and climate fiction but I’ll happy read anything. I love climate fiction because it provides a counter to the constant doom and gloom of climate change that we normally experience. Whilst climate fiction is rarely sunshine and rainbows, it does often provide a more positive future outlook than the news or social media. It explores people dealing with the challenges of a climate-damaged world and showcases their stories of adaptation, community and humanity in such vividly imaginative ways.
