Kadomi reviewed The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Review of 'The Windup Girl' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The Windup Girl is set in Bangkok, Thailand, in the undefined future. The 'Expansion' is over, loss of fuels and plagues have caused empires to fall and countries to become isolated. Agricultural corporations rule the world, but some countries still exist, including the very proud Thai Kingdom.
Anderson Lake is a so-called calorie man from AgriGen, come to investigate why Thais are able to cultivate nightshades and other fruit again. His political machinations to get access to the Thai seedbanks ultimately cause political coups and counter-coups in Thailand. The story is told from different PoVs: Anderson, his Chinese employee Hock Seng, the Thai hero Jaidee and his second Kanya, and Emiko. The latter is the Windup Girl, a genetically engineered Japanese servant who got stranded in Bangkok and now works in a Bangkok sex club. She will play a surprising role in all of this.
I devoured the book within …
The Windup Girl is set in Bangkok, Thailand, in the undefined future. The 'Expansion' is over, loss of fuels and plagues have caused empires to fall and countries to become isolated. Agricultural corporations rule the world, but some countries still exist, including the very proud Thai Kingdom.
Anderson Lake is a so-called calorie man from AgriGen, come to investigate why Thais are able to cultivate nightshades and other fruit again. His political machinations to get access to the Thai seedbanks ultimately cause political coups and counter-coups in Thailand. The story is told from different PoVs: Anderson, his Chinese employee Hock Seng, the Thai hero Jaidee and his second Kanya, and Emiko. The latter is the Windup Girl, a genetically engineered Japanese servant who got stranded in Bangkok and now works in a Bangkok sex club. She will play a surprising role in all of this.
I devoured the book within a day, loving the plot and the machinations, without ever loving the total package. All characters are very gray, no character is truly likable, and most of them get what they deserve. The book should come with a giant trigger warning, because the author does linger on descriptions of Emiko being abused in the club in every which way possible. It does explain her character development, but I found it too much to bear.
If it hadn't been for the detailed violations of poor Emiko, I probably would have rated this higher.
3 stars.
