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I'm of the opinion that there has never been a more timely collection of science fiction stories than Paolo Bacigalupi's Pump Six. Gas prices hitting record highs, reserves of energy dwindling, discussions of drilling in places previously untouched and the very real worry that man is sucking the teat dry serve as a present day set-up for the stories collected here. The futures in these stories, the ecological post-apocalypses envisioned by Bacigalupi, make the above concerns more sinister than they already are. He shines a light on man's insatiable consumption and what's in the shadows is chilling. These stories make you wonder, they involve you in a way that I believe great post-apocalyptical tales do and, as a bonus, will entertain the hell out of you. Paolo Bacigalupi is that good.

Book Description: Paolo Bacigalupi's debut collection demonstrates the power and reach of the science fiction short story. Social criticism, political parable, and environmental advocacy lie at the center of Paolo's work. Each of the stories herein is at once a warning, and a celebration of the tragic comedy of the human experience. The eleven stories in Pump Six represent the best Paolo's work, including the Hugo nominee "Yellow Card Man," the nebula and Hugo nominated story "The People of Sand and Slag," and the Sturgeon Award-winning story "The Calorie Man."

(Source: Night Shade Books)