Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Ship Breaker is Paolo Bacigalupi's follow up to the multi-award winning breakout novel, Windup Girl. I know I am a decade and more late to this master's genius works, but better late than never. After having finally finished that stunning, towering mind bending piece of science-fantasy, I know I would have to climb down from the highs of the visionary piece of fiction, that was Windup Girl. But even with Ship Breaker, you get the similar dystopian world, that has gone 'under' - a drowned world, where oil is scarce and values like humanity or loyalty even scarcer. You could even argue that while Windup happens in the Southeast Asia, or what's left of it. A version of Bangkok where genetics and rising waters pose the greatest threat. While Ship Breaker happens in the very different corner of the world - the west. Or more precisely, the previous parts of the Southern Coasts, near New Orleans or what's left of it. 

We are introduced to the forlorn beaches of this coastal area, prone to unexpected hurricanes allegedly 'city-killers' that can really wreck havoc, through the eyes of Nailer - a teenager employed in the job of 'ship-breaking' - large old world oil tankers that have washed up and left as scavenge on these deserted beaches. He's part of the 'light crew' - smaller teens used to strip out the copper wiring from these behemoths. But he's basically at the end of his days, being useful on the 'light crew' because he knows he's growing bigger, big enough to no longer fit into the small tunnels within the ships. Nailer comes from a background of physical abuse, his father - Richard Lopez, a goon for hire, who is mostly under the buzz of drugs and used to be a ring fighter with a mean killer reputation. Nailer's real family is his friend Pima, the girl who leads their 'light crew' and her own mother Sadna, who cares for Nailer like her own. 

Nailer longs to get away from this hopeless life on these beaches, where you are either hired for the light crew or you wait until you grow big enough to prove yourself worthy to the 'heavy crew'. There are very few, like Lucky Strike - who basically got his name, because of a lucky strike that led to an undiscovered pocket of oil - that allowed him to buy his own crews and muscle for protection. Nailer dreams of a life beyond these beaches, tired of waiting every night, cowering in fright hoping that his dad would be sober that night and thus, not beat him up. His dreams are mainly focused on the sleeker ships he watches far away on the horizon, ships running on hydrofoils/ electricity that are carting the "swanks", the rich folks who control trade across the Gulf seas. 

Ship Breaker is decidedly YA in its treatment - despite being just as bloody and violent as Windup Girl. A ruined world, where the 'hero' has to escape the clutches of fate. And save his loved ones. Hunger Games may be what put Dystopian Fiction on the map, for most of the world but Paolo Bacigalupi is definitely the master of this genre. Giving us wonderfully crafted bleak worlds, in the far future where the polar ice has melted and most of what we know, are under water. In Ship Breaker, most of his characters are grey, cunning, mean and focused purely on power, greed and survival. Nailer, perhaps, is the only character with even a streak of goodness in him. Able to resist his upbringing and his natural proclivity to chase after opportunities to land rich and escape his own fate. The overarching theme remains how Nailer keeps trying to escape the 'Fates', that despite his own dreadful surroundings, he tries to cling to the goodness inside him. Like him saving the "Swank" Lucky Girl, Nita. Who could possibly be his key to a golden future, out of this locked up life on the islands. 

Paolo unspools the narrative in Ship Breaker like the lit fuse to a bomb. The coiled tension leaps off the page, as Nailer and his 'gang' try to escape the fates to escape to a new future. The action is rabid, feral and unhinged, just as you would expect a character like Richard Lopez to react in the ring. Hopped up on amphetamine, blitzed out of his skull. For most parts, the pacing is helter-skelter as we try to keep one step ahead of the fates. But if you actually split the book into 3 acts, the opening act is definitely the best one. Decidedly long one, till Nailer makes up the decision to escape. That puts us into Act-II which is actually where the action flags and the narrative gets a bit off-color. But with the final act, Paolo wrenches us right back into the thick of it and we end in a flourish. 

Paolo's book is teeming with explosive characters who leap off the page at you. Nailer of course headlines it. There's Nita, the 'heroine' - who is presented as the rich, spoilt brat but is actually, a pretty determined young lass who can 'skim an eel or two' and is actually a force to reckon with. Nailer's family of Pima, Sadna or Lopez are all well etched out. The most interesting of the side characters, of course is Tool - the "Half-Man" - a result of genetic experiments, with the DNA of more than just human or even canines. [ Psst - we get to meet him again of course! and Ship Breaker is the first of this trilogy ] 

Did I like Ship Breaker? Hell yes. But Windup Girl still remains my favorite Bacigalupi novel till date. Ship Breaker is everything it set out to be - On the face of it, a cautionary tale of future, ravaged by extreme environmental disasters. But it's definitely the tale of a young boy's adventure in this grim and bleak and broken world, a novel about hope and freedom and the struggles that come with it. It's also a book about trying to break free of the shackles of fate, of making do best with the shitty cards you been dealt with. A book that tells us the meaning of 'crew' or 'family' - that it is not just blood, but actually being loyal in the face of the worst odds. 

Highly recommended! The start of a trilogy that is high up on my list now.