“Killing isn’t free. It takes something out of you every time you do it. You get their life; they get a piece of your soul. It’s always a trade,” says Sadhna in Ship Breaker.

Strong themes, harsh tone, good dialogue, and brilliant character development make this an overall amazing story. Paolo Bacigalupi’s sci-fi novel includes everything a book needs to attract wide audiences and keeps readers intrigued.
Ship Breaker is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the ocean levels have risen and oil is scarce. The story focuses on Nailer, who is on a light crew. Because he is smaller and younger than everyone else, his role is to squeeze into the air ducts of beached and broken ships and collect what the other people could not. One day Nailer discovers a ship that contains a sick and dying girl. Then it is Nailer’s job to bring the girl back to her high-class family.

Bacigalupi uses a common plot and characters: boy finds girl and becomes emotionally attached. But where this story takes place is very unique. It is such a simple story arch, but with a twist of death, savagery, and apocalypse. Ship Breaker is written for young adults. It also merges the genres of romance and sci-fi/post-apocalyptic fiction. This makes for an interesting read.

Bacigalupi creates strong character development. He starts with Nailer being skeptical of killing. But as the story progresses, he realizes that it may be essential for survival in his world. In the beginning of the story, one of his light crew members, Sloth, doesn’t help him out of an oil tanker. Nailer is forced to do it himself and is ready to die. But then he realizes that he must get out. This is where Nailer’s determination later in the story comes from.

The book is a quick read due to Bacigalupi’s fast-paced writing style. But when he needs to slow down and focus on something, he will. He also writes with figurative language that creates a picture of what is happening in the reader’s head.

In some parts in the story, the action dies down, and the characters engage in a thoughtful conversation. The dialogue is brilliant and sounds real life conversations. Characters are are often interrupted and contradicted by others which is fitting dialogue for a post-apocalyptic story.

 
The tone in the book is dark and harsh. Bacigalupi makes it very clear that this is not a light-hearted novel. The theme, along with the experiences Nailer has to endure, require a harsh and dark tone. Despite the familiar story arch, Bacigalupi’s overall message is different. This book is about hard choices and the cost of making them.

Since this story is set in the future, technologies have supposedly evolved. There are things called “half-men” which are bred to be loyal. They are a mixture of man, hyena, and dog. Throughout the story these “half-men” are loyal to their masters, allowing the story to also explore the theme of loyalty.

Ship Breaker is an amazing book with a dark twist. Readers who like to dig deeper for a story’s message will enjoy reading it. I give Ship Breaker a 10/10 for its harsh tone, powerful message, good dialogue, and brilliant character development.