Only 3-Word Review on video:

“The events conspire both strategically and randomly to bring about the tensionAs a literary term, I often use this in place of "conflict" ... More of the plot, and so the best-laid plans of characters may not always bear fruit as expected. Realist, but also the novel’s weakness.”

I am already a fan of Bacigalupi and his Windup Universe, having completed Pump Six (extraordinary) and ShipBreaker (just par YA). So I was ready for this main course, which delivers sensationally if not quite memorably.

That the world-building done is extensive, complex, and nuanced is beyond dispute; and Bacigalupi unfolds it with real skill, rarely offering a genuine “exposition” but throwing us into the action ‘in media res’. The events conspire both strategically and randomly to bring about the tensionAs a literary term, I often use this in place of "conflict" ... More of the plot, and so the best-laid plans of characters may not always bear fruit as expected. What will become of your favorite characters? It’s hard to know; the world of post-bio-climate catastrophe is cruel enough that there is little point in seeking justice as readers understand it.

At the same time, this is part of the weakness of the novel. Sparing us from gratuitous character deaths as George RR Martin might when stuck in his writing, Bacigalupi nonetheless offers us little in the way of story–that is, of a nuanced understanding of a plot driven by the complex motives of character–over/instead of a more bare bones of political intrigue and maneuverings. The characters spend so much time moving about trying to “head off” the next event that they have few to no opportunities as agents of the action. This might be realistic–it certainly is–but fiction is not merely about realism: it works for a story to satisfy, and that means something more than intrigue and tight plotting. I really enjoyed the read, but perhaps not so much as the short stories he has written in this same world which in some respects have less to aspire to. Perhaps there are sequels in the works–it strikes me that this particular future has many stories at the ready. Here’s hoping the Bacigalupi’s adult work here focuses more on the challenge of human experience ahead rather than merely the graphic content which distinguishes this from YA.