Synopses & Reviews
An Indies Introduce Title
An Indie Next Pick
Her life is a shadow of a life. Her future is not her own to fashion. Her family is a tangle of secrets. She cannot read. She cannot write. But she is Parastrata Ava, the Captain's eldest daughter, the so girl of a long-range crewe—her obligations are grave and many. And when she makes a mistake, in a fragrant orchard of lemons, the consequences are deadly. There are some who would say, There but for the Mercies go I. There are some who would say Parastrata Ava is just a silly earthstruck girl who got what was coming to her. But they don't know the half of it.
Review
“Salvage is the book Ive been waiting forkick-ass, brilliant, feminist science fiction. Watch out, world. Alexandra Duncan has arrived.” Stephanie Perkins, internationally bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door
Review
“Alexandra Duncans debut illustrates a richly detailed world that vividly shows a possible future of Earth where society has both regressed and progressed, where the struggles of humanity have become more dire, but where love still remains. Everythingfrom the world to the charactersfelt viscerally real. Original and memorable.” Beth Revis, author of the nationally best-selling Across the Universe
Review
“Epic in scope and intimate in execution, Salvage is an astonishing debut. Duncan expertly crafts a story of the journey to claim oneself across the infinite expanses of both space and the human heart.” Kiersten White, author of the New York Times best-selling Paranormalcy trilogy
Review
“Alexandra Duncan is a stunning new voice. Duncans magnificently flawed future world exposes humanity . . . in ways that are ripe for discussion. . . . Avas personal journey from oppression to self-actualizationby turns harrowing and heartbreaking, but ultimately triumphantwill keep readers glued to the pages. Highly recommended.” Rae Carson, author of the best-selling Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy
Review
“Duncan makes an excellent debut . . . A powerfully immersive story that uses its far-future SF premise to thoughtfully explore gender politics.” Publishers Weekly
Review
“Debut author Alexandra Duncan portrays a patriarchal civilization eerily reminiscent of Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale….Duncans fast-paced narrative and original settingsfrom the Parastrata to the Gyre (a floating garbage mass in the Pacific) to Mumbaiwill keep readers riveted.” Shelf Awareness for Readers
Synopsis
Ava, a teenage girl living aboard the male-dominated deep space merchant ship Parastrata, faces betrayal, banishment, and death. Taking her fate into her own hands, she flees to the Gyre, a floating continent of garbage and scrap in the Pacific Ocean, in this thrilling, surprising, and thought-provoking debut novel that will appeal to fans of Across the Universe, by Beth Revis, and The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. Internationally bestselling author Stephanie Perkins called it "brilliant, feminist science fiction."
Ava is the captain's daughter. This allows her limited freedom and a certain status in the Parastrata's rigid society--but it doesn't mean she can read or write or even withstand the forces of gravity. When Ava learns she is to be traded in marriage to another merchant ship, she hopes for the best. After all, she is the captain's daughter. But instead, betrayal, banishment, and a brush with love and death are her destiny, and Ava stows away on a mail sloop bound for Earth in order to escape both her past and her future. The gravity almost kills her. Gradually recuperating in a stranger's floating cabin on the Gyre, a huge mass of scrap and garbage in the Pacific Ocean, Ava begins to learn the true meaning of family and home and trust--and she begins to nourish her own strength and soul. This sweeping and harrowing novel explores themes of choice, agency, rebellion, and family, and after a tidal wave destroys the Gyre and all those who live there, ultimately sends its main character on a thrilling journey to Mumbai, the beating heart of Alexandra Duncan's post-climate change Earth. An Andre Norton Award nominee.
About the Author
Alexandra Duncan grew up in a small town in North Carolina and now lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where she is a librarian. This is her first novel.