SF Signal on Pump Six

John Joseph Adams | April 14th 2008 at 12:57 pm

SF Signal has a long, comprehensive review of Paolo Bacigalupi’s collection Pump Six: “Paolo Bacigalupi is rapidly the ranks of short fiction stardom, collecting accolades and critical acclaim at nearly every turn. Evidence supporting this can be found in his recent ten-story collection, Pump Six and Other Stories, which almost includes his entire short fiction output to date. … One thing is clear: Bacigalupi does not write fiction just for the sake of it. Each story is rooted in one social issue or another. The backdrops he paints are mostly bleak, making the overall collection a tasty smorgasbord of Dystopias. He shows us eco-ravaged futures and technologies that create unique circumstances for the protagonists. While I’m not usually interested in science fiction as social commentary, Bacigalupi writes with a thankfully subtle hand, allowing the reader the take in as much - or as little - as he or she wishes. Furthermore, each of his stories explores a “single conceit”, the hallmark of classic short fiction, only as seen through the modern eyes of the socially conscious.” The review includes a mini-review of every story in the book.

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