First published 2010
Anderson Lake walks through Bangkok's sweltering street markets, officially managing a factory but secretly hunting for lost food varieties on behalf of AgriGen, one of the powerful calorie companies. His real mission involves locating extinct crops that could give his corporation an edge in a world where food has become the ultimate currency. During his searches, Anderson discovers Emiko, a genetically engineered woman known as a Windup Girl. Created in corporate laboratories and designed to serve the wealthy, Emiko now survives alone on Bangkok's dangerous streets after her owner abandoned her. She belongs to the New People, artificial beings that society treats as property rather than individuals. Some consider them soulless machines while others see them as demons. As Anderson becomes entangled with Emiko, he enters a landscape where biotechnology corporations wield unprecedented power, oil has vanished from human civilization, and engineered diseases threaten to push humanity beyond recognition. The collision between corporate ambition and genetic manipulation forces both Anderson and Emiko to confront what it means to be human when survival depends on calories and identity becomes programmable.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, adventure, action, 21st-century, alternate-history
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Bangkok, Thailand
Period: 21st Century
361 pages · Paperback · Night Shade
Content warnings: body-horror, death, violence