Saltcrop 🌊

By Yume Kitase.

Saltcrop by Yume Kitase is a stunning blend of science fiction, family drama, and climate commentary.

Set in a future Earth where rising seas have swallowed cities and the world’s ecosystems are collapsing, this book is a beautifully told tale of resilience, sisterhood, and survival.

At the centre of the story is Skipper, the youngest of three sisters, who supports her sick grandmother by salvaging and reselling plastic from the ocean. Her life is tough, but steady.

That changes when she and her sister Carmen receive a cryptic distress call from their long-lost sister Nora, who disappeared a decade earlier in search of a way to save the planet’s failing crops.

What follows is a gripping ocean voyage through flooded cities, pirate-infested waters, and forgotten places where the natural world fights to survive against corruption and control.

Skipper and Carmen must navigate not just the treacherous seas, but their strained relationship and their conflicting memories of the past. Their journey is as much about saving their sister as it is about understanding her and each other.

Yume Kitase has a rare talent for immersive storytelling. The worldbuilding in Saltcrop is vivid and imaginative, from submerged highways to mutant fish and vast stretches of polluted ocean.

Yet it is the emotional core of the story that truly shines. Kitase captures the complex push and pull of sisterhood with honesty and care, exploring how family bonds can be a source of both pain and healing.

Saltcrop is also a quiet but powerful warning about the consequences of climate change, corporate greed, and inequality. It never feels preachy, but the message is clear: those at the bottom suffer the most, and the time to act is now.

This is science fiction with soul. It's thoughtful, adventurous, and deeply human. Fans of cli-fi, literary sci-fi, and character-driven stories will find much to love here.

Yume Kitase has once again proven her skill as a storyteller. Saltcrop is lyrical, imaginative, and emotionally resonant a book that pulls you in and doesn’t let go.

Thank you to Angelica at Harper Collins UK for running this book-tour! The book is out now and available for purchase!

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