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A review by misterjay
Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi
4.0
Pocketful of Dharma
- What happens when a street urchin comes into possession of the stolen personality of the Dalai Llama? The background is more fascinating than the story itself, with skyrises building themselves out of smart matter and factions warring for control of religion itself. 3/5
The Fluted Girl
- The story of a girl and her sister who have been turned into living, breathing musical instruments at the behest of their actress ruler. Fantastically detailed, the story presents an idea of the world past ours, where stock is traded in people's careers, giving those individuals the power of absolute monarchy over others and owing allegience to those above them in turn. 5/5
The People of Slag and Sand
- Fascinating look at post-apocalyptic, post-singularity life and what happens when the past is made real. Also, it's kind of sad and is probably best avoided by anyone who owns a dog. 4/5
The Pasho
- One of the things I most admire (ok, envy) about Pagliacci's writing is his ability to create a world through the delicate application of minor details. He does so especially well in this story, evoking a far-future, post-apocalyptic world with the careful application of a few invented words and a few re-purposed ones. Then, after all that careful world-building, the story seems to happen almost as an afterthought; the world shows us a small, familiar little story. One that has played out thousands of times over millennia. It's a story about what it means to belong. And it's the story of all that happens between elders and prodigal children and what happens when they return. 5/5
The Calorie Man
- This story is set in the same future as that of The Wind-Up Girl. It is just as powerful and not quite as bleak. Once again, the setting is evocative of our past and a looming future at the same time. Fossil fuels have been used up and due to widespread 'plagues' most of the worlds' farmland has been rendered sterile, meaning that people have to work as near-indentured servants to the calorie companies, who own the patents to plague resistant crops. It's really well done. 4/5
The Tamarisk Hunter
- Set in the Arizona desert after the water wars have started and California has ended up more or less triumphant, The Tamarisk Hunter tells the story of a man trying to make a life for himself. It's a little sad and bleak and soft, but it's good. 4/5
Pop Squad
- Perhaps one of the most brutal stories I've ever read, one in which the hero is more guilty than those he interacts with. I have to say, I had a very hard time reading through this; it is dark, and disturbing. 4/5
Yellow Card Man
- Another story from the world of The Wind-Up Girl. It is just as well written, just as fluent in the language of the future, but even darker in tone and resolution. 3/5
Softer
- Softer is perhaps the least fantastic and least accessible story in the collection. It is dark and brutal, but in a soft, smiling manner that leaves the reader with the coldest of chills. 3/5
Pump Six
- Perhaps my favorite story in the collection, Pump Six treads a fine line between both the comic and tragic aspects of a future in which humanity is regressing far faster than anyone could possible have imagined. And yet hope is not lost. Not yet. Not while there are still books and those who know how to read them. 5/5
Small Offerings
- The last half of this collection seems to be almost an exercise in out brutalizing the stories that came before, and they were none too gentle to begin with. This story, too, is hard, and cruel, but for all the best possible reasons; all the brutality is committed by those who are acting on your best interest. Just listen to them and do what the doctors tell you and everything will be alright. 4/5
- What happens when a street urchin comes into possession of the stolen personality of the Dalai Llama? The background is more fascinating than the story itself, with skyrises building themselves out of smart matter and factions warring for control of religion itself. 3/5
The Fluted Girl
- The story of a girl and her sister who have been turned into living, breathing musical instruments at the behest of their actress ruler. Fantastically detailed, the story presents an idea of the world past ours, where stock is traded in people's careers, giving those individuals the power of absolute monarchy over others and owing allegience to those above them in turn. 5/5
The People of Slag and Sand
- Fascinating look at post-apocalyptic, post-singularity life and what happens when the past is made real. Also, it's kind of sad and is probably best avoided by anyone who owns a dog. 4/5
The Pasho
- One of the things I most admire (ok, envy) about Pagliacci's writing is his ability to create a world through the delicate application of minor details. He does so especially well in this story, evoking a far-future, post-apocalyptic world with the careful application of a few invented words and a few re-purposed ones. Then, after all that careful world-building, the story seems to happen almost as an afterthought; the world shows us a small, familiar little story. One that has played out thousands of times over millennia. It's a story about what it means to belong. And it's the story of all that happens between elders and prodigal children and what happens when they return. 5/5
The Calorie Man
- This story is set in the same future as that of The Wind-Up Girl. It is just as powerful and not quite as bleak. Once again, the setting is evocative of our past and a looming future at the same time. Fossil fuels have been used up and due to widespread 'plagues' most of the worlds' farmland has been rendered sterile, meaning that people have to work as near-indentured servants to the calorie companies, who own the patents to plague resistant crops. It's really well done. 4/5
The Tamarisk Hunter
- Set in the Arizona desert after the water wars have started and California has ended up more or less triumphant, The Tamarisk Hunter tells the story of a man trying to make a life for himself. It's a little sad and bleak and soft, but it's good. 4/5
Pop Squad
- Perhaps one of the most brutal stories I've ever read, one in which the hero is more guilty than those he interacts with. I have to say, I had a very hard time reading through this; it is dark, and disturbing. 4/5
Yellow Card Man
- Another story from the world of The Wind-Up Girl. It is just as well written, just as fluent in the language of the future, but even darker in tone and resolution. 3/5
Softer
- Softer is perhaps the least fantastic and least accessible story in the collection. It is dark and brutal, but in a soft, smiling manner that leaves the reader with the coldest of chills. 3/5
Pump Six
- Perhaps my favorite story in the collection, Pump Six treads a fine line between both the comic and tragic aspects of a future in which humanity is regressing far faster than anyone could possible have imagined. And yet hope is not lost. Not yet. Not while there are still books and those who know how to read them. 5/5
Small Offerings
- The last half of this collection seems to be almost an exercise in out brutalizing the stories that came before, and they were none too gentle to begin with. This story, too, is hard, and cruel, but for all the best possible reasons; all the brutality is committed by those who are acting on your best interest. Just listen to them and do what the doctors tell you and everything will be alright. 4/5