Deeply thought provoking, Bacigalupi's collected visions of the future are equal parts cautionary tale, social and political commentary and poignantly poetic, revelatory prose. "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. Given its active and thoughtful protagonist who, in the face of long odds, tries to fix one of New Yorks massive sewer pumps, it is a nominally hopeful story. "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 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. His collection, called Pump Six, describes a near future where massive droughts create a black. 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. Sci-fi writer Paolo Bacigalupi uses real environmental science as a starting point for his stories.
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