Nailer is part of a group of young people who make a subsistence living by retrieving cable and wiring from old cargo ships. In this version of the future, society has fragmented and those at the bottom live a very precarious hand-to-mouth existence without education or healthcare. The children can only do this work while they remain small enough to navigate the ducting of the ships and then they must hope to be big and strong enough to join the crews that actually dismantle the ships.
Nailer dreams of the super yachts he has seen – state-of-the-art technology and luxury while his life is made all the more precarious by his drunken, drugged-up father who dabbles in the shady dealings of their underground world.
A storm wipes out their community on the beach but also wrecks one of the luxury ships nearby. Believing he may have an opportunity to trade his way out of his current life with the spoils, Nailer boards the ship. Unfortunately, he discovers that one of the passengers is still alive. Nita’s uncle is trying to kidnap her to blackmail her father. After some soul-searching, they agree to band together and travel to the city to find her family. Unfortunately, their families are still in pursuit.
This story creates a very believable alternate future. The characters were likeable and charismatic. The ending was a little rushed but overall I really enjoyed this book.
SHIP BREAKER
A fast-tempo action-packed science fiction story that was easy to get into. However, it seemed as though the story was written just for the purpose of creating a post apocalyptic world and for the action sequence. I found it to be somewhat like those loud action movies with CGI every five seconds – the plot was not very memorable, nor were the characters and their personalities. But the advancements in technology in the fictional future are worth reading about, as they are creative.
November 15, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Nailer is part of a group of young people who make a subsistence living by retrieving cable and wiring from old cargo ships. In this version of the future, society has fragmented and those at the bottom live a very precarious hand-to-mouth existence without education or healthcare. The children can only do this work while they remain small enough to navigate the ducting of the ships and then they must hope to be big and strong enough to join the crews that actually dismantle the ships.
Nailer dreams of the super yachts he has seen – state-of-the-art technology and luxury while his life is made all the more precarious by his drunken, drugged-up father who dabbles in the shady dealings of their underground world.
A storm wipes out their community on the beach but also wrecks one of the luxury ships nearby. Believing he may have an opportunity to trade his way out of his current life with the spoils, Nailer boards the ship. Unfortunately, he discovers that one of the passengers is still alive. Nita’s uncle is trying to kidnap her to blackmail her father. After some soul-searching, they agree to band together and travel to the city to find her family. Unfortunately, their families are still in pursuit.
This story creates a very believable alternate future. The characters were likeable and charismatic. The ending was a little rushed but overall I really enjoyed this book.
April 18, 2012 at 10:51 pm
SHIP BREAKER
A fast-tempo action-packed science fiction story that was easy to get into. However, it seemed as though the story was written just for the purpose of creating a post apocalyptic world and for the action sequence. I found it to be somewhat like those loud action movies with CGI every five seconds – the plot was not very memorable, nor were the characters and their personalities. But the advancements in technology in the fictional future are worth reading about, as they are creative.