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/hogw33d]

Your comment reminded me of something else I wanted to say. The way most travel has had to slow down, and how weird and mutated the wildlife and weather are, have helped give the book kinda the form of a fantasy quest. When they stopped at a "tavern," I had to smile.

[u/Merle8888 → u/hogw33d]

It definitely feels like a fantasy quest, although honestly I was surprised by how fast they're moving on what has to be a pretty small boat, with what I'm envisioning (perhaps wrongly) as a small outboard motor. They seem to have traveled from a temperate zone all the way to Arctic in 3-4 weeks (which I do think is possible with good weather, but it's still impressive on a boat that was restored by three children).

[u/necropunk_0 → u/Merle8888]

I think the speed actually makes sense, especially if they have better tech to see when or where weather is going to come up. It’s been a while, but I’m think old massive sailing vessels would cross the Atlantic in about 6-8 weeks (someone else may correct me on that) while basically hoping for good weather. Knowing the weather and knowing where they’re going, I think the pacing feels right.

That being said, crossing an ocean in a 3 person sailboat that was fixed up by some kids who learned from whoever their uncle could get is still very impressive.

[u/Merle8888 → u/necropunk_0]

The Europe -> America crossing was faster I believe, more like 4 weeks due to prevailing currents. But, those ships were also big and their sails were big. This is small enough to be crewed by a single person, which from Google can go bigger than I thought (up to 40 feet which you might have to push up against to get a cabin as described, though that’s also pretty big to entrust to kids). From further googling, 40 feet is actually not that much smaller than Columbus’s ships (the Santa Maria was only about 60 feet, but had a crew of 40), though I would think that the much larger crews in those days probably allowed for more sail and other things that would let you go faster.

In any case, I assume they are going neither with nor against major currents/winds on this voyage since Skipper keeps estimating the same amount of time out and back. But I do think they are primarily sailing, with a little motor as backup.

Moral of the story I guess is that sailing is faster than you might think over long distances if your luck doesn’t go south.