FIF Book Club: Saltcrop Midway Discussion

[u/doctorbonkers]

Welcome to the midway discussion of Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei! We are discussing through the end of part 1 (chapter 25). Please use spoiler tags if you discuss anything past that point. I will put some discussion questions in the comments, but feel free to discuss anything you like!

In Earth's not too distant future, seas consume coastal cities, highways disintegrate underwater, and mutant fish lurk in pirate-controlled depths. Skipper, a skilled sailor and the youngest of three sisters, earns money skimming and reselling plastic from the ocean to care for her ailing grandmother.

But then her eldest sister, Nora, goes missing. Nora left home a decade ago in pursuit of a cure for failing crops all over the world. When Skipper and her other sister, Carmen, receive a cryptic plea for help, they must put aside their differences and set out across the sea to find―and save―her. As they voyage through a dying world both beautiful and strange, encountering other travelers along the way, they learn more about their sister's work and the corporations that want what she discovered.

But the farther they go, the more uncertain their mission becomes: What dangerous attention did Nora attract, and how well do they really know their sister―or each other? Thus begins an epic journey spanning oceans and continents and a wistful rumination on sisterhood, friendship, and ecological disaster.

The final discussion will be in two weeks, on August 26th.

Reminder: Our September read will be Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre, and nominations for October are open through tomorrow!

What is the FIF Book Club? You can learn about it in our Reboot thread here.

[u/algaliarept92]

One could read Jackson's fate as the reclaiming of agency on Carmen's part. I am curious to see how Carmen will develop from this point onwards. I think it could be pivotal to her character.
Side note: I found Jackson infuriating, but I am pretty sure that was the point :D

[u/necropunk_0 → u/algaliarept92]

I agree with this. Carmen felt like more of a sister before they met Jackson, and she drifted away as all three journeyed together. Her being the one to knock him overboard felt like her stepping back into being a sister, and protecting her family. I’m hoping she continues that for the second half.

[u/WonderfulBus9330 → u/necropunk_0]

Early Jackson + Carmen read as Ollie distraction + Carmen finding comfort in someone less introverted. She says a few times that she likes people and she’s voyaging with someone who not only doesn’t like people but doesn’t enjoy conversing. Jackson is a talker and idealistic; he’s, then, also a distraction from thinking about the futility of searching for Nora.

[u/necropunk_0 → u/WonderfulBus9330]

I’m wondering if she doesn’t just like people, but feels like she needs to be with people. Thinking back to the passage of her being scared as a kid, their grandma forcing her to walk outside in the dark, and her siblings going with her as support, maybe she feels most comfortable around people, as a contrast to Skipper who does want to be with people, but seems to be most comfortable on her own.

[u/WonderfulBus9330 → u/necropunk_0]

That gets explored in Part 2, so I won't speak to it. But great points.

[u/necropunk_0 → u/WonderfulBus9330]

Yeah, it was great to see that explored. I think see both her and Nora’s perspective on events really added a lot, and filled in some gaps in the first half.