Review #18: Ship Breaker

Bibliography

Bacigalupi, Paolo.  2010.  SHIP BREAKER.  New York:  Little, Brown.  ISBN 9780316056212

Summary

In a future world where advanced sailing ships have replaced powered vessels, teenage Nailer works at the harsh and dangerous business of scavenging for materials in old ships.  When he discovers a newly-wrecked vessel and its wealthy sole survivor after a hurricane he hopes for a better life, but his plans are threatened by other ruthless scavengers—including his own father.

Analysis

This science-fiction novel is set in a standard-issue dystopian future of degraded environments, extreme disparities of wealth and poverty, and feral gangs that include semi-human mutants.  The principal setting—the huge, lawless ship-breaking yard—appears to be an exaggerated version of the all-too-real salvage yards of Alang in India.  This element of the setting provides a somewhat original spin on standard genre conventions.  The setting is well-described and at times vividly realized.

Thrillers of this sort have always tended to be violent.  In keeping with general trends toward escalation in popular entertainment, the violence—and the four-letter language that goes along with it--is far more graphic than in many adult novels of only a few decades ago.  The majority of the characters are also extremely cynical and amoral, and the main protagonist is forced to fight and kill his own father at the climax. 

Science-fiction fans will likely enjoy this book.  However, it is disturbing to see that levels of “adult” violence and language have become this high in young adult fiction.

Review Excerpts

“This thriller will grab and keep readers’ attentions.”  Horn Book

“At its core the novel is an exploration of Nailer’s discovery of the nature of the world around him and his ability to transcend that world’s expectations.”  Publishers’ Weekly

Connections

Science fiction writers often create worlds of the future by extrapolating from present events and trends.  For example, Ship Breaker is set in a world where today’s trends of global warming, declining oil reserves, and growing disparities between rich and poor have reached extreme levels.  It also appears to have been inspired by the real-life salvage yards of Alang, India 

Create a list of trends students may have studied, such as developments in artificial intelligence, growing reliance on computers for all media, changes in education, medical advances, etc.  Invite students to write stories set in futures where one or more of these trends have been carried to extremes.  Alternatively, consider using articles on unusual real places and societies, such as the newly-built Middle Eastern city of Dubai or the semi-medieval Isle of Sark in the English Channel Islands, as science fiction story starters.