The Windup Girl (The Windup Universe #1) [J0340]

2010 PB in nice clean condition. Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok's street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history's lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko. Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe. What Happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism's genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers one of the most highly acclaimed science fiction novels of the twenty-first century.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "I enjoyed the world building, the main characters, the commentary on business ignoring societal and climate consequences of their actions. And how in an extreme version of such a world there are always choices, opportunities to do good. Storylines remain well connected and still sufficiently unpredictable."; "The characters are diverse and there are no outright villains or heroes which leds an air of credibility to the story though some of the character arcs fall just a bit short."; "The writing has a strong sense of momentum, and it feels like a cohesive vision that successfully comes together. Masterfully written."