“Family. It was just a word…Could see its letters all strung together. But it was a symbol, too. And people thought they knew what it meant…It was a thing everyone had an opinion about—that it was all you had when you didn’t have anything else, that family was there, that blood was thicker than water, whatever. But when Nailer thought about it, most of these words and ideas just seemed like good excuses for people to behave badly and get away with it. Family wasn’t more reliable than marriages or friendships…maybe less…The blood bond was nothing. It was the people that mattered. If they covered your back, and you covered theirs, then maybe that was worth calling family.”

American science fiction and fantasy writer

Paolo Bacigalupi is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is known for fiction and essays that have appeared in major genre magazines, environmental journalism, and newspapers. His work has earned the Hugo, Nebula, John W. Campbell Memorial, Compton Crook, Theodore Sturgeon, and Michael L. Printz awards, and he has also been nominated for the National Book Award. His fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov's Science Fiction, and High Country News. His nonfiction has appeared in Salon.com and High Country News, and has been syndicated in papers including the Idaho Statesman, the Albuquerque Journal, and The Salt Lake Tribune. His writing often moves between speculative fiction and environmental concerns.