Yellow Card Man by Paolo Bacigalupi

“Yellow Card Man” is a 2006 science fiction novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi. It is about a formerly wealthy Chinese refugee living a very hard life in a future Bangkok.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

Tranh was once a proud and wealthy man. As the head of the multi-national “Three Prosperities” trading company in Malaysia he commanded a fleet of trading ships that brought his family great prestige. Then the Excursion happened – his family was killed and his company wiped out as the native Malay ethnically cleansed their country. Now Tranh is one of thousands of Chinese refugees trying to eke out a living in a very competitive (and dangerous) Bangkok. Forced to dig through trash to find his meals, Tranh has recently come into contact with Ma – a former clerk of his that he fired for incompetence. Now as Ma gloats over their role reversals, Tranh suddenly gets a break – one that will help him start a new life, no matter how repulsive he finds it.

Bicycles and their ringing bells flow past like schools of carp, commuters already on their way to work. Behind him the highrise looms, forty stories of heat and vines and mold. A vertical ruin of broken windows and pillaged apartments. A remnant glory from the old energy Expansion now become a heated tropic coffin without air conditioning or electricity to protect it from the glaze of the equatorial sun. Bangkok keeps its refugees in the pale blue sky, and wishes they would stay there. And yet he has emerged alive, despite the Dung Lord, despite the white shirts, despite old age, he has once again clawed his way down from the heavens.

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• The writing in “Yellow Card Man” was excellent – absolutely beautiful! There is no denying that Paolo Bacigalupi has a way with words that will make you feel like you are living in the story!
• I found the idea of the engineered plagues to be very interesting, and a great way to further draw the reader into the setting of this dark urban world.
• Ma was a great character! It was totally fun to read about his encounters with Tranh.

• The bad:

• There are several incidents of strong language – not a story for kids.
• At first the writing style seemed a little too narrative for my taste, but I eventually got used to it and then quite enjoyed how the story was told.

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 29
• Word Count: 14,592
• “Yellow Card Man” garnered the following awards:

• It won the 2007 Asimov’s Reader Poll.
• It was nominated for the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.
• It was shortlisted for the 2007 Sturgeon, and place 9th in the 2007 Locus Poll.

Where you can find “Yellow Card Man”:

• This novelette first appeared in the December 2006 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction.
• “Yellow Card Man” is included in Paolo Bacigalupi’s excellent collection Pump Six and Other Stories.
• You can download a free pdf version of this story from the thinkgalactic.org website. (It is the last in a collection of 3 stories)

Some Interesting Links:

• You can learn more about the author of this story, Paolo Bacigalupi, by reading the bio page on his website.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like The Concrete Jungle, about an agent who works for a secret British intelligence organization handling supernatural cases, and his discovery that someone has hacked into their deadly network, by Charles Stross.

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