Paolo Bacigalupi (ology)
Blue Tyson
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2010 Blue Tyson
Second edition May 2010
INTRODUCTION
This book is about the work of science fiction writer Paolo Bacigalupi, and is a companion to the Paolo Bacigalupi (ology) website http://paolobacigalupi.blogspot.com and collects the content found at the site. The various entries and elements can also be browsed there.
Bacigalupi is a writer often working in the near future dystopia subgenre, with the major work being a series of stories set in a post-oil Thailand striving to resist food monopolies.
The book contains an analysis of the elements of his published stories, plus summaries of the work explaining what they are about, and a classification.
It also contains details of and links to free works online, encyclopedia, bibliography, interview and other such reference works, as well as the author's presence on the internet and other categories of interest.
There is also a concordance for each story included at the end, with the stories in alphabetical order.
The works appear here in reverse chronological order of appearance at Paolo Bacigalupi (ology).
CATEGORISATION
The tags with a "z " prefix:
The works are tagged by the type of story, and by length (novella, novelette, short story, etc.).
Elements of the story are broken down into types of characters, places, concepts, technology, vehicles, weapons, food, media, races, animals and plants.
The tags with a "zz " prefix:
These are references to the work the elementis from.
The numeric tags:
These are references to the approximate relative importance of the element as follows :
4.0 = Major element
3.5 = Standard element
3.0 = Minor element
A 0.0 indicates that the story, work or reference is one for which I have not seen an actual complete copy.
Characters being the most important elements, the "z " tags are self-explanatory, and the numbers correspond:
5.0 = Series character
4.5 = Recurring character
4.0 = Major character
3.5 = Supporting character
3.0 = Minor character
Explanation of story ratings here :-
If the entry is an actual fictional work such as a Short Story, the number is my opinion of its quality, as per this breakdown:
5.0 = Outstanding
4.5 = Excellent
4.0 = Very Good
3.5 = Good
3.0 = Average
2.5 = Poor
2.0 = Bad
1.5 = Very Bad
1.0 = Terrible
Please note that there is no analysis of the children's book "Ship Breaker".
You can email corrections to aussievamp2@gmail.com, or comment on the blog at http://paolobacigalupi.blogspot.com
Blue Tyson, May 19, 2010.TITLES 701
CONTENT 701
TERMS 2103
1.
The Big Idea - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - article - 4.0
"Based on what I’ve seen of global food companies, and my own–admittedly megalomaniacal―impulses, I started scheming about how I’d run an international food corporation if I really wanted to get profits rolling. First, I’d want to get rid of competing crops. So I’d manufacture food blights to kill anything that wasn’t my own genetically resistant seedstock. Then I’d bring out the Terminator gene, so that no one could ever replant my patented seed. And then of course I’d jack up the price, and wallow in all that money."
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/09/24/the-big-idea-paolo-bacigalupi/
2.
The Calorie Man - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online work - 5.0 - science fiction
Online story.
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2009/04/calorie-man-paolo-bacigalupi.html
3.
The Fluted Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online work - 3.5 - science fiction
Online story.
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2008/03/fluted-girl-paolo-bacigalupi.html
4.
The Gambler - Paolo Bacigalupi : 4.5 - z online work - science fiction
Online story.
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2008/11/gambler-paolo-bacigalupi.html
5.
Website - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - 4.5 - website
Author's website with appropriate info.
http://windupstories.com/
6.
Wikipedia - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - 3.5 - encyclopedia
Online encyclopedia entry. Fairly brief, with awards nomination info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Bacigalupi
7.
ISFDB Bibliography - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - 5.0 - bibliography
With his publications, print and electronic.
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Paolo_Bacigalupi
8.
Author Photograph - Paolo Bacigalupi : z photograph - professional - 4.0
One grinning writer.
http://windupstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/paolobacigalupiauthorphoto300dpi.jpg
9.
The People Of Sand and Slag - Paolo Bacigalupi : 4.5 - z online work - science fiction
Online story.
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2008/03/people-of-sand-and-slag-paolo.html
10.
Keeping An Eye On - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - 4.5 - interview
"On the other hand, if we're all photosynthesizing, maybe that causes mass equatorial migration, so we can maximize our children's health and access to sunlight, so the sun-deprived north wages war on the equatorial zones for better sunlight territory. I think Alaska basically depopulates. Of course, then the question really is... can we *only* photosynthesize? Or is it supplemental energy? Maybe the effect is that we keep eating just like always, but we're also photosynthesizing, and so we GET REALLY OBESE, and just lie around as giant green lumps on lawn chairs, soaking up free sun food and doing nothing else at all."
http://yetistomper.blogspot.com/2009/09/keeping-eye-on-paolo-bacigalupi.html
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2009/09/interview-paolo-bacigalupi/
11.
Pocketful Of Dharma - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online work - 4.0 - science fiction
Online story.
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2009/12/pocketful-of-dharma-paolo-bacigalupi.html
12.
Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi : 4.5 - z online work - science fiction
Online story.
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2009/04/pop-squad-paolo-bacigalupi.html
13.
Pump Six - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online work - 4.0 - science fiction
Online story.
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2008/10/pump-six-paolo-bacigalupi.html
14.
Talks About New Directions for Hard Science Fiction - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - article - 4.0
"But somebody needs to bring those offstage questions on stage. Where does energy come from? Where does the food come from? Where did the building block materials come from for whatever we're doing. We have a perception of post-scarcity already. And that problem is rife in SF. I'd like to SF touch on those questions – it will inform the society we'll build and the objects we'll build in the future. Or what we think of as a reasonably-designed house or computer screen. Resources define design, and we're designing worlds. So those questions need to be engaged with a lot more."
http://io9.com/5361970/paolo-bacigalupi-talks-about-new-directions-for-hard-science-fiction
15.
The Tamarisk Hunter - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online work - 4.0 - science fiction
Online story.
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2007/06/tamarisk-hunter-paolo-bacigalupi.html
16.
The Windup Girl 1-9 - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online excerpt - 5.0 - science fiction
Online novel excerpt.
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2009/09/windup-girl-1-9-paolo-bacigalupi.html
17.
Yellow Card Man - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online work - 4.0 - science fiction
Online story.
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2007/05/yellow-card-paolo-bacigalupi.html
18.
Webscriptions - Paolo Bacigalupi : publisher - z in print - 5.0
Ebooks of the great collection and novel at the best provider, thanks to Night Shade Books.
http://www.webscription.net/s-191-paolo-bacigalupi.aspx
19.
Night Shade Books - Paolo Bacigalupi : publisher - z in print - 5.0
His publisher, dead tree version.
http://nightshadebooks.com/cart.php?m=search_resultssearch=bacigalupi
20.
