Imagine our world in the 23rd century. What will it be like? Will something like Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the 23rd century, as seen in Star Trek, be the reality? Will mankind learn to embrace diversity and no longer judge others based on appearance? Will we create/discover solutions to our en...
This book paints a grungy world of survival among people who salvage ships for a living. Their greed and disregard for human life is explored when a terrible storm leaves a rich daughter of a shipping company stranded. One character shows genuine compassion and courage as he attempts to get thi...
My 13-year old son and I do nightly out-loud reading and had read Shipbreaker some time previously and loved it. Drowned Cities is not a sequel or part of a clear series, but is set in the same world as Shipbreaker. Character development is excellent, nuanced and mature (with some satisfying ba...
Did not finish despite the fascinating worldbuilding.Most of Bacigalupi's characters felt thin and two-dimensional. I did find Jaidee interesting and would have read a novel about him, but I was frustrated elsewhere by lapses in close third-person perspective. Some early examples: Anderson is att...
I have a hard time being critical of books. There are genuinely bad books, trashy, low brow, unedited, plotless books. This book is not one of those. But the characters were not gripping. The middle of the book was the most interesting, with a soft beginning and stutterstop, halting and broken en...
Tak jedná se o povídkovou knihu. Hned první povídka mi málem odradila. Představa, že budu číst zase něco, kde jsou čínské jména a i sem tam čínské fráze mi celkem odrazovala. Než se konečně zorientuji ve jméně, tak je konec… Tuto povídku hodnotím jako nejslabší.Druhá to však vylepšila s Klasickým...
Two stories in so far, both have a lot to recommend themselves. The first "Pocketful of Dharma", the writing is masterful, I like the bioengineered city, the characterization is wonderful. I like Soldier Wang very much. The writing is beautiful and poetic, and the story draws you along. You are ...
Interesting writing with a unique style. Paolo Bacigalupi's writing is dark and frightening, addressing many of the large looming issues we face globally: distribution of resources, pollution, lack of conscientiousness and warped ideas of beauty and even disillusionment. I really appreciated his ...
I certainly consider Bacigalupi to rank among the top five most significant science fiction writers active today. His work crackles with invention and relevancy. Indeed, a few of the stories in this book are among my favorite sci-fi stories of the past decade. So why only 3 stars? I'd already rea...
An alchemist has been working desperately to discover a solution to the fast-growing bramble that is engulfing his nation. He's bankrupted his family in pursuit of his research - but finally, he may be on the verge of a breakthrough.The poisonous bramble is fed by magic - every time someone casts...
I loved this short novella, my first book by Bacigalupi. Written in the expressive, lyrical language, it depicts a world rich in detail and traditions that have a slightly Eastern flavor. Although the plotline is rather uninspiring, the magical system is original, the pacing fast, and the protago...
It is fine for what it is (which is a short story stretched to a lite novella), but Bacigalupi missed an opportunity to better frame the setting and the Alchemist's dilemma. He could have used a brief chapter to show the Halizak Prison in action and then let the subsequent references to it have ...
Zombie Baseball Beatdown is exactly what is sounds like, it's a middle grade book about baseball and zombies! Rabi and his friends notice something strange while playing baseball in the park near the meatpacking plant. The clean-up crew tries to convince the boys to keep quiet, but when things ge...
I read The Doubt Factory in one sitting, which is saying something because I am by and large not a fan of the current YA genre / publishing category. That said, I thought this novel captured a lot of what YA should be, from the page turning/thrilling way of writing, to the coming of age narrative...