Pump Six and Other Stories

Starred review from February 11, 2008
Bacigalupi’s stellar first collection of 10 stories displays the astute social commentary and consciousness-altering power of the very best short form science fiction. The Hugo-nominated “The Calorie Man” explores a post–fossil fuel future where genetically modified crops both feed and power the world, and greedy megacorporations hold the fates of millions in their hands. “The People of Sand and Slag” envisions a future Earth as a contaminated wasteland inhabited by virtually indestructible post-humans who consume stone and swim in petroleum oceans. “The Tamarisk Hunter” deals with the effects of global warming on water rights in the Southwest, while the title story, original to this volume, follows a New York sewage treatment worker who struggles to repair his antiquated equipment as the city’s inhabitants succumb to the brain-damaging effects of industrial pollutants. Deeply thought provoking, Bacigalupi’s collected visions of the future are equal parts cautionary tale, social and political commentary and poignantly poetic, revelatory prose.

March 15, 2008
These are not subtle stories. Bacigalupi makes no secret of his social attitudes, but he handles political commentary with grace and packs a lot of thought into quite a small space. These pieces arent just platforms for cultural critique; theyre solid, fascinating world building. From the opener, Pocketful of Dharma, in which a homeless orphan in Chengdu finds himself with the Dalai Lamas uploaded personality in his pocket, to the title story, in which the pumps that filter all the water and sewage of a decaying future New York begin to fail, Bacigalupi extrapolates from some of humanitys most dangerous behaviors to nightmarish futures. In The Calorie Man, he explores the human consequences of a world where only patented gen-engineered seeds will grow; its not pretty. Fortunately, Bacigalupi still allows the future some possibility for redemption. Every story is well worth rereading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)