Sample

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Ship Breaker

By: Paolo Bacigalupi
Narrated by: Joshua Swanson
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.46

Buy for $22.46

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Editorial reviews

Nebula Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi has made a name for himself writing stories set in a bleak near-future following an environmental collapse. A more timely novel could not exist than his latest, Ship Breaker, his first Young Adult offering and possibly his strongest work to date. Narrator Joshua Swanson brings precisely the young, street-wise performance needed to carry this story.

Nailer Lopez is fighting to survive in a devastated world, doing the only work a boy on the verge of manhood can do — "light crew" duty as a ship breaker, salvaging copper wire from the rusting hulks of tankers left wrecked on America's Gulf Coast. Every day is a struggle to make quota and find the best salvage to stay in the good graces of his crew. There is always the hope of the big score: a pocket of petroleum, precious fuel in an age of exhausted wells, drowned cities, and risen seas, where any energy source is precious.

When Nailer and his best friend Pima come across the find of a lifetime, a salvage that could buy him freedom not just from the brutality of light crew but from his abusive father as well, there's only one problem — it comes with a swank, a rich girl named Nita. Nita has value just like everything else, and Nailer is faced with a choice: keep her ship and buy his independence, or he can go the far more dangerous — but possibly more profitable — route and help her. Nailer, Pima, and the identity of newly nick-named "Lucky Girl" are always on the edge of discovery by Nailer's drug-addicted father, his crew, and the genetically augmented "half-man", Tool.

Joshua Swanson was well cast. His style is wholly appropriate to a dystopia, and he is completely convincing as he takes us through Nailer's dilemmas and perils. This is a fast-paced story of adventure and suspense, and Swanson's narration — while careful and precise — carries the tension well. He skillfully handles the voicing of the story's main female characters, Pima and Nita, without slipping into the narrative pitfalls of falsettos or needless breathiness. Bacigalupi's cast is vast and varied, but Swanson manages to keep the listener oriented through adept pitch and passable island dialects here and there.

This is a performance that draws the listener into the dark recesses of a rusted and starving world. Though marketed as Young Adult, there is plenty here for any lover of near-future dystopian literature to enjoy. —Christie Yant

Publisher's summary

Printz Award Winner, 2011

In America's Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts, Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota - and hopefully live to see another day. But when, by luck or chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his life: Strip the ship for all it's worth or rescue its lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life.

In this powerful novel, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers a thrilling, fast-paced adventure set in a vivid and raw, uncertain future.

©2010 Paolo Bacigalupi (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

  • AudioFile Earphones Award Winner

"Narrator Joshua Swanson makes this harsh dystopian world all too believable. He adjusts the pacing to fit the intensity of the action and gives each character a voice that fits his or her personality. This is superb listening for teens—and adults too—even those who aren’t big fans of science fiction." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about Ship Breaker

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    780
  • 4 Stars
    871
  • 3 Stars
    365
  • 2 Stars
    104
  • 1 Stars
    53
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    763
  • 4 Stars
    699
  • 3 Stars
    256
  • 2 Stars
    47
  • 1 Stars
    35
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    666
  • 4 Stars
    694
  • 3 Stars
    326
  • 2 Stars
    84
  • 1 Stars
    42

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great for early teen boys and this 50 year old loved it too

Nailed a dystopian future with gripping adventure coupled with just enough introspection. I listened as a preview for my son and was hooked.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Childish, attention keeping.

A bit childish, but interesting and Iit kept my attention. Glad I listened, but won't be looking for book 2.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story with excellent narration

I highly recommend this book - great commentary on the world around us set in a dystopic future

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

YA but still good for adults

It's a young adult book, but still worthy of an adult read/listen. It's less violent than Baciagalupi's adult books, thankfully, but it's still well written and not dumbed down for a younger audience. Also post-apocalyptic, like the others of his I've read, which is a genre I like.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

Great book, keeps you wanting more. Josh Swanson brings the story to life. He's one of our favorite reads.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Unique and well-written

Would you consider the audio edition of Ship Breaker to be better than the print version?

The audio version was a little confusing sometimes. I wasn't sure what the people were saying. It took a while to get into the story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ship Breaker?

Deciding whether to kill the girl or not.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It definitely would have helped to listen all in one sitting because if I spent a couple days away, it took me a bit to get back into the rhythm of the language and the slang. It was definitely interesting enough to listen to in one sitting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting take on our miserable future

What made the experience of listening to Ship Breaker the most enjoyable?

Very imaginative, good character development, great visual world

What other book might you compare Ship Breaker to and why?

14, Ready Player One. Completely unreal worlds made real and compelling.

What about Joshua Swanson’s performance did you like?

It was good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unexpected treet of a book

Very plausible storyline even for a dystopia n tale. No spoilers but the characters are realistic not superhuman. Well plotted. Think most will enjoy even with young main characters.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good

It was good, the only reason i gave it a 4star is bcuz it has a lot of couse words in it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Needed a bit more

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I enjoyed this book. It was paced well and kept me listening. A lot of time was spent building Nailer's world, which I really enjoyed. However, I wanted to know more learn more about the "swanks" and the world from their point of view. The end left me a little flat. Big exciting action scene, and then Nailer is dropped back onto the beach.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!