Stephen Wallenfels website
Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi, 2010.
Nailer Lopez lives on a Gulf Coast beach in a dystopian future. To survive he works on a crew that scavenges beached ships and oil tankers for wire, scrap metal, and fuel. It is a harsh, primitive, and dangerous way of life. Out in the distance Nailer can see the modern clipper ships that fly over the waves, and longs to be on one. In this future world there are also human/dog hybrid slaves, crews who salvage body parts, the very wealthy "swank", and the very poor. At the center of the story is Nailer's love/hate relationship with his abusive drug-addicted father. One day a storm shipwrecks one of the clipper ships. The wreck could be Nailer's "Lucky Strike", however, he discovers the owner, a girl, still alive in the wreck. Thus begins a series of events that require Nailer to make life and death decisions, in this fast paced gritty Sci-Fi adventure story. My rating: 4 stars
Nailer Lopez lives on a Gulf Coast beach in a dystopian future. To survive he works on a crew that scavenges beached ships and oil tankers for wire, scrap metal, and fuel. It is a harsh, primitive, and dangerous way of life. Out in the distance Nailer can see the modern clipper ships that fly over the waves, and longs to be on one. In this future world there are also human/dog hybrid slaves, crews who salvage body parts, the very wealthy "swank", and the very poor. At the center of the story is Nailer's love/hate relationship with his abusive drug-addicted father. One day a storm shipwrecks one of the clipper ships. The wreck could be Nailer's "Lucky Strike", however, he discovers the owner, a girl, still alive in the wreck. Thus begins a series of events that require Nailer to make life and death decisions, in this fast paced gritty Sci-Fi adventure story. My rating: 4 stars