Ecogeek of the Week - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 4.0
""Paolo Bacigalupi is one of the most exciting of the new breed of short story writers, one whose ecological focus, unflinching penchant for hard truth, and exacting prose is garnering attention inside and outside of the genre." He is a four-time Hugo Award Nominee, a Nebula Nominee, and the winner of the Theodore Sturgeon Award for best science fiction short story of the year. His novel THE WINDUP GIRL will be released this fall from Night Shade Books. He maintains a website at windupstories.com. Sample stories from his first collection, "Pump Six and Other Stories," can be found at his website, as well. His story "The Gambler" was recently nominated for a 2009 Hugo for Best Novelette and you can read it online via Pyr Books."
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2665/73/
21.
Living Beyond the End: On Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi - Matthew Cheney : z non-fiction - 4.5 - essay
"Paolo Bacigalupi’s stories echo and build upon the work of writers who came before him, and in some ways they feel like an extension of the better ecological science fiction of the 1970s; the imagined ecocatastrophes of that era lost some of their power through reiteration, and growing interest in genetic engineering and nanotechnology led to many stories of technological triumph over the nonhuman world (and nonhuman worlds). In Bacigalupi’s futures, whatever solution technology offers creates its own problems, and technological innovation is often a tool of the rich to shore up their defenses against the huddled masses yearning to breathe."
http://quarterlyconversation.com/pump-six-and-other-stories-by-paolo-bacigalupi
22.
Twitter - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - blog - 5.0
Real author updates.
http://twitter.com/paolobacigalupi
23.
The People Of Sand and Slag - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online audio - 4.5 - science fiction
Audio reading of this story.
http://trashotron.com/agony/audio/2008/2008-news/030508-bacigalupi_rd.mp3
24.
Why Paolo Bacigalupi feels it's time for sci-fi to change - Nick Gevers : z non-fiction - 3.5 - article
"I think the traditional tropes of science fiction are great. The old SF 'consensus future' was grounded in the explosion of aerospace technology and the Cold War, which seemed to make a certain set of futures inevitable—we were either getting off this rock or we were going to blow ourselves up. Those stories had power because they reflected the zeitgeist of the moment. I grew up on those stories, and they inspired me. But at some point you look around and realize there's a dissonance between SF's imagined future and our own current trends."
http://scifiwire.com/2009/09/paolo-bacigalupi.php
25.
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi : publisher - z in print - 0.0
Apparently there's an audio version. Chance of hearing it is not high given it is crappy Audible DRM etc.
http://www.sffaudio.com/?p=10812
26.
A sci-fi writer and an environmental journalist explore their overlapping worlds - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 4.0
"We've known each other for many years now, and we've read each other's stories as they've developed. Many of your stories are based partly on things I've reported on as an environmental journalist -- drought, climate change, endocrine disruptors -- and it's interesting to see my reporting fictionalized in various frightening ways. So, Paolo, what I really brought you here to ask is this: Why do you keep ripping me off?"
http://www.grist.org/article/bacigalupi/
27.
Science Fiction Friday - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 4.0
"I'd stalked William Gibson at one point at a book signing and had asked him what his secret to success was. You know I was a very hungry, very needy sort of writer and was just looking for any kind of a clue about how the whole thing worked. I sort of hovered over his shoulder while he was signing other people's books. I hit him with all of these questions and one of the things that he said was that he'd written short stories until somebody would take him seriously and that was when he managed to actually sell a novel. So I sort of took that to heart and went home and sat down and was like: 'OK, so I need to write a short story. How the fuck do I do this?'
So I bought some science fiction magazines--fantasy and science fiction magazines and stuff-- and read all of the short stories in them and went, 'OK, I just need to write something better than any these things.' I sat down and started banging away and eventually what I got was "Pocketful of Dharma." "
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/blogs/2008/01/science-fiction-friday-paolo-b.html
28.
Locus Award - Paolo Bacigalupi : locus - z award - 5.0
For Best Collection - Pump Six and Other Stories, 2009.
http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Locus.html
29.
Locus Award - Paolo Bacigalupi : locus - z award - 4.0
For Best Novelette - Pump Six, 2009.
http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Locus.html
30.
Hugo Award Nomination - Paolo Bacigalupi : 4.5 - hugo - z award nomination
2009: Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novelette, for The Gambler
31.
Hugo Award Nomination - Paolo Bacigalupi : hugo - z award nomination - 4.0
2007: Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novelette, for Yellow Card Man
32.
Theodore Sturgeon Award - Paolo Bacigalupi : z award - 5.0 - theodore sturgeon
2006: Won the Theodore Sturgeon Award for The Calorie Man
33.
Hugo Award Nomination - Paolo Bacigalupi : hugo - 5.0 - z award nomination
2006: Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novelette for The Calorie Man
34.
Nebula Award Nomination - Paolo Bacigalupi : 4.5 - z award - nebula
2006: Nominated for Nebula Award for Best Novelette for The People of Sand and Slag
35.
Hugo Award Nomination - Paolo Bacigalupi : 4.5 - hugo - z award nomination
2005: Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novelette for The People of Sand and Slag
36.
Blogging the Muse Author Interview Series 53 - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 3.5
"Paolo Bacigalupi is relative newcomer to the science fiction writing genre, but his work has already made waves, won the Theodore Sturgeon Award and the Locus Awards for Best Collection and Best Novelette for Pump Six. His work has appeared in two of the three biggest science fiction markets, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His short fiction collection Pump Six was released early last year from Night Shade Books. Yours truly ran into him at Readercon in Boston in August, 2009, where he was participating in a panel on YA fiction. His short fiction is powerful, gritty, poignant, and brushes shades of mixed despair and poignance rarely achieved. If you haven’t read him, you would do well to check him out."
http://travisheermann.com/blog/?p=328
37.
Ship Breaker - Paolo Bacigalupi : 0.0 - forthcoming - z novel
Next book apparently a kid's book : "The book in question is Ship Breaker, a young adult novel about all of my favorite things: global warming, peak oil, genetic engineering, poverty and collapsed societies. You know, happy fun stuff. Fortunately, it’s also a ripping adventure. Joe Monti at Little, Brown is the cool guy who decided to buy it, in a two-book deal."
http://io9.com/5053886/little-brown-snaps-up-scifi-about-peak-oil
38.
The Fluted Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi : publisher - z in print - 3.5
Audio Text version on CD.
39.
SF Revu Interview - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 4.0
"SFRevu (Andrew): Which 'future' in the collection does he think the most plausible for us?
Paolo: None of them, really. Aspects, sure. You're going to see more GM foods on the market. You're going to see water scarcity in the southwest. But how we deal with them, that's another question. My futures are often cynical, worst-case scenarios, with the volume turned up to eleven. They're the ones where people fail to reach out to one another, refuse to sacrifice, focus solely on short-term profit to the expense of everything else. Those are trendlines that have accelerated in the last decade, I think, but we don't have to be that way. I don't think of my writing as predictive in any sense of the word. I hope that my stories are illuminating though, that they cast light on places of concern, and toss out question marks about how far down various roads we really want to go. These are caricatures of the future, for the purpose of illuminating our present."
http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=7708
40.
