There’s a fantastic visual Bacigalupi creates as Anderson escapes during the White Shirt uprising. He describes how a whole gang of them beat a man with their ebony batons, blood splattering off the clubs and onto their clean, white uniforms. Then one of the white shirts glares at Anderson and you can feel the hate and the heat.

It’s a scene that’s happened around the world for real – military thugs. It’s scary.