#31 in Dystopian
The Windup Girl
- 391
- Pages
- about 7 h
- Reading time
- Hugo Award for Best Novel
- Nebula Award for Best Novel
- John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
- Locus Award for Best First Novel
- Compton Crook Award
- Ignotus Award for Best Foreign Novel
- Kurd Lasswitz Award for Best Foreign Work
- Seiun Award for Best Translated Long Work
- Bob Morane award for best foreign novel
- Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign Novel
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About the book
The Windup Girl is a biopunk science fiction novel by American writer Paolo Bacigalupi. It was his debut novel and was published by Night Shade Books on September 1, 2009. The novel is set in a future Thailand and covers a number of contemporary issues such as global warming and biotechnology.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.6 across 550 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 78% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Dystopian average of 7.7. That is how 7.9 comes out. A further +0.20 comes from the small bonus for major awards.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.0 | 50 | 9% |
| Google Books | 9.0 | 13 | 2% |
| Hardcover | 7.5 | 487 | 89% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“Story: 4 / 10 Characters: 7 Setting: 10 Prose: 9 The Windup Girl started so well ... and there were so many reasons to read it: Hugo and Nebula award winner; and someone literally bought me a copy. The unique, poetic prose and clever post-steampunk…”
“The author did a great job of painting a rich, detailed alternate future. The characters were interesting and the plotline was intriguing. There are some scifi authors that do a fantastic job of explaining the details and nuances of their alternate future in a way…”
Frequently asked
How long is The Windup Girl?
It has 391 pages — shorter than 61% of the ranked books in Dystopian.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Dystopian — with scores between 7.6 and 8.1, closest to this book.