Pump Six: A Conversation with - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 3.5
"Amazon.com: What do you like most about short fiction?
Paolo Bacigalupi: I like that there's a clarity to short stories that tends to get lost when you write to a longer form. The essence of the thing seems to be better encapsulated in short stories, thanks to the enforced discipline of trying to keep a story to 10,000 words. I mostly write novelettes, which gives me enough time to build a world and to give the reader an experience, but isn't so long that you get tangled up in tangential plotlines and extraneous detail. There's just not much room for muddy thinking in the short form; you get in and you get out. And the result for me is that a story often boils down to a single scene that will hopefully resonate with the reader long after they put the story down. I think that's what I like most about the short forms: you don't lose that key scene and you don't get a muddy experience. If I do my work right, I can burn an image into a reader's mind.With novels, there can be dozens of brilliant moments, but they all sort of sludge together. The take-away just doesn't seem as strong. It can be deep or rich or immersive, but the hammer blow of the story is muted."
http://www.omnivoracious.com/2008/04/pump-six-a-conv.html
41.
Agony Column Interview - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 3.0
Very short, mostly about The People Of Sand and Slag.
http://trashotron.com/agony/audio/2008/2008-news/030408-bacigalupi_int.mp3
42.
Locus Magazine Interview - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 0.0
From July 2007
Unseen,
but excerpts here :-
"“I’m not particularly optimistic about humanity’s long-term prospects. We choose what's convenient, expedient, and profitable over almost anything else, all the time. We create all sorts of distractions to pretend we aren't that way, but you have to look at what we do. We are absolutely rapacious. I have had conversations with people who are convinced that science and technology will bail us out of any problems we run into down the road. They say the free market will solve it, our ingenuity will solve it -- in that good old American way, 'We'll put our shoulders to the grindstone and solve that problem, by gum!' And yet in everything that I see us doing, we choose the short-term over the long-term, the profitable over the unprofitable, the easy over the hard, the simple and immediate over the complex.”"
http://www.locusmag.com/2007/Issue07_Bacigalupi.html
43.
The Mumpsimus A Conversation with - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - 4.5 - interview
"Do you think you'll try to publish the early novels you wrote, or are you moving on?
I did actually try to get them published. My agent shopped all of them, and I ended up getting a lot of interest, without any final commitment. Typically, I'd have one editor fall in love with the story, and then it would be killed by other editors, stuff like that. With my first sci-fi novel, I actually turned down a publishing offer, because my agent felt the advance was too low. Looking back, maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. At the time I was feeling pretty good about myself, and was confident that I'd write more novels, so I was able to walk away from the offer. Now, older and more bitter, I might go back and take it. Who knows?"
http://mumpsimus.blogspot.com/2004/09/conversation-with-paolo-bacigalupi.html
44.
'Calorie' Mulls Post-Oil World - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 3.5
"Bacigalupi said that the other aspects of the story came from a variety of sources. "The intellectual property and patenting of grains [in the story] came from news reports I'd read about an attempt by a U.S. company to patent basmati rice, even though it was historically used in India and was naturally occurring. The 'GMO' and the 'sterility controls' on grains came from discussions with friends of mine who are farmers and who are concerned about the advent of ag technologies that are designed to maintain control of corporate seedstocks. (Read about the Terminator gene if you want some background on the idea.) So 'The Calorie Man' is really a sort a mash-up of a bunch of different trends and ideas that were either interesting or worrisome or creepy to me."
http://web.archive.org/web/20071123012227/http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=37292
45.
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online work - 5.0 - science fiction
Online novel.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/315952/The_Windu...
46.
Nebula Award Nomination - Paolo Bacigalupi : z award - 5.0 - nebula
2009 Nomination for Best Novel - The Windup Girl
47.
Nebula Award Nomination - Paolo Bacigalupi : 4.5 - z award - nebula
2009 Nomination for Best Novelette for The Gambler.
48.
Poltergeist Interview - Paolo Baciglalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 4.0
"Well, I really do want to entertain people. I very much hope that my stories always function well as stories, and that they take the reader on an interesting journey. That's a top concern for me. But yeah, I have other agendas as well. I also hope the stories cause people to reflect on their present and perhaps pay close attention to the world around them. I see interesting trends all around me, every day, and one of the things I'd like my fiction to do is to provide readers with my lens on our present, so that they can take a look through that glass as well. The fact that the stories sometimes present bleak futures.... well, if we don't want a bleak future, one hopes that we'll stop building it. From my personal perspective, I'm not really seeing a huge shift in the way we organize our economies or our societies for sustainability, so my suspicion is that while we aren't doomed yet, we are apparently bent on dooming ourselves."
http://fileserv.polter.pl/Wywiad_z_Paolem_Bacigalupim_wersja_angielska.pdf
49.
Bibliophile Stalker Interview - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 4.0
"When you start writing a story, do you need to have a clear agenda in mind?
It varies. With something like "Pump Six" I was interested in endocrine disruptors and intelligence shifts-- that one had an agenda and a plan right from the start. With something like "Yellow Card Man" I was just interested in exploring a character and seeing what I could learn about him. With other stories, I think I've got one plan or idea that I want to write, and it turns out that I'm completely wrong-- those stories are more like discovered objects. Like walking into a store thinking you're shopping for lawn furniture, and walking out carrying lingerie. All you can think is "huh?" I wrote a story recently called "The Gambler" for Lou Anders' Fast Forward 2 anthology that really came out of nowhere. Total surprise. So I guess the answer is that I definitely need *something* interesting to jump start a story: an image, an idea, an agenda, whatever, but I try not to stay too committed to it. If I find something better along the way, I let the story change."
http://charles-tan.blogspot.com/2008/07/feature-interview-with-paolo-bacigalupi.html
50.
Babel Clash - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 3.5
Some questions and chat.
http://bordersblog.com/scifi/category/paolo-bacigalupi/
51.
KVNF Interview - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 4.0
About The Windup Girl and genesis in the main, reasonably short.
http://www.kvnf.org/mp3/Bacigalupi_12-17-09.mp3
52.
The Gambler - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online audio - 4.5 - science fiction
Starship Sofa podcast of the story, about 15 minutes in.
http://www.starshipsofa.com/20100217/aural-delights-no-121-paolo-bacigalupi/
53.
Pump Six - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online audio - 4.0 - science fiction
Starshipa sofa podcast of this story.
http://podcast.starshipsofa.com/podcast/StarShipSofa_Aural_Delights_No_45_Paolo_Bacigalupi.mp3
54.
Green Sci-Fi from Bacigalupi's 'Pump Six' - Rick Kleffel : z non-fiction - 3.0 - article
Just a few minute piece on NPR.
http://public.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/wesun/2008/06/20080629_wesun_18.mp3?dl=1
55.
Save our nameless roads - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - 3.0 - article
"Me, though, I’ll resist the encroachment. I’ll fight this onslaught of developer-brochure names and the loss of isolation that will inevitably follow. I’ve got my new address already picked out.
