Paolo Bacigalupi Explores Climate Change and Corruption in Near-Future Sci-Fi, “The Water Knife”

In this episode 199, we visit with New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist Paolo Bacigalupi, author of “The Water Knife.”

In a world where water is scarce, Angel Velasquez is an assassin known as “water knife,” in which he sabotages the water supply of his employer’s competitors. After his paths cross with climate refugee, Maria Villarosa, and award-winning journalist, Lucy Monroe, his loyalty is tested.

The Los Angeles Times wrote, “The book’s nervous energy recalls William Gibson at his cyberpunk best . . . But this is no pastiche; Bacigalupi weaves an engrossing tale all his own, crackling with edgy style.”

Paolo Bacigalupi is an internationally bestselling author of speculative fiction. He has won numerous awards. His work often focuses on questions of sustainability and the environment, most notably the impacts of climate change. In The Water Knife, he imagines a future without water that may not be that far off.

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About the Author:

Paolo Bacigalupi is an internationally bestselling author of speculative fiction. He has won the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, John W. Campbell and Locus Awards, as well as being a finalist for the National Book Award and a winner of the Micheal L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. Paolo’s work often focuses on questions of sustainability and the environment, most notably the impacts of climate change. He has written novels for adults, young adults, and children, and is currently at work on a new novel. He can be found online at windupstories.com.

 

Further Reading

THE WINDUP GIRL was named by TIME Magazine as one of the ten best novels of 2009, and also won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Compton Crook, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards. Internationally, it has won the Seiun Award (Japan), The Ignotus Award (Spain), The Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis (Germany), and the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (France)

His debut young adult novel, SHIP BREAKER, was a Micheal L. Printz Award Winner, and a National Book Award Finalist, and its sequel, THE DROWNED CITIES, was a 2012 Kirkus Reviews Best of YA Book, A 2012 VOYA Perfect Ten Book, and 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist.

He has also written ZOMBIE BASEBALL BEATDOWN for middle-grade children, about zombies, baseball, and, of all things, meatpacking plants. Another novel for teens, THE DOUBT FACTORY –a contemporary thriller about public relations and the product defense industry–was a both an Edgar Award and Locus Award Finalist.

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