Paolo Bacigalupi's first collection brings together stories set in bleak near futures shaped by environmental collapse and corporate control. The title story, Pump Six, follows a New York in which something about the population has gone wrong. In The Calorie Man a bioengineered food economy dominates the world, in Yellow Card Man a displaced Chinese-Thai man struggles to survive in a future Thailand, and in Pop Squad a policeman enforces strict rules against having children in a society where people live forever. The pieces are dark, politically aware and grounded in the physical details of ruined landscapes.
Fans of dystopian and climate-themed science fiction will find a good introduction to the author. It suits readers who like speculative stories with a moral edge.
Balanced in tone; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2008
- Language
- EN