My road will be named Dead End."
http://cozine.com/2001-may/save-our-nameless-roads/
56.
The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy Podcast Episode 2: Bacigalupilooza! - John Joseph Adams and David Barry Kirtley : z non-fiction - 5.0 - interview
"Paolo Bacigalupi, author of the critically-acclaimed The Windup Girl (which was named one of Time Magazine’s top ten novels of the year) joins us this week to talk about global warming, the horrors of travel, the current state of literature for boys, and his own forthcoming YA novel, Ship Breaker. John and Dave discuss their own experiences with literature when they were growing up, and how they became science fiction fans."
http://www.tor.com/images/_Podcasts/geeks-guide/Geeks-Guide-to-the-Galaxy-Episode-2.mp3
57.
The Loneliest Man In China - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - 4.5 - article
"Then came The Topics.
Everyone in China knows The Topics. The television stations and newspapers run the same state-generated stories all across the country, and the Chinese form their opinions based on these somewhat controlled sources. This time, the hot topics were how racist Americans were and what imperialist bastards we were for bombing Kosovo. It didn't matter whom I talked to, the conversation inevitably turned to those topics, and the opinions were always the same. It gave me a real respect for the power of state-run media."
http://www.chinatour.com/note/china-traveler-article-by-paolo.htm
58.
Softer Excerpt - Paolo Bacigalupi : z excerpt - 3.5 - horror
"Jonathan Lilly slumped in hot water up to his neck and studied his dead wife. She half-floated at the far end of the bath, soap bubbles wreathing her Nordic face."
http://www.logorrheabook.com/excerpts/softer.html
59.
io9 Book Club Meeting: Paolo Bacigalupi's "Windup Girl" - Annalee Newitz : z non-fiction - book club - 4.0
"The io9 Book Club is officially in session. This week, we'll be discussing Paolo Bacigalupi's novel The Windup Girl, which was just nominated for a Nebula Award. Let's start talking in comments."
http://io9.com/5478366/io9-book-club-meeting-paolo-bacigalupis-windup-girl#comments
60.
Fantastic Reviews Author Interview - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - 4.5 - interview
"There has been a process over the last, say, twenty years, maybe a little more, to really despise the government and the safeguards the government has in place. So what you see is the FDA and the USDA and the Federal Communications Commission, all of these are relatively emasculated agencies at this point. They don't do the things they were supposed to do. In some cases they are almost completely beholden to the corporations that they're supposed to be overseeing. You see that in Colorado with something like the Colorado Oil Gas Conservation Commission, which up until very recently was entirely staffed with people with ties to the gas industry. You see stuff like that and you say, okay, there is a role for government. The idea of an absolutely unfettered free market, there can only be horror from that.
Fantastic Reviews (FR): Well, even under the theory. I've studied a lot of economics, and I believe in free-market capitalism, and yet even if you study the basic theory, externalities are part of the theory. There are certain things where, you do things that cause other people to pay the cost, and why should you give a damn about them if someone else is paying for it?
Paolo Bacigalupi (PB): Right, and so clean air, and all these other things, something like the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act are designed to address problems with externalities. The problem right now is we're in a situation where the rhetoric in this rah-rah free-market capitalism - which does absolutely have a lot of benefits - has gotten to the buzzword level where you can't actually have any rational discourse about it. At the same time, the I-want-my-government-so-small-I-can-drown-it-in-the-bathtub theory has gotten so much currency that you end up in a position where we really are playing with fire in a lot of different ways. So those things are always in the back of my mind."
http://www.fantasticreviews.com/bacigalupi_interview.htm
61.
Science Fiction's New Prophet: A PW Web-Exclusive QA - Paolo Bacigalupi : z non-fiction - interview - 3.0
"Where many writers steer clear of weighty issues like the future of humankind, science fiction powerhouse Paolo Bacigalupi embraces them. His insights are on full display in his debut collection,PumpSixandOtherStories"
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/393910-Science_Fiction_s_New_Prophet_A_PW_Web_Exclusive_Q_A.php
62.
Compton Crook Award - The Windup Girl : compton crook - z award nomination - 4.0
A 2010 nomination.
http://www.locusmag.com/News/2010/03/2010-compton-crookstephen-tall-award.html
63.
Hugo Award Nomination - Paolo Bacigalupi : hugo - 5.0 - z award nomination
2010 Nomination for Best Novel for the Windup Girl.
64.
Wang Jun : zz pocketful of dharma - z character - major - 4.0
Known as Little Wang. A street urchin and hungry boy
65.
Lu Xieyan : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z character - minor
A Guangdong singer of government propaganda.
66.
Three Fingers Gao : zz pocketful of dharma - z character - supporting - 3.5
A dealer in stolen goods.
67.
The Tibetan : zz pocketful of dharma - z character - supporting - 3.5
Gives Wang Jun a datacube and mission.
68.
The Hunanese : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z character - minor
The Tibetan's confederate.
69.
BeanBean : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z character - minor
Competitor of Gao's.
70.
The Foreigner : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z character - minor
Kills the Tibetan, takes his finger, and tries for Wang.
71.
Naed Delhi : zz pocketful of dharma - z character - supporting - 3.5
The 19th Dalai Lama.
72.
He Dan : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z character - minor
A computer technician.
73.
White Glove Woman : zz pocketful of dharma - z character - supporting - 3.5
Wang is supposed to give her the datacube.
74.
Chengdu : zz pocketful of dharma - z place - 4.0
Chinese city.
75.
Huojianzhu : zz pocketful of dharma - z place - 4.0
The Living Architecture. An attempt at a biocity.
76.
Sichuan Basin : zz pocketful of dharma - z place - 3.0
Area in the Chinese province of Sichuan.
77.
Bing Jiang : zz pocketful of dharma - z place - 4.0
A river in Chengdu.
78.
Renmin Lu bridge : zz pocketful of dharma - z place - 4.0
Crosses the Bing Jiang.
79.
Beijing : zz pocketful of dharma - z place - 3.0
Major Chinese city.
80.
Bombay : zz pocketful of dharma - z place - 3.0
An Indian city.
81.
Biotects : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z organisation
Biological engineers.
82.
Stone-Ailixin : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z organisation
A corporation.
83.
Red Pagoda Cigarettes : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.5 - z organisation
Cancer sticks.
84.
Shizi Jituan Software : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z organisation
Software company.
85.
Heaven City Banking Corporation : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z organisation
A bank.
86.
JinLong Pharmaceuticals : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z organisation
A drug company offering longevity.
87.
TexTel : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z organisation
A communications corporation.
88.
Confucius Jiajiu : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.0 - z food
Rice wine.
89.
Five Star Beer : zz pocketful of dharma - 3.5 - z food
Not very likely.
90.
Guanxi : zz pocketful of dharma - z concept - 3.0
Term for connections and influence.
91.
Mandarin : zz pocketful of dharma - z concept - 3.0
A Chinese dialect.
