The Windup Girl Paolo Bacig alupi, 2009

In 1999, The Matrix effectively killed off cyberpunk by taking so many of its tropes mainstream and making them clichés in the process. Happily, it seems nobody told Paolo Bacigalupi, who a decade later updated the genre with his tale of life in 23rd- century Thailand, and grabbed himself Hugo, Nebula and John C Campbell Awards in the process. A novel that lingers in the imagination not just because it explores big ideas around biotech, but because Emiko, the “windup girl” herself, is such a memorable heroine.