Sign in with FacebookMargo Berendsen's Reviews > Ship Breaker
Ship Breaker (Ship Breaker, #1)
by Paolo Bacigalupi
by Paolo Bacigalupi
Margo Berendsen's review
bookshelves: 2011-my-reads, ya-science-fiction-dystopian, young-adult, dystopia
Jan 29, 11
bookshelves: 2011-my-reads, ya-science-fiction-dystopian, young-adult, dystopia
Read from January 21 to 29, 2011
A hard core dystopian world of the future after global warming has raised the level of the oceans. New Orleans is now underwater and oil and gas has been depleted. High-tech sailing ships now roam the oceans and the rusting hulks of diesel ships have become the gritty world of the "ship breakers" - aggressive gangs that tear down the old ships for parts. Children work in these gangs because small bodies are needed to scramble through the ducts.
I both loved and feared this author's vision of the future. In addition to all the changes to geography, there's the frightening addition of cateory 6 hurricanes, called "city killers." The world has been forced to go completely "green": biodiesel, solar and wind power. But at the same time, society has splintered into haves and have-nots and instead of countries and states, you now have territorial clans and gangs. There doesn't appear to be any police or government in this world. And there are genetically engineered "half-men" - I won't spoil this with any details, but they added a very interesting aspect to this book.
The unique setting and world-building were my favorite part of this book. The author also does a great job developing the characters of Nailer and his father, his friend Pima and with the half-man Tool.
It just occurred to me some parallels between this story and the great 1980's dystopian movie, the Road Warrior. Different setting, but similar character development
Nailer's father is a particularly powerful representation of one of the many dark sides of this dystopia, and ranks as one of the best antagonists I've encountered in a long time.
Nailer, the main character who who doesn't know his own age (but we suspect he's probably right about 12 or 13, before his growth spurt), has a wonderful character-arc through the story. This boy has real heart, in a culture where survival often trumps heart.
The ending really pulled together with a breathless chase and high-tech pirate fight scene that will have you practically tearing pages to get to the next page.
I both loved and feared this author's vision of the future. In addition to all the changes to geography, there's the frightening addition of cateory 6 hurricanes, called "city killers." The world has been forced to go completely "green": biodiesel, solar and wind power. But at the same time, society has splintered into haves and have-nots and instead of countries and states, you now have territorial clans and gangs. There doesn't appear to be any police or government in this world. And there are genetically engineered "half-men" - I won't spoil this with any details, but they added a very interesting aspect to this book.
The unique setting and world-building were my favorite part of this book. The author also does a great job developing the characters of Nailer and his father, his friend Pima and with the half-man Tool.
It just occurred to me some parallels between this story and the great 1980's dystopian movie, the Road Warrior. Different setting, but similar character development
Nailer's father is a particularly powerful representation of one of the many dark sides of this dystopia, and ranks as one of the best antagonists I've encountered in a long time.
Nailer, the main character who who doesn't know his own age (but we suspect he's probably right about 12 or 13, before his growth spurt), has a wonderful character-arc through the story. This boy has real heart, in a culture where survival often trumps heart.
The ending really pulled together with a breathless chase and high-tech pirate fight scene that will have you practically tearing pages to get to the next page.
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Carolina
(last edited Feb 06, 2011 09:27am)
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rated it 5 stars
Feb 06, 2011 09:24am
You had some really great points, Margo! I see what you mean about purposeful character development. Really insightful. All around a brilliant, thoughtful review.
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Interesting. I like reading reviews after I write my own, and thought it was cool that you also referenced Road Warrior. Probably doesn't mean so much to Bacigalupi's target teen audience for this one, but I feel there's a lot of parallels.