92.
Palden Lhamo : zz pocketful of dharma - z concept - 3.5
Guardian protector deity, especially of Lamas.
93.
VTOL Micro-Machine : zz pocketful of dharma - z technology - 3.5
A toy.
94.
Datacube : zz pocketful of dharma - z technology - 4.0
Information storage device.
95.
HuangLong OS : zz pocketful of dharma - z technology - 3.0
A Chinese operating system.
96.
VTOLs : zz pocketful of dharma - z vehicle - 3.5
Vertical Take Off and Landing aerial craft.
97.
Pocketful of Dharma - Paolo Bacigalupi : z novelette - near future - 4.0
Novelette
Number of words : 9500
Percent of complex words : 8.6
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 10.2
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 7.5
Flesch : 74.5
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.4
PEOPLE
Wang Jun
Known as Little Wang. A street urchin and hungry boy
Lu Xieyan
A Guangdong singer of government propaganda.
Three Fingers Gao
A dealer in stolen goods.
The Tibetan
Gives Wang Jun a datacube and mission.
The Hunanese
The Tibetan's confederate.
BeanBean
Competitor of Gao's.
The Foreigner
Kills the Tibetan, takes his finger, and tries for Wang.
Naed Delhi
The 19th Dalai Lama.
He Dan
A computer technician.
White Glove Woman
Wang is supposed to give her the datacube.
PLACES
Chengdu
Chinese city.
Huojianzhu
The Living Architecture. An attempt at a biocity.
Sichuan Basin
Area in the Chinese province of Sichuan. Site of the Living Architecture.
Bing Jiang
A river.
Renmin Lu bridge
Crosses the Bing Jiang.
Beijing
Major Chinese city.
Bombay
An Indian city.
ORGANISATIONS
Biotects
Biological engineers.
Stone-Ailixin
A corporation.
Red Pagoda Cigarettes
Cancer sticks.
Shizi Jituan Software
Software company.
Heaven City Banking Corporation
A bank.
JinLong Pharmaceuticals
A drug company offering longevity.
TexTel
A communications corporation.
FOOD
Confucius Jiajiu
Rice wine.
Five Star Beer
Not very likely.
CONCEPTS
Guanxi
Term for connections and influence.
Mandarin
A Chinese dialect.
Palden Lhamo
Guardian protector deity, especially of Lamas.
TECHNOLOGY
VTOL Micro-Machine
A toy.
Datacube
Information storage device.
A toy.
HuangLong OS
A Chinese operating system.
VEHICLES
VTOLs
Vertical Take Off and Landing aerial craft.
PLOT
A street urchin just looking for money for a meal gets involved in the search by various foreign agents for a datacube containing an AI of the Dalai Lama.
This attracts both criminal and military interest, and hence killing, but in the end the boy scarpers and makes to climb down the Living City, keeping the Lama for himself.
98.
Pop Squad Officer : z character - major - zz pop squad - 4.0
Man charged with killing illegitimate children and arresting mothers.
99.
Pentle : z character - supporting - 3.5 - zz pop squad
His partner.
100.
Alice : z character - supporting - 3.5 - zz pop squad
His lover. A viola player in a symphony.
101.
Mma Telogo : 3.0 - z character - minor - zz pop squad
A composer whose work Alice is studying to play.
102.
Banini : 3.0 - z character - minor - zz pop squad
A rival composer.
103.
Hu Chiang : 3.0 - z character - minor - zz pop squad
A conductor.
104.
Maria Illoni : 3.0 - z character - minor - zz pop squad
A donor to the symphony.
105.
Michael Illoni : 3.0 - z character - minor - zz pop squad
A donor to the symphony.
106.
Kara : 3.0 - z character - minor - zz pop squad
A symphony member. Went kid crazy. No rejoo, and in a work camp.
107.
Melanie : 3.0 - z character - minor - zz pop squad
An illegal little girl.
108.
Melanie's Mother : z character - supporting - 3.5 - zz pop squad
Wanted something new, a baby. Doesn't want to live forever.
109.
Grange : z weapon - zz pop squad - 4.0
Pistol used by squad officers. A 12mm Recoilless Hand Cannon.
110.
Rejoo : z technology - 3.5 - zz pop squad
Rejuvenation treatment that extends lifespan.
111.
Angel Spire : z place - 3.5 - zz pop squad
Residential part of New York.
112.
Rhinehurst Causeway : z place - 3.0 - zz pop squad
Part of New York.
113.
Ki Performance Centre : z place - 3.5 - zz pop squad
Place for musical performances.
114.
Shoreline Curve : z place - 3.0 - zz pop squad
Suburb of New York near the ocean.
115.
Center Spire : z place - 3.0 - zz pop squad
Part of New York.
116.
Palomino Cluster : z place - 3.5 - zz pop squad
Nice real estate.
117.
Ipswitch Collectibles : z place - zz pop squad - 4.0
A toy shop.
118.
Nitheads : z concept - 3.0 - zz pop squad
A type of junkie.
119.
Bonsai : 3.0 - z plant - zz pop squad
Trees carefully cultivated to stay tiny.
120.
Magline : z vehicle - 3.5 - zz pop squad
Public transport.
121.
Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi : 4.5 - immortality - z novelette
Novelette
Number of words : 10600
Percent of complex words : 6.8
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 10.4
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.9
Flesch : 78.1
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.0
: Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
PEOPLE
Pop Squad Officer : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Man charged with killing illegitimate children and arresting mothers.
Pentle : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
His partner.
Alice : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
His lover. A viola player in a symphony.
Mma Telogo : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
A composer whose work Alice is studying to play.
Banini : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
A rival composer.
Hu Chiang : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
A conductor.
Maria Illoni : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
A donor to the symphony.
Michael Illoni : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
A donor to the symphony.
Kara : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
A symphony member. Went kid crazy. No rejoo, and in a work camp.
Melanie : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
An illegal little girl.
Melanie's Mother : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Wanted something new, a baby. Doesn't want to live forever.
WEAPONS
Grange : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Pistol used by squad officers. A 12mm Recoilless Hand Cannon.
TECHNOLOGY
Rejoo : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Rejuvenation treatment that extends lifespan.
PLACES
Angel Spire : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Residential part of New York.
Rhinehurst Causeway : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Part of New York.
Ki Performance Centre : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Place for musical performances.
Shoreline Curve : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Suburb of New York near the ocean.
Center Spire : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Part of New York.
Palomino Cluster : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Nice real estate.
Ipswitch Collectibles : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
A toy shop.
CONCEPTS
Nitheads : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
A type of junkie.
PLANTS
Bonsai : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Trees carefully cultivated to stay tiny.
VEHICLES
Magline : Pop Squad - Paolo Bacigalupi
Public transport.
PLOT
The protagonist is a Pop Squad officer. Their job is to find and kill illegitimate children and do whatever is necessary to find the mothers and fathers if possible. With excessively large bore ammunition.
