“Mahlia… understood Doctor Mahfouz and his blind rush into the village. He wasn’t trying to change them. He wasn’t trying to save anyone. He was just trying to not be part of the sickness. Mahlia had thought he was stupid for walking straight into death, but now, as she lay against the pillar, she saw it differently. She thought she’d been surviving. She thought that she’d been fighting for herself. But all she’d done was create more killing, and in the end it had all led to this moment, where they bargained with a demon … not for their lives, but for their souls” (p. 403)”

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.