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Found a broken link? May be the story can still be found.
This might have been ok at flash fiction length - I found all but last couple of paras a drag.
A hospital nurse has taken extreme measures to ensure the kids of not-so-well-off will have a chance in an overpopulated world...
A very moving example in this introduction to his new novel, "Ship Breaker", at John Scalzi's blog.
Nearly the same example had cropped up last year during a discussion of Indian government's budget deficit. Applies even more to environment.
Related: Stories of Paolo Bacigalupi.
Official announcement & complete list.
At Webscription: "Pocketful of Dharma" (download), "The Fluted Girl" (download), "The People of Sand and Slag" (download).
I have a feeling I've seen some of this online before, but cannot find links. If my memory is right, "The Fluted Girl" featured on one of the year's best anthologies (last year?)
[via Free Speculative Fiction Online]
What if the people began becoming dumber, more of them every generation?
Story is told from the perspective of Travis Alvarez, a technical man responsible for running that sewage treatment plants of the New York City. He's among the very few smart people left, a bit over 100 years from now.
We aren't told what happened to bring in this calamity.
At Think Galactic: "The Calorie Man", "Pop Squad", & "Yellow Card Man". Last one has been online at least a couple of years elsewhere (it was a Hugo novelette nominee in 2007), but I'm not aware if others have been online.
[via Boing Boing]
There is an emotion I cannot quite place about this story. It was a good read while I was actually reading it, but it took me a fortnight to finish it in 4 or 5 separate sittings. Mostly because I sort of resisted picking it up where I'd left! Certainly not a compelling read.
Rusty at Best Science Fiction Stories links 3 of the Bacigalupi stories from his collection called "Pump Six & Other Stories": "The Tamarisk Hunter", "The Fluted Girl", & "The People of Sand and Slag". He also reviews "The Fluted Girl". These stories probably have been around for a while - web pages were familiar, but I had never linked it.
Based on only one Bacigalupi story I've read ("Yellow Card Man"), & others' comments on his other stories, I'll say expect realistic but very dark stories. And at least "Yellow Card Man" wasn't science fiction, even though it's sometimes sold as such.
That doesn't exactly make me a Bacigalupi fan (I usually avoid darker stuff), but tastes vary...
Except for the last 10%, this is a very realistic refugee story - but of a loser. I would have rather preferred a winner's story - someone who can bounce back from extreme loss.
And the end is against every refugee story I've heard from Partition; my grandparents lived through the horror, & I grew up in a largely refugee neighborhood. My childhood stories said your own side tended to stick together, & help each other out; violence among your own side was unthinkable during & immediately after the event! And while there were losers as depicted in this story, a lot of families bounced back - some more quickly then others. They would have made a better story.
There is almost no sf content here - in spite of constant hints of bio-engineered foods, food-killers, engineered animals, & of "methane lamps". They are all part of the background - you won't even notice a change if they were dropped.
Full text of the story is available online.
Story summary.
Tranh is an old man in Bangkok, Thailand. He used to be the man behind Three Prosperities Trading Company, a good sized multinational trading house in Malaya (I guess author means Malaysia). He is of Chinese descent, but several generations have lived in Malaya.
During the Incident (some kind of purge by right wing extremists), thousands of families of Chinese origin are killed or pushed across the borders into Thailand; Tranh lost his entire family, as well as all his property. He is now all alone in the world, & a broken man.
"Yellow card" is some kind of a registration card handed out by Thai authorities to refugees. People of Chinese origin appear to be only reluctantly accepted by Thai authorities.
Story is of inhuman living conditions of refugees, & Tranh's attempt to build some kind of a life again. He ends up being a muderer - to steal a few bahts from Ma Ping, a fellow man of Chinese descent & his own ex-employee who was fired for fraud but is now doing well by joining hands with a Thai strongman.
Fact sheet.
"Yellow Card Man", short story, review
Rating: B
First published: Asimov's, December 2006.
Nominated for Hugo Awards 2007 in novelette category
Related: All Hugo Award stories.
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