Blowing the brains out of one kid and watching its toy dinosaur fall particularly affects him this time. Even more so when his lover is given a brontosaurus toy after a virtuoso performance of a symphony she has worked on for fifteen years. He has a strange spell after this. She also has a rejuvenation treatment during the story.
However, back on the job soon after, hunting down kids. One particular child, Melanie and her mother also give him pause. He takes the time to ask why she did, why breed? She tells him, and even though he tells them they are unlikely to get away with it - no rejuvenation for daughters with no documentation, either - he lets them live and walks away.
122.
Maggie : z character - supporting - zz pump six - 3.5
Lives with Travis.
123.
Travis Alvarez : z character - major - zz pump six - 4.0
Lives with Maggie. What passes for an engineer.
124.
Miku : zz pump six - 3.0 - z character - minor
Friend of theirs.
125.
Gabe : zz pump six - 3.0 - z character - minor
Friend of theirs.
126.
Nora : zz pump six - 3.0 - z character - minor
Friend of theirs.
127.
Max : zz pump six - 3.0 - z character - minor
Runs Wicky.
128.
Chee : z character - supporting - zz pump six - 3.5
Trav's co-worker.
129.
Suze : zz pump six - 3.0 - z character - minor
Trav's boss.
130.
Mercati : zz pump six - 3.0 - z character - minor
A co-worker.
131.
Wu : zz pump six - 3.0 - z character - minor
Friend of theirs.
132.
Old Faculty Wife : z character - supporting - zz pump six - 3.5
Trav meets her at Columbia library when looking for help.
133.
Rohit : zz pump six - 3.0 - z character - minor
Her dead husband.
134.
Herman Hsu : zz pump six - 3.0 - z character - minor
A dead college librarian.
135.
Tickle Monkey : zz pump six - 3.0 - z media
A band.
136.
Post-Liberation America A Modern Perspective : zz pump six - 3.0 - z media
A dusty tome.
137.
NiftyFreeze : z technology - zz pump six - 3.5
Wrapping material for food.
138.
PressureDyne : z technology - zz pump six - 4.0
A pumping engine.
139.
Wicky : z place - zz pump six - 4.0
A nightclub.
140.
Hudson : z place - zz pump six - 3.0
A river in New York.
141.
P.S. 105 : z place - zz pump six - 3.0
The school Trav dropped out of.
142.
Kusovic Centre : z place - zz pump six - 3.5
Building Wicky is in.
143.
Broadway : z place - zz pump six - 3.0
A street in New York.
144.
Trogs : z race - zz pump six - 4.0
Dumb, ugly hermaphrodites born that way thanks to toxins in the environment.
145.
polychlorinated biphenyls, bisphenyl-A, estrogen, phlalates, PCBs, heptachlor... : z technology - zz pump six - 3.0
Toxins.
146.
Effy : z technology - zz pump six - 4.0
A clubbing drug.
147.
Blue Vitality : zz pump six - 3.0 - z food
A drink.
148.
Sweatshine : zz pump six - 3.0 - z food
A drink.
149.
Pump Six - Paolo Bacigalupi : z novelette - dystopia - 4.0
Novelette
Number of words : 13500
Percent of complex words : 5.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 15.6
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 8.5
Flesch : 72.4
Flesch-Kincaid : 7.1
Maggie
Lives with Travis.
Travis Alvarez
Lives with Maggie. What passes for an engineer.
Miku
Friend of theirs.
Gabe
Friend of theirs.
Nora
Friend of theirs.
Max
Runs Wicky.
Chee
Trav's co-worker.
Suze
Trav's boss.
Mercati
A co-worker.
Wu
Friend of theirs.
Old Faculty Wife
Trav meets her at Columbia library when looking for help.
Rohit
Her dead husband.
Herman Hsu
A dead college librarian.
MEDIA
Tickle Monkey
A band.
Post-Liberation America A Modern Perspective
A dusty tome.
TECHNOLOGY
NiftyFreeze
Wrapping material for food.
Gynoloft
A female hormone controlling drug.
PressureDyne
A pumping engine.
PLACES
Wicky
A nightclub.
Hudson
A river in New York.
P.S. 105
The school Trav dropped out of.
Kusovic Centre
Building Wicky is in.
Broadway
A street in New York.
RACES
Trogs
Dumb, ugly hermaphrodites born that way thanks to toxins in the environment.
TECHNOLOGY
polychlorinated biphenyls, bisphenyl-A, estrogen, phlalates, PCBs, heptachlor...
Toxins.
Effy
A clubbing drug.
FOOD
Blue Vitality
A drink.
Sweatshine
A drink.
Travis is one of the smartest people around. However, he didn't even finish high school, but he can read. He and Maggie are trying for a pregnancy, but having no luck.
People are getting stupider because of all the toxins in the environment, and have begun to not breed true in many cases.
His job involves keeping the sewage pumps working, and Pump Six has gone, with too many parts broken and no-one knowing enough to fix them. Realising he needs help, he goes to a university for help, but there is no-one left there smarter than he is with the requisite knowledge. A faculty wife from the old days tells him this.
However, there is a library full of books, so he decides to try that.
150.
Maya Ong : z character - supporting - zz small offerings - 3.5
A chemically affected pregnant woman.
151.
Benjamin : zz small offerings - 3.0 - z character - minor
Maya's husband.
152.
Dr Lily Mendoza : z character - major - zz small offerings - 4.0
One of the staff.
153.
Dmitri : z character - supporting - zz small offerings - 3.5
Lily's boss.
154.
Justin : z character - supporting - zz small offerings - 3.5
Her husband.
155.
Purnate : z technology - zz small offerings - 4.0
A birthing drug.
156.
Sifusoft : z technology - zz small offerings - 3.0
A pain drug.
157.
Pitocin : z technology - zz small offerings - 3.0
A bleeding inhibitor.
158.
Deolonol : z technology - zz small offerings - 3.0
A sedative.
159.
Hello Kitty : zz small offerings - 3.0 - z media
Horribly cute cat cartoon.
160.
Burn Girl : zz small offerings - 3.0 - z media
Not a horribly cute cat cartoon.
161.
El : z vehicle - zz small offerings - 3.0
A train.
162.
Small Offerings - Paolo Bacigalupi : z short story - dystopia - 4.0
Short Story
Number of words : 2900
Percent of complex words : 8.2
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 8.7
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.7
Flesch : 74.1
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.1
PEOPLE
Maya Ong
A chemically affected pregnant woman.
Benjamin
Maya's husband.
Dr Lily Mendoza
One of the staff.
Dmitri
Lily's boss.
Justin
Her husband.
TECHNOLOGY
Purnate
A birthing drug.
Sifusoft
A pain drug.
Pitocin
A bleeding inhibitor.
Deolonol
A sedative.
ORGANISATIONS
FDA
The US Food and Drug Administration.
MEDIA
Hello Kitty
Horribly cute cat cartoon.
Burn Girl
Not a horribly cute cat cartoon.
