The Drowned Cities

Paolo Bacigalupi

May 2012 · Sold by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

About this ebook

Soldier boys emerged from the darkness. Guns gleamed dully. Bullet bandoliers and scars draped their bare chests. Ugly brands scored their faces. She knew why these soldier boys had come. She knew what they sought, and she knew, too, that if they found it, her best friend would surely die.

In a dark future America where violence, terror, and grief touch everyone, young refugees Mahlia and Mouse have managed to leave behind the war-torn lands of the Drowned Cities by escaping into the jungle outskirts. But when they discover a wounded half-man--a bioengineered war beast named Tool--who is being hunted by a vengeful band of soldiers, their fragile existence quickly collapses. One is taken prisoner by merciless soldier boys, and the other is faced with an impossible decision: Risk everything to save a friend, or flee to a place where freedom might finally be possible.

This thrilling companion to Paolo Bacigalupi's highly acclaimed Ship Breaker is a haunting and powerful story of loyalty, survival, and heart-pounding adventure.

Ratings and reviews

A good read with action, but lots of violence. The ending seemed rushed and the narrative leading up is a bit tortured (no pun intended), and drawn out and repetitious. That said, it is an affecting introduction to issues around chronic war, child soldiers, profiteering from war, selling arms and taking resources in return.

This is my favorite book of all time! I never get tired of rereading the book over and over again! Paolo Bacigalupi is probably one of my favorite authors. His wording and the way he tells the story gets me lost in the world of the book. I love it!!

I know it's YA fiction but this could have been a slightly longer book with more of the plot points filled out. Pretty good otherwise.

About the author

Paolo Bacigalupi is the author of the highly acclaimed The Drowned Cities, Tool of War,and Ship Breaker, a New York Times bestseller, Michael L. Printz Award winner, and National Book Award finalist. He is also the author of the Edgar Awards nominee The Doubt Factory; a novel for younger readers, Zombie Baseball Beatdown; and two bestselling adult novels for adults, The Water Knife and The Windup Girl. His first work of collected short fiction was Pump Six and Other Stories. He co-wrote The Tangled Lands with Tobias S. Buckell. The winner of the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Compton Crook, John W. Campbell Memorial, and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Awards, he lives in western Colorado with his wife and son. The author invites you to visit his website at windupstories.com.