VEHICLES
El
A train.
Lily is a doctor who works with people who are affected by chemical toxins, with all sorts of problems and defects. This includes people having babies to draw all the toxins out of a mother so that the next baby can be healthy. She also wants a child, and is using a different drug regimen to draw out her own toxins so she won't go through this.
163.
Sci-fi phenom Paolo Bacigalupi has seen the future and it's scary as hell - Alan Prendergast : z non-fiction - 4.5 - interview
""A lot of what I write is so grim and depressing. The stories are designed to hurt. And when I'm writing them, I also feel hurt. It's hard to do. This was an opportunity to write a story that wasn't about hurt, and it felt good."
If Bacigalupi has learned anything from his own journey into darkness, it's that even dystopic writers must have their fun now and then. Last summer he was invited to speak at a symposium on sustainability in Kyoto, Japan. He marveled at the irony of such an invitation, the absurdity of flying halfway around the world to talk about reducing your carbon footprint — then embraced the hypocrisy and took the free trip.
He now has a major publisher (Little, Brown) and potentially a much larger audience in the young-adult field than he's ever enjoyed before — so large, in fact, that Night Shade signed him to a two-book deal to ensure that he keeps writing adult novels, too. ("I knew I had to put significant money on the table to keep him writing science fiction for me," Lassen says.) Yet he frets about how best to get children, especially boys, to read books, and whether his 1,500-square-foot house is too much dwelling for three people.
He agonizes over the trade-offs of raising his son in a place like Paonia. It's nice to run into people, he says, except when you don't want to see them."
http://www.westword.com/content/printVersion/1468697
164.
Jonathan Lilly : z character - major - zz softer - 4.0
Husband and spouse killer.
165.
Pia Lilly : z character - supporting - zz softer - 3.5
His now dead wife.
166.
Gabrielle Roberts : zz softer - 3.0 - z character - minor
His neighbour.
167.
Naaem : zz softer - 3.0 - z character - minor
A co-worker.
168.
Congress Park Neighbourhood : z place - zz softer - 3.5
Suburb of Denver.
169.
Benedict : z place - zz softer - 3.0
A restaurant at Le Centre in Denver.
170.
Green Tea Essence : zz softer - z technology - 4.0
A type of bubble bath.
171.
Astai Networks : zz softer - z technology - 3.0
A project of Lilly's.
172.
Gatorade : zz softer - 3.5 - z food
An electrolyte replenishment drink.
173.
Softer - Paolo Bacigalupi : z short story - 3.5 - horror
Short Story
Number of words : 5100
Percent of complex words : 8.1
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 12.3
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 8.2
Flesch : 72.5
Flesch-Kincaid : 6.2
PEOPLE
Jonathan Lilly
Husband and spouse killer.
Pia Lilly
His now dead wife.
Gabrielle Roberts
His neighbour.
Naaem
A co-worker.
PLACES
Congress Park Neighbourhood
Suburb of Denver.
Benedict
A restaurant at Le Centre in Denver.
TECHNOLOGY
Green Tea Essence
A type of bubble bath.
Astai Networks
A project of his.
FOOD
Gatorade
An electrolyte replenishment drink.
Fat Tire Ale
A beer.
PLOT
In bed his wife tells him he forgot to do the dishes. He suffocates her with a pillow, after perhaps only playing. He then puts her in the bath. His neighbour comes over and he says he killed his wife, which she blissfully doesn't notice in her quest to borrow a shovel.
She leaves, he buries Pia's body and cashes his money out and up and leaves, heading for Vegas, then sells his car and hitchhikes.
174.
Lalji : 4.5 - z character - recurring - zz the calorie man
Small time calorie river pirate, looking to make a deal.
175.
Shriram : zz the calorie man - 3.0 - z character - minor
Runs an energy business and plays chess with Lalji.
176.
Creo : z character - supporting - zz the calorie man - 3.5
Lalji's business partner.
177.
Charles Bowman : z character - supporting - zz the calorie man - 3.5
The calorie man. Going to be the next Johnny Appleseed.
178.
Gita : zz the calorie man - 3.0 - z character - minor
Lalji's girlfriend.
179.
Tazi : z character - supporting - zz the calorie man - 3.5
A young ward of Bowman's, she helps him.
180.
WeatherAll : z technology - zz the calorie man - 3.5
A building material.
181.
Kink-springs : z technology - zz the calorie man - 4.0
Wound by animals to supply energy.
182.
Salwar Kameez : z technology - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Indian Clothing.
183.
SoyPRO : zz the calorie man - z plant - 4.0
Proprietary crop.
184.
HiGro : zz the calorie man - 3.5 - z plant
Proprietary crop.
185.
TotalNutrient : zz the calorie man - 3.5 - z plant
Proprietary wheat crop.
186.
SuperFlavour : zz the calorie man - 3.5 - z plant
Feed for Megadonts.
187.
Fast-Gen : zz the calorie man - 3.0 - z plant
A type of hardwood.
188.
PurCAL : zz the calorie man - 3.5 - z organisation
A calorie company.
189.
AgriGEN : zz the calorie man - 3.0 - z organisation
An energy company.
190.
Ganesha Kinetic : zz the calorie man - 3.5 - z organisation
An energy business.
191.
U-Tex : zz the calorie man - 3.0 - z organisation
A calorie company.
192.
Midwest Growers Group : zz the calorie man - 3.0 - z organisation
A calorie company.
193.
Mulies : z animal - zz the calorie man - 4.0
Bred to help produce power.
194.
Megadont : z animal - zz the calorie man - 4.0
Large animals like elephants that a bred to work to produce power.
195.
Priti and Bidi : z animal - zz the calorie man - 3.5
Megadonts.
196.
Nippon genehack weevil : z animal - zz the calorie man - 4.0
A crop killer.
197.
Cheshire : z animal - zz the calorie man - 4.0
A shimmering catlike pest that needs a lot of shooting.
198.
Curl.111.b : z animal - zz the calorie man - 3.0
A crop killer.
199.
Cibiscosis bacterium : z animal - zz the calorie man - 3.0
A crop killer.
200.
Leafcurl rust : z animal - zz the calorie man - 3.0
A crop killer.
201.
Betel : zz the calorie man - z food - 4.0
A nut used as a drug.
202.
Basmati : zz the calorie man - 3.0 - z food
A type of rice.
203.
Generipper : z concept - zz the calorie man - 4.0
A scientist specialising in genetic modifications.
204.
Arjuna : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Mythological Indian hero.
205.
Ganesha : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Indian Elephant god.
206.
Lakshmi : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
An Indian deity.
207.
Diwali : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Indian holiday.
208.
Bollywood : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Indian film industry.
209.
Krishna : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Indian deity.
210.
Ram : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Indian deity.
211.
Hanuman : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Indian deity.
212.
Sadhu : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
An Indian mystic.
213.
Kali : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Indian deity.
214.
Rani Sati : z concept - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Indian deity.
215.
Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois : z place - zz the calorie man - 3.0
American rivers.
216.
Ganges : z place - zz the calorie man - 3.5
An Indian river.
217.
St Louis : z place - zz the calorie man - 3.0
USA City.
218.
New Orleans : z place - zz the calorie man - 3.0
USA City.
219.
Chennai : z place - zz the calorie man - 3.0
Indian city.
220.
Spring gun : z weapon - zz the calorie man - 4.0
Kinetic weapon that shoots disks.
221.
Needleboat : z vehicle - zz the calorie man - 4.0
Lalji's river craft.
222.
The Calorie Man - Paolo Bacigalupi : 5.0 - windup girl - z novelette
Novelette
Number of words : 11700
Percent of complex words : 9.0
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 10.0
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 7.6
Flesch : 71.6
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.8
PEOPLE
Lalji
Small time calorie river pirate, looking to make a deal.
Shriram
Runs an energy business and plays chess with Lalji.
Creo
Lalji's business partner.
Charles Bowman
The calorie man. Going to be the next Johnny Appleseed.
Gita
Lalji's girlfriend.
Tazi
A young ward of Bowman's, she helps him.
TECHNOLOGY
WeatherAll
A building material.
Kink-springs
Wound by animals to supply energy.
Salwar Kameez
Indian Clothing.
PLANTS
SoyPRO
Proprietary crop.
HiGro
Proprietary crop.
TotalNutrient
Proprietary wheat crop.
SuperFlavour
Feed for Megadonts.
Fast-Gen
A type of hardwood.
ORGANISATIONS
PurCAL
A calorie company.
AgriGEN
An energy company.
Ganesha Kinetic
An energy business.
U-Tex
A calorie company.
Midwest Growers Group
A calorie company.
ANIMALS
Mulies
Bred to help produce power.
Megadont
Large animals like elephants that a bred to work to produce power.
Priti and Bidi
Megadonts.
Nippon genehack weevil
A crop killer.
Cheshire
A shimmering catlike pest that needs a lot of shooting.
Curl.111.b
A crop killer.
Cibiscosis bacterium
A crop killer.
Leafcurl rust
A crop killer.
FOOD
Betel
A nut used as a drug.
Basmati
A type of rice.
CONCEPT
Generipper
A scientist specialising in genetic modifications.
Lakshmi
An Indian deity.
Arjuna
Mythological Indian hero.
Ganesha
Indian Elephant god.
Diwali
Indian holiday.
Bollywood
Indian film industry.
Krishna
Indian deity.
Ram
Indian deity.
Hanuman
Indian deity.
Sadhu
An Indian mystic.
Kali
Indian deity.
Rani Sati
Indian deity.
PLACES
Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois
American rivers.
Ganges
An Indian river.
St Louis
USA City.
New Orleans
USA City.
Chennai
Indian city.
WEAPONS
Spring gun
Kinetic weapon that shoots disks.
VEHICLES
Needleboat
Lalji's river craft.
PLOT
Lalji and Creo work the rivers in the USA, looking to get buy in this world of biologically supplied calories as energy and proprietary crops that don't breed.
A generipper wants to hire Lalji to transport him to where he can seed the current mass crops with additional seeds that will make them fecund again - and given these companies and crops supply the world, it will spread rapidly. He also has a young charge.
Lalji reluctantly agrees to take both of them, but they run into trouble, in an armed IP police boat, and they realise who Bowman the generipper is. A shootout happens, leaving only Lalji and the girl Tazi alive. Disposing of the bodies, they decide to move on, and the girl reveals that the food supply they brought is actually this new seed variety. So even with Bowman dead they can still carry out his task.
223.
Ship Breaker - Paolo Bacigalupi : z online excerpt - 1.5 - science fiction
There's an excerpt at : http://software.newsstand.com/bookrdr/hbg-live/BookBrowse.html?a=xr08BetJQV0WhEGB7GjzAQW5GDbqHlcfOs9Y1CN7verA7d3ZpdbC2Bgl8hnCaMvrnjIa%2FM6yHR0tIvCgPkrdSc7wwOe4LsmB2asdMzJtAYs7TVOtxvsdUMQX0YrFB0VZz=hbg
But unfortunately not really readable as too slow and takes forever to load, and in the worst shitty flash implementation of one I have ever seen.
Can have half a star though as it looks like it is a reasonable size.
224.
Ship Breaker - Ning.com : z non-fiction - social network - 3.0
There's a social network for the book it appears. Which I would suggest is rather optimistic, but probably a good idea to get things done outside the glacial adaptation ability of publisher websites, using tools available to all. Aimed at schools.
http://shipbreaker.ning.com/
225.
Lidia : z character - major - zz the fluted girl - 4.0
The Fluted Girl who tries to hide. An altered human.
226.
Stephen : z character - supporting - 3.5 - zz the fluted girl
A servant who attacks Belari.
227.
Madame Belari : z character - supporting - 3.5 - zz the fluted girl
Ruler of this fief, and an actress.
228.
Burson : z character - supporting - 3.5 - zz the fluted girl
Modified man of Belari's with camouflage abilities tracks Lidia down.
229.
Mirriam : 3.0 - zz the fluted girl - z character - minor
A woman in the fief.
230.
Tania : 3.0 - zz the fluted girl - z character - minor
Madame Belari's servant.
231.
Vernon Weir : z character - supporting - 3.5 - zz the fluted girl
A man that fancies Belari, also an executive for a company that pays her.
232.
Nia : z character - supporting - 3.5 - zz the fluted girl
Lidia's sister Fluted Girl.
233.
Michael and Renee : 3.0 - zz the fluted girl - z character - minor
Belari's cooks.
234.
Claire Paranovis : 3.0 - zz the fluted girl - z character - minor
An employee of SK Net.
235.
Mgumi Story. Kim Song Lee. Maria Blyst. Takashi Ghandi. : 3.0 - zz the fluted girl - z character - minor
Media elites.
236.
Chennai : z place - 3.0 - zz the fluted girl
City in India.
237.
Tingle : z technology - 3.0 - zz the fluted girl
A feel-good drug.
238.
Cell-knitters : z technology - 3.0 - zz the fluted girl
Medical repair tech.
239.
TouchSense : z technology - 3.0 - zz the fluted girl
Technology to use on an actress for consumers.
240.
Pendant Executive : 3.5 - zz the fluted girl - z organisation
A media company.
241.
Aircars : z vehicle - 3.0 - zz the fluted girl
Flying cars.
242.
Kabuki : 3.0 - zz the fluted girl - z media
Japanese dance theatre style.
243.
Sweetmeats : 3.0 - zz the fluted girl - z food
Sugary delicacies.
244.
The Fluted Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi : 3.5 - z novelette - dystopia
Novelette
Number of words : 9300
Percent of complex words : 11.7
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 14.1
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 10.3
Flesch : 63.8
Flesch-Kincaid : 7.9
PEOPLE